Not much to report since we are at the stage where the sexy fun stuff with big visual progress is over and now have a lot of the tedious detail work ahead before we can get to more fun stuff.

Working from the tail forward, every tube/hardware attach point/hinge/etc. is cleaned, inspected, and then etch primed. We have a long, long ways to go.

Juggling a few projects at the same time doesn’t help, but we just try to get at least one thing done everyday. That means the plane will eventually be finished, right? [emoji16]

The tedious work of rehab on the 4130 steel tubing continues...

At least there is some visual progress watching the etch prime covering most of the aft section now.

Work continues on the fuselage prep and disassembly.





Now it’s time to yank the engine off the firewall.

First drain the oil



Lay out some tools



Remove this hose that goes to the cabin



Fuel line from gascolator to carb



Now remove the carb heat control cable





Carb mixture cable next





Throttle cable







Silicone is the worst



Primer line





Oil temp electrical connection



Interesting safety wire scheme to keep it in place



Tachometer cable



Oil line for the pressure gauge





Ground and P leads off both magnetos next



This bundle needs to be separated from the engine mount.





EGT probe wires



Disconnect two wires from the alternator



Two Adel clamps on the sump are removed. They held the alternator and starter wires.



Disconnect one wire off the starter



Install the adapter to the prop hub for the engine stand along with a couple AN-6 bolts that are the right length to grip the 1/4” metal of the stand.





Cherry picker is ready



Not bad for 45 mins of work

5 mins later, the airframe and engine are divorced.





Now the real work begins

All the pedals and controls have been removed from the fuselage. The instrument panel, firewall, main gear, fuel lines and vents remain.

We aren’t going to remove the fuel lines and vents, so the next steps will be removing the instrument panel, firewall, and main landing gear.





I got everything I wanted disassembled off the engine and spend a considerable amount of time cleaning the O-235.

Engine mount, scat tubing, baffling, etc. removed.



The baffling is really hammered. I think we will be buying new stuff.

Definitely will have new scat tubing.

The engine mount will get sent out to get inspected, painted, and yellow tagged for reuse.

Here are photos of the engine after a bunch of cleaning which was a PITA. Being a fairly recent remanufacture by Lycoming (2009), it’s in pretty good shape mechanically and cosmetically.

I will have to check the logs, but I bet the Slick mags are due for overhaul (every 500 hours). Those will be sent out as needed.

That looks like satisfying progress. Its going to be a nice plane.

How well does the electric ratchet work. I think I need one.

I love it. It operates as a regular ratchet wrench until you press the button, and you can regulate the speed very easily. The M12 Milwaukee stuff in 1/4” and 3/8” has made life much easier for me.

I still tend to use it for disassembly only, just because it’s too easy to over do it torque wise.

We decided to just repair and repair the baffling instead of buying new.

Here one of the inter-cylinder baffles being cleaned next to a dirty one. There are a few cracks that need to be stop drilled and some doublers needed on the other pieces of baffling.

A little progress on baffle cleaning and rehab.











And some glass bead blasting on the fuselage



Followed up by putting on some etch primer so it won’t rust.



Still lots to do. The journey continues.

More baffle business. The rear portion is supposed to be one large piece, not 3. Definitely some work to do there.

Great thread, excellent pictures. This is fun to follow.

Curious, how much $$$ is new baffling? That baffling looks as if its going to take a lot of work to get cleaned up and repaired, I would imagine there is a "cutoff point" where it makes sense to just go new. The big factor is cost, that is what I wondering how much $$$ new is.

Kurt

Thanks Kurt.

There’s no kit that we could find so we’d have to price each piece individually.

It’s a labor of love to revive parts, and although my time is technically free, you’re right in that sometimes it just makes sense to buy new.

The only advantage to the old used stuff is that it already fits. Installing new baffling can be anything from an annoying experience to absolute misery. I have yet to see new baffling go on any engine without some effort to modify it to mate well to the engine and cowling.

Because I haven’t actually started on the doublers to repair that rear piece, I may just price it out and see what it would cost.

Thanks for following along [emoji1360]

Started putting epoxy compatible with the Poly Fiber process on the fuselage tubing. We chose white.







Gotta pull the firewall, instrument panel, and main landing gear off next to get the epoxy on everywhere.

The only thing left on the fuselage is the main landing gear.

Firewall, instrument panel, brakes, and all the wiring got removed today so the fuselage can be fully redone.

I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

It was very hot in this east facing hangar today.

More progress. I made a simple jig for making it easier to rotate the fuselage during prep, and eventually covering.









Very close to turning the corner and assembling the fuselage with shiny new parts.

The tubing prep and paint is almost done.

I've got the exact same jig hanging on my wall for ACA rebuilds. Works amazing. I also built a small rolling stock to make moving easier. Also works great.

Such a lifesaver [emoji1360]

Time to make some doublers and repair the jigsawed engine baffle.

The problem with sheet metal work is that I don’t do it enough to be proficient. I’m usually tuned up and good at it right at the end of whatever job I’m working on. Story of my life.

All of the below was copied over from a thread I’m doing on a non aviation forum so it may bore some of you to tears that know all the obvious stuff so I apologize.





CAD design

Cardboard
Aided
Design



Radius the corners



A simple bend with the seam pliers



This book is handy



Although the baffle isn’t structural, it’s good to practice and review my edge distance and rivet placement.



More progress when the hole for the spark plug harness is cut out



Some clecos to hold it in place while I line everything up







You need the rivet to protrude out past the sheet 1.5 times of the diameter of the shaft before bucking it.



What sucks is I only have AD rivets on hand. They’re structural rivets, and much more of a PITA to set than the softer A rivets. This is not what a hack like me needs, I gotta get some A rivets so I have every advantage possible to help my stuff come out pretty.

I’m not gonna wait and just diving in with the AD ones.



3/16” protrusion on the 1/8” 4-5 rivet. Perfect.



Pick the right cup for the rivet gun





I love my tungsten bucking bars



Let get on with it...I’m not going to win any awards but it’ll be structurally sound and I don’t have any club footed tails. Just a few smilies because the AD rivets are such a PITA to set.







Time to get on with the other side. My riveting on this side was naturally much better.









I have my A&P test scheduled for July 15th...wish me luck!!!

Oh and also cleaned up some of the pulleys, cables, and associated bits that live under the floorboard.





Still lots to do. Thanks for following along...those of you that aren’t bored to tears yet! LOL

Maroon scotchbrite, etch prime and high temp paint.

Bored? Heck no! I'm loving this thread!

[emoji1360]

Thanks! I’ll keep updating it every step of the way.

It’s hard to know if anyone’s enjoying it without feedback. Sorry to sound so needy. LOL