No pictures today, but I separated the cable links, cleaned up the rust, and then primed them ready for install.
Firewall fittings
Tonight I used proseal to install several fittings on the firewall. I installed the two brake line flange fittings, the brake reservoir, and the fuel line fitting.
I mixed up the smallest batch of proseal I could find, which was still far more than I needed. I don’t have a way to store proseal, so it’s annoying to have to waste so much.
The hardest part was getting the brake flange fittings into position. Because I drilled holes for the rivets, and because the stainless steel is so hard, there was some careful work needed to ensure the holes lined up with the flange holes. This was the time to test the fit, so I installed the 6 rivets, taped them into position, then placed the flange in place to check the fit. Then I applied proseal and reinstalled, taping everything into position. It all came out well, but I also realized I’ll need a helper to set these rivets once the proseal is dry.
Firewall work
Tonight I drilled holes in the firewall for brake lines, and touched up the paint on the inside of the firewall.
I made a template to help locate and then check the position of the two holes in the firewall where the brake lines will pass through. I center punched the holes, then started drilling with a 1/16th cobalt bit, then worked up to 1/4 inch, then switched to a step drill to get to the final 13/16 size hole. With the holes drilled, I used the flange fitting to locate 6 additional holes around each 13/16 hole, where 3-3.5 rivets will hold the flange fitting in place.
I used some acetone to clean paint off the stainless firewall on the inside, then carefully taped the areas where I want paint (on the aluminum), then turned the fuselage inside down and brushed some paint onto the aluminum angle on the firewall.
Now I’m about ready to proseal the 4 firewall fittings that need it; two brake line flange fittings, the brake reservoir nipple, and the fuel line. once that’s done I should be able to wrap up this chapter with a few more evening’s work.
Rudder
Tonight I only had an hour or so to work on the plane. I sanded a couple of spots on the cockpit paint, so I can touch them up at a future time. The paint job is ok, provided you don’t look too closely, it has been a good lesson in painting.
The I drilled and cut the rudder bar spacers. These plastic blocks will hold the rudder bars in position.
I also poured some self etching primer inside the rudder bars to help combat corrosion. I cleaned the bars out first by pulling some scotchbrite through then a cloth with some rubbing alcohol.
Painting Cockpit
I decided to go ahead with the top coat and to paint the cockpit dark grey. The paint was thinner and spayed quickly and easily. I did two fog coats, and then a wet coat. I’ll plan to do one final coat tomorrow to fill in areas where i missed, or went too light. It’s hard to tell what it will look like once dry, but I’m hoping it will be decent.
Cockpit painting
Tonight I applied another coat of light grey primer to the whole cockpit area. There are a few spots where access is difficult with the spray gun, so I rotated the fuselage around a few times to aid with access.
I have a darker grey finish coat that I’m planning to apply next. Painting is a lot of work, and I’m not great at it, so I’m considering just leaving it light grey and moving on. My only concern with leaving it light grey is the possible reflections on the canopy. The downside of a darker color is more heat trapped in the cockpit on hot sunny days.
I will see how I’m feeling about it tomorrow.
Brake cylinders
Tonight I spent time sorting through the various documentation that came with my Berlinger brake kit, and then installing the brake cylinders on the pedals.
Berlinger is a French company, and therefore their native measurements are all metric. That’s not a comprehension problem for me, in fact it’s my preferred method, but it does get confusing when mixing metric and imperial. The brake cylinders seem to be all metric, but the hardware supplied to install is imperial.
Berlinger supply an “installation manual” for the RV-14 kit, but it is not at the level of detail I’ve become accustomed to with Vans. Some of it was just wrong. For example, the diagram, and supplied install hardware, calls for AN3-10a bolts. At the bottom of the cylinder, those bolts are too short to provide clearance from the rudder pedal itself.
I ended up using their supplied hardware for the top of the cylinders, but used a longer AN3-12 bolt with a castle nut. The castle nut isn’t really necessary because Beringer supply a rod end bearing that does the rotating. But, in the even the bearing started binding, it is good to know the nut would not come off.
Interestingly, I discovered that the left and right rudder bars are not identical. The right cylinders needed less length that the left (or vice versa?). This must be due to the geometry once installed.
Next I’ll be working out how these lines attach via Banjo fittings. Hopefully it’s not too complicated, but it will require some more research.
Installing pedals
I guess I didn’t really finish the rudder pedals yesterday, but tonight I did. I installed them into the rudder bars, applying some grease and torquing the castle nuts so that there’s minimal play, and also minimal friction.
Finished rudder pedals
Tonight I finished the rudder pedals, final-sizing the holes and riveting the parts together. I was able to squeeze all of the rivets, so assembly was easy. It’s recommended to put the shop head of a rivet on the side with the thickest material, but I didn’t like the idea of having the shop heads visible on the pedals, so I deviated from that.
Painted rudder pedals
Having separated the parts previously, tonight I etched and primed the rudder pedals. This was a good chance to experiment with some changes to my painting setup.
Previously I had no regulator on the air from the compressor to gun, and was using hi-flow couplers. With this setup, I was setting pressure on the tank at around 100 PSI. First I added a regulator to the gun, allowing me to see what actual pressure was passing through the gun with the trigger pulled. It was around 30 PSI, higher than the recommended 24. It was possibly even higher since the regulator is likely interfering with air pressure and flow even with the control backed out completely. With the regulator in line, I was able to set air pressure on the tank to 50 PSI, and adjust the regulator to allow 24 PSI with the trigger pulled.
With the changes made, I primed the rudder pedals. The result was an improvement, but there is still some orange peel effect showing up. It’s good enough for the rudder pedals, since no one will be looking that closely. I will try to tune the pressure and paint volume again to see if I can get a better result before I start painting the cockpit.
