Joe Ruscito's Kitfox S7 Build

[JoeRuscito]

I’ve run into a couple problems in the last few days. First a tank leak (thread in the main forum). And now I have some peeling paint on aluminum. It stated coming off when I was scotch brighting before the yellow top coat on the landing gear brackets. On the inspection port it didn’t come off when prepping for top coat so I sprayed the yellow. After seeing the other chips I did some exploring and the inspection port paint peeled right off.

At the direction of the polyfiber manual I did not etch (because it’s new aluminum) but I did use the conversion coating that aircraft spruce sells. Should I have etched?

My process:

Scotch bright the aluminum
Acetone to clean
Wet with conversion coating and let soak for a few minutes
Rinse with water
Dry
Prime

Am I missing anything?

What is the best way to strip the coatings and start again? Sand blast?

Oddly it doesn’t seem to come off the landing gear. And hopefully the flaperon acts the same because it already has topcoat (I didn’t see evidence of poor adherence when prepping for top coat) but I haven’t tested it knowing that there might be an issue.



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[JoeRuscito]

Parts are now going on that (hopefully) will not be coming off again! Ive been working on many things but mainly getting the engine hung and plumbed. Ive also been slowly working on the cowls and Ill confirm what others have said, I think they've come on and off about 50 times! I got lucky with the engine mount as it went on with little issue.

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Happy to be mostly done painting except the cowls. I dealt with my aluminum paint issues by using the primer the factory suggested rather than the Polyfiber stuff, its a Valspar DTM primer. I had to strip the Polyfiber primer off the gear mounts and inspection covers. Thankfully the original primer seems to be sticking to the flaperon and gear (so far) but if it starts peeling at some point down the road I will strip and redo.

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Brakes run and chafe sleeves for protection. I do notice that they are slightly tight if both pedals are adjusted to the shortest pilot position and pushed to their extremes. I don't think this will be an issue and overall Im happy with the way they ended up. Ive also swaged my rudder and this turned out well. Im a bit surprised how much friction is in the system, my pedals move freely but when everything is connected its not super smooth, have others noticed this?

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Engine is in and almost everything is installed on the firewall. Working out grounding. It sounds like most people use a common ground bus and don't use the engine mount/fuselage as a common as the manual describes. I will likely do the same.


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Routing the coolant and oil lines was definitely a challenge. The right side oil line and coolant line Im happy with, but I do need to figure out a good way to prevent chafing where the hoses cross. Any suggestions? It has to be heat proof of course in this position. The left side coolant line I still haven't finished because Im not sure I love the routing. I know others have gone between the ring mount and exhaust. I currently have it on the other side of the header. While it is closer to the head it seems less likely to chafe. I will just need good heat shielding (no more so than the other side). Something to note: The manual calls for hose clamps on all of the oil lines even though they are push lock hoses and fittings. I did put in a couple calls to Parker to get some clarification and they did say if a hose clamp was added and tightened too much you could damage the seal. I plan to still use clamps but tighten them very gently because they are likely not needed.

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Im now working on the fuel lines. These are a bit unwieldy for me and they are not nearly as pretty/neat as some of the work I've seen you all do. I may have also went a bit over board on the antichafe and securing to the frame but these things vibrating and cracking doesn't give me the warm and fussies so better safe than sorry. I found it difficult to bend it into the right shape without having to do some secondary bending which the manual specifically advises against. So in some cases that meant adding another bend to adjust the position. Also I had to redo one whole run after forgetting the sleeve and flaring the end.... dont do that!

As always open to feedback/comments/advise. So happy to have this forum as a resource as I have no idea what Im doing! I dont know how I could build this thing without.

Avionics should be arriving in a couple weeks and Im looking forward to getting started on some wiring. See y'all at Oshkosh!

[JoeRuscito]

Lift struts. So I still have about 2 weeks of work! Haha But serious these things take some work and a ton of super fill had to order more.

I have to attach/glue the boot cowl.

Do fuel flow tests with wings on.

Finish wingtip wiring once I can take my paint booth down.

I think that’s all the big stuff.

Do most people have to remove prop and spinner plate and exhaust pipe to tonics lower cowl? Mine is seeming impossible to place with prop on.


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[JoeRuscito]

I’m going to do another airspeed check before I make pitch changes. I’ll note the ground speeds.

Do you happen to know why Paul suggests adjusting the light wing first? I read in another post that John M suggests adjusting the heavy wing first.

Thanks!


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