The Barn Find Build

[Eric Page]

Yesterday I got the new door hinges and reinforcing plates sanded to size, deburred and cleaned up on the Scotch-Brite wheel. I was about to put them through Alodine treatment when it occurred to me that I should wait until the mounting holes and countersinks are done. Also just realized that I still need to round the corners on the reinforcing plates.

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If anyone knows a good way to cut the steel hinge pin, and how to stake the pins once they're installed in the hinges, I'd be pleased to hear it.

Next up was fabricating and installing wood mounting rails for the remote magnetometer. I went to my collection of leftover building materials and found a suitable piece of maple baseboard. I cut it to length on the miter saw (to fit between ribs 3 and 4 in the right wing), then ripped it on the table saw to make two 1/2" wide strips. Those were marked and pilot drilled on the bench, then the magnetometer was attached. Finally, the whole assembly was glued onto the top edge of the bottom cap strips with Hysol.

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Finally, I did a more or less pointless mock-up of the instrument panel (really just an excuse to get some Dynon bits out of their boxes and play with the knobs and buttons!). That 10" screen is a tight fit in a Kitfox.

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This is my current thinking WRT panel layout. Dynon goodies front-and-center, dimmer knob, lane lights and switches to left and below the EFIS, ELT control above the Dynon modules, Van's glove box on the right, and a dual USB charger at bottom right with circuit breakers to the left of that. I'm also considering a mount arm for an iPad (recommendations welcome).

I haven't decided on the exact switches I want to use, so consider the toggles as placeholders. I'm also not in love with circuit breakers, so that may change to a fuse box behind the panel.

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The panel layout was done using the free designer at https://hangarzulu.com/.

[alexM]

No ECB?

I'm waiting to see what you use for connections behind the panel. Junction boxes of some kind or just crimp wires and be done?

When I swapped out the radio and transponder in the T-6 I found all the wire connections meticulously routed into a junction box. Wow did I love finding that because it made the upgrade so easy. I'm not finding any such contraption available at Aircraft Spruce so I have to assume no one does it that way anymore.

[Eric Page]

No ECB?

Nah. Heavier and much costlier than old-skool CBs or fuses. I see little utility in resetting circuit protection in flight, which is one reason (cost is the other, obviously) that I'm leaning toward fuses.

I'm waiting to see what you use for connections behind the panel. Junction boxes of some kind or just crimp wires and be done?

I'm building most of the harnesses from scratch. The EFIS included its main harness, and one or two of the LRUs appear to have something in the box, but I've got lots of D-Sub parts on hand for the rest. I'm that odd, 1-in-1,000,000 guy who looks forward to doing the wiring.

When I swapped out the radio and transponder in the T-6 I found all the wire connections meticulously routed into a junction box. Wow did I love finding that because it made the upgrade so easy. I'm not finding any such contraption available at Aircraft Spruce so I have to assume no one does it that way anymore.

I believe Advanced Flight Systems installations use a box like that. Spruce sells this thing, and there's MGL's iBox, of course. The Dynon system uses an optional network hub; I'll need one of those.

[PapuaPilot]

If anyone knows a good way to cut the steel hinge pin, and how to stake the pins once they're installed in the hinges, I'd be pleased to hear it.

Use a Dremel tool with a cutoff disc to cut the hinge pins.

Food for thought. I decided to not stake the pins, which makes them a permanent installation. They will also be a pain if you ever need to replace them.
On my plane I made 4 L shaped pins that can be pulled out in a few seconds. That way I can remove a door in about a minute after popping the gas strut clip loose. Just put the bent end to the front, they won't come out.

[efwd]

Hi Eric
Dremmel cutoff wheel cuts the pin easily. I used a spring loaded center punch to put indentations around the ends of the hinge pins once they were inserted. I regret that. One of these days I will disassemble these and make a removable pin. Something like the ones that are used to hold the main spar bolt in, smaller ones of course. I would love to remove my doors on those days I just stay in the pattern.

Well, I see Phil agrees.

[Eric Page]

Excellent, thanks gents -- that's a great idea. I have plenty of Dremel wheels to explode, and Spruce sells extra hinge pin material.

[jrevens]

I made pins that looked similar to this, like a safety pin, but then I found these nicer ones from McFarlane. They're a Cessna part that are the perfect size. Kind of pricey, but they fit perfectly.

[Eric Page]

...I found these nicer ones from McFarlane. [...] Kind of pricey, but they fit perfectly.

Boy, I'll say. They're awful nice, but $95 for a set of hinge pins is a bit much for this cheapskate!

[jrevens]

Wow… they must have gone up in price. I don’t think I would’ve paid that much either!

[Birdseyeview]

Eric, I used these hinge pins and bought them at my local hardware store(either Lowes or Home Depot) for a couple of bucks. They are steel and fit perfectly.

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