Wendell Folks RV-8 Project - Page 37.

December 26, 2006:  Wendell worked on the fit and finish of the engine cooling baffles.  I made sure he knew which parts of this process would have to wait until the fitting of the cowl.  Everything else that can be done to the baffles is what he is doing at this time.  The baffle in front of the number one cylinder has the doubler clecoed in place and is fitted to clear the stainless steel oil line coming from the prop governor to the front of the engine.  I also coached Wendell in the fabrication of the custom cover to seal the area around that oil line.

Here is a closeup shot of the cover after much trimming and refit to the larger baffle.  The two #8 screws go down through three layers of aluminum to platenuts riveted to part number 16 in the baffle kit.  That part is an "L-bracket" to support the inboard side of the front baffle assembly.

Over on the number two cylinder, the front baffle has the angle stiffener already riveted to it and the assembly is bolted to the cylinder.  The support bracket and angle for the inboard side of this assembly has yet to be installed.

All of the engine baffles will be removed soon in preparation for the riveting of the forward top skin to the fuselage.  The wiring up front needs to be completed before that can happen.  When the top skin is installed, the propeller and spinner back plate go on the engine, followed by fit of the upper and lower cowl sections.   That is when we come back to complete the trimming and final fit of the engine cooling baffles.

December 27, 2006: Wendell finished up the metal work on the engine cooling baffles that can be done at this time.   The remaining work must wait until the cowl is fitted to the engine and fuselage.   The two braces that support the inboard front "ramps" were drilled and mated to the ramp assemblies.  Here is the one in front of the number 2 cylinder.

A similar brace is on the other side of the engine in front of cylinder number 1.  The alternator has been lowered out of the way and its brace removed for easy access on this part of the baffle work.

December 30, 2006:  It is Saturday afternoon again and the word today is wiring.  I had Wendell changing the 5-amp circuit breaker for the Lasar ignition control module to a 10-ampere breaker.   The 5-amp unit will be used for interior night lighting when that gets installed.   After that was completed, the battery was put in place for the first time and connected to the existing wiring.  This was followed immediately with a test of the master switch and solenoid, then the starter relay and starter motor.  Since the ring gear was not installed on the engine crank shaft, the starter did what it is supposed to do easily.  A second ground screw was installed near the avionics and the connections were made to the Dynon wiring harness for power and ground.

After the successful test of the master circuitry, the instrument panel was put in place and the Dynon D10-A unit was connected and came alive when the avionics master switch was engaged.  Since the internal battery of the Dynon was discharged down to 10.4 volts, the unit immediately started to charge the battery while the avionics master was turned on.  I got my battery charger from the hangar to put on Wendell's RV-8 and left the avionics master turned on.  The voltage on the internal battery in the Dynon unit began increasing.  We left the charger running all night with the avionics master switch turned on to put a full charge on the Dynon internal battery.