This is a great thread
I'm planning a corvair myself.
But I'm also curious if the low pressure issue in your the 200 was diagnosed and if so what was found.
Thanks James
The low pressure was never diagnosed. The engine had sat for ten years before being ran and I was already looking at a rebuild with two low cylinders. The corvair engine is finished. I will have to put in a new firewall which is next. I'm waiting to get some money to buy the firewall then begin assembly.
Another update guys. There should be a baffle kit available through SPA in Florida soon. I have the first one. If you buy the mount from them and the baffle kit, you should be able to mount the engine and baffle kit without any modification to the continental cowling. It will require the same prop extension as the O200. I will test the first mount here and show everyone the progress. I do have the mount as well. So if it works you should be able to see it from here.
Long story but I have another plane that fell into my lap that has a Corvair engine completely rebuilt to Corvair college standards (William Wynn) that I will not be using. If there is any interest in this setup you can PM me.
Ok update time. Last time I posted I was in the tear down phase of my project after finding some substandard wiring in my basket case kitfox. Now 7 months later I'm ready to show some progress. Since I last posted I was in a tent with the aircraft and since have moved into a friends shop where I could complete the work. In the first photo I have removed all the wiring and built a new harness with properly sized breakers, buss bar, etc. it is finished with exception of the final engine installation at which point I will finish up the final wire packing and loom. It may not look much different but it was a lot of work. The new radio was installed by joe and the center consol was replaced with a new one from kitfox allowing for the addition of the new adjustable pedals and dual brakes which was another mod joe made for me. The rudder cables final hookup is all that is left there.
The wood floor was all redone when joe did the pedals and I just finished routing all the brake lines. I tried to install the windshield that Mr Pitkin gave me but it cracked it so now I have ordered a new one that joe will install. He knows this stuff way better than I do so I'm glad to have him as a friend. Because of the new center console it will also include a newer style pitch trim switch and fuel cutoff valve. I opted for braided line below the header tank forward to the carb. The header was also replaced with the newer aluminum tank and the sensor will be employed as well.
Joe put in new fuel lines from the tanks to the header. I secured them in a way I liked. I have the smaller 1400lb plane which carries a cargo bag similar to the kitfox 4 but I have no other covers for the rear of the plane. This is a problem my sweety miss April has decided to tackle and is working on a cover like the kitfox 7 with the little triangle pockets behind the seats. The new firewall is almost done. I have a few small pieces to put on and more rivets to install. And no I don't want to hear about how many rivets I used. I was reading the FAA repair manual and put it together according to the manual. I like it and that's all that matters.
Ok so now we come to where I wanted to be a year ago. For those of you still reading this thanks for your patience. Life and airplanes don't go the way we expect them to. We now have an aircraft that is otherwise airworthy having had an O200 dismounted and taken away. The keyed ignition was removed along with related wiring and replaced with a simple push button starter switch heavy duty 30 amps. One side to ground and the other side will go to an integrated solenoid on the starter. (A separate starter solenoid is not used). As critical a wiring job as the P-leads on magnetos is the next step. A high quality double pole double throw switch is installed on the panel away from anything else and easily accessible. A positive wire is brought from the battery terminals in the back of the plane all the way forward to this switch. This is so that in the event of other failures your ignition continues. This three position switch is used to opt between the 2 ignition sources available from the distributor. The two wires coming away from that switch will go to the two coils mounted on the backside of the firewall. From there the install manual from W W is used to complete that wiring. My switch is located above the master to the left of the airspeed indicator. It is a high quality aircraft grade. My push button starter is towards the right end of my switches.