Section 46 Completed

The morning began with cleaning up the mistake I had made last night. The upper engine bolts had no washer under the nuts, so I had to take these off again. No problem as the engine was still supported by the crane.

The nuts sit a little deep and could use a second washer to get the cotter pin more in the usual position. However, the nuts can not turn and so I deem this sufficient with just one washer.

For the lower bolts I needed Elizabeth's help as one person alone can not torque them.

The washers gained a bit of clearance around them after the bolts were torqued to 160-190 inch pounds. We will see if they still touch the mount due to vibration.
That was it. Engine mounted and crane removed.

The fuel hoses were connected next. First the supply at the gascolator.

Then the return line to the shelf fitting.

This had also required to install the VA-216 banjo fitted fuel hose. However, I forgot to take a picture of that. You will see it later when looking at the A/B ignition connectors.
The next step very confusing. Mainly because Van's didn't say that the ominous RV-12 IGNITION HARNESS was not the bunch of wires coming from the panel through the firewall grommet. No, this ignition harness is actually still in a bag and stored in the box of other engine related stuff. Lost some time determining the whereabouts of this harness.

Installing the harness on the A1/B1 ignition plugs was the easy part since they updated the instructions. Dave had experienced some cryptic descriptions that have all been updated on 46-12.

However, the same procedure is done with the Y-split purple wire. And these connectors have to get inserted in the bottom plug of the B2/A2 plugs, which is simply hard to get at at this point. Van's pictures did not show the fuel hose that they had me routed right next to the ignition module earlier. Yes, that would have been easier without that hose in the way.

Finally, I prevailed and got it all back together.

Here are the missing pictures of the banjo fitted fuel hose.

The last pic shows the hook-up to the fuel sensor. What I really wanted to show you though was the crimped on spade connectors on the oil pressure harness. This is the Dynon side of the harness. I did not crimp spades on the wires coming from the Honeywell sensor as I will relocate it. I think it is insane to run this sensor mounted to the engine which is known to rattle the heck out of the sensor sometimes as early as in the first 25 hours. The sensor is priced at $400 and I do not intend to spend this amount of money for a placement mistake.

So I skipped the oil pressure sensor hookup and ran the wires for the CHT sensors and the oil temperature sensors next.

CHT1:

CHT2 and oil temp:

The shielded and folded wire in the following picture is coming from the generator and got connected to the voltage regulator.

Then is got obnoxious. I was supposed to connect the thick wires from the battery to the starter. The positive connection was first and the stud was n a location that was practically unreachable. Even for putting the washer on I needed tweezers.

Van's provided exactly ONE nut to go on that bolt. So I knew I couldn't lose this one. It didn't even come with a size that I could have ordered but was called NUT-00001. No chance I could get that at Ace! What I did to prevent loss of the nut while trying to get it to catch on the bolt was to glue the nut into the hex nut driver with superglue. It worked!

The torque of 35 inch pounds appeared to be a bit loose as it hardly secured the ring terminal but I trust Van's with the number and will keep an eye on it.
The last step of Section 46 was to install the fuel drain for the new style fuel pump. In case of a pump failure this pump will dump the leaking fuel though a fitting to which I was supposed to connect a drain pipe system to.
It started with cutting the hoses and straightening the aluminum tubing.

The tubing has to get flared and then the ends get reduced and radiused to a size that will fit into the hoses but not cut them from the inside. The hose clamps then secure the flared ends inside the hoses. I used the large SB wheel for that job.
My bending skills have degraded a bit since the fuel line installation but they were sufficient to get the job done.

Van's recommended to use safety wire to hold the large clamps together and I can only stress the need for this. As I still don't know how to correctly use the safety wire pliers, I used tie wraps instead. It worked just as well.

Unfortunately, I couldn't convince the drain hose to turn in a way the the bend would face backwards. I left it at full length and didn't trim as I want to see how the cowling can help to hold the hose back. In the event of a pump failure I really want to get the leaking fuel overboard and not spread inside the lower cowling near the hot exhaust and muffler.

That concluded Section 46. Next Tuesday my sensor relocation kit for the Honeywell sender should arrive and then I can finish the section off.

I am not sure what to do next. I am leaning towards following Van's order and work on the prop and spinner but I am wondering if I wouldn't need the engine cowling in a usable shape first.