Oz build SS7

[rosslr]

Hi Josh and Jim,

Thanks yet again for sharing your wisdom - I sort of reached the same conclusion over night after researching effective sealing options of the firewall - although the Kitfox is not as airtight as other planes, I am VERY wary of CO fumes in the cockpit - so, I am back fixing the boot cowl and sealing it up as best can be achieved. If I am understanding the sequencing correctly, it can still be left temp attached until all is fixed in place and removed for painting prior to final attachment - correct?

Thanks for the pics and tips re the vent cowl too!

And love the idea of folding down the panel Jim - you know, I would not have thought of making the wires long enough for that!

Also Jim, Scott may have told you that in a private email, I mentioned that Gayle and myself will be in Portland from the 14-17 June. If you guys are around it would be great to meet you and thank you personally for the generous help you have provided to us so far.

Must away - a few family distractions today so progress will be minimal!

cheers

ross

[Esser]

Hi Ross, that is correct, I think it becomes permanent when the sealant goes on.

[Dick B in KY]

Just a thought for sealing the boot cowl gap - build up a oversize bead of high temp silicone on the firewall flange, cover it with a strip of non stick material (ie wax paper, saran wrap, etc) install boot cowl and let sealant cure. You should have a complete sealing high temp gasket for the boot cowl after cureing and removal of barrier material.

Dick B

[Flybyjim]

I have built a couple of planes in the past 20 years and I am always amazed how many wires our simple planes need to complete the job!

[jiott]

Yes, just use clecos instead of rivets until all painted.

Yes Paul, I did the final panel wiring with it folded down in that position so the service loops automatically were just right. I did occasionally rotate it upright just to make sure the service loops settled into a nice position. I will soon be installing an ADS-B module for my Dynon Skyview, so I will be using my fold-down feature for that work.

[jiott]

And yes Ross, Scott and I would be very interested in meeting you in June. Remind us closer to the time.

[jrevens]

...
I mounted mine permanently and made my panel with enough wire length so I can easily undo the 4 panel bottom bolts and rotate the panel out and down 90 degrees (no piano hinge on mine) for good access. ...

Jim - is there any particular difficulty accessing & removing/installing the nuts on those 4 mounting points at the bottom of the panel? It appears that you used pretty long bolts with a lot of thread. Did you use regular AN365 locking nuts? Do you just put a wrench on the nuts and then turn the bolts? I like the way you did that, and it is a heck of a lot less work than some kind of fancy hinge arrangement on the bottom of the panel. How did you handle the connect/disconnect of the upper brace tubes?

[jiott]

Removing/installing the 4 bottom panel bolts is tight but certainly doable. I used the standard bolts, locking nuts, washers and rubber isolators that came with the kit. Yes, you hold the nut with an open end wrench and turn the bolt.

I forgot to mention the upper brace tubes; I did this about two years ago so memory gets fuzzy. Those two upper braces are bolted to the front of the panel in the standard fashion, nothing special. They do have to be disconnected before you can tilt the panel down, but it is no problem because the nuts on the backside of the panel are fairly high up and can be easily reached with the glare shield removed. So the drill to tilt the panel down is:
1- Remove two bolts holding the throttle/choke sub-panel to the main panel.
2- Remove the glare shield.
3- Remove the 4 bottom panel bolts.
4- Remove the two upper brace tube bolts.
5- Tilt the panel down 90 degrees and rest it on some kind of temporary support.

6- You may or may not need to disconnect the vent scat tubing from the panel eyeball vents depending on whether you left enough scat tubing to stretch to the tilted down position.

It does take several steps to accomplish all this, but it allows a totally sealed and fireproof firewall. I also believe it is much easier to work on the tilted down panel than to to work on an upright installed panel from the backside even with the boot cowl removed. Just my opinion.

[rosslr]

Thanks for the detail JIm and the questions John - this is very practical and useful information. It has helped me change my mind about the temp FW mount and definitely going with the system you describe JIm - makes a lot of practical sense from several viewpoints - ie the FW sealing issue and the access to back of panel.

I have my old Mooney LAME visiting today - I trade him and his wife lunch in exchange for casting his professional eye over my amateur work! A verygood trade in my opinion!

cheers

ross

[colospace]

Yes, thanks Jim for the inspiring panel photos. Looks like that arrangement should work especially well when using the Dynon Comm and Intercom as I plan to do.