LANCECASPER Posted April 28, 2018 Report Posted April 28, 2018 On 4/14/2018 at 10:24 AM, LANCECASPER said: Originally had hoped to have everything done by the end of March, but would be thrilled if it was done by the end of April. Realistically it will be early May since the work is being done in my hangar and we only get a chance to work on it a day or two a week, some weeks not at all. It looks like tomorrow we should be able to start it up and look for leaks. It is amazing how fast it is to take it apart and how long it takes to put it together. The clutch driven back-up vacuum pump has been removed and has freed up some space on the backside of the engine. As soon as an Aspen is installed the other vacuum pump is going away. I already have an electric Mid Continent Lifesaver as backup so I'm legal to go all electric. The V-bands that connect the wastegate got torqued and safety wired today. The prop was installed. The ignition was timed. A few little odds and ends to do in the morning. Hopefully by 2 pm it will be running. 3 Quote
carusoam Posted April 28, 2018 Report Posted April 28, 2018 Great pics, Lance! Thanks for sharing. Questions: Is that the wastegate in the middle, with the return spring attached? Why is the stem such a funny shape? Was it round once? NA PP only, no TC experience in my logs... Best regards, -a- Quote
LANCECASPER Posted April 29, 2018 Report Posted April 29, 2018 On 4/27/2018 at 7:27 PM, LANCECASPER said: It looks like tomorrow we should be able to start it up and look for leaks. It is amazing how fast it is to take it apart and how long it takes to put it together. . . . Hopefully by 2 pm it will be running. Well . . we got all of the rest of the annual inspection items wrapped up that had been started back in January and all of the last details done on the engine. Later this afternoon we cranked the engine without the bottom plugs to circulate some oil and found a couple of oil leaks. And yes we wired up the loose items so we could run it without the cowling. So it looks like some more work this week chasing down the oil leaks before it's running and we start the break-in process. During the Bravo conversion the oil filter adaptor had to come off to accommodate the new oil lines. When it was reinstalled we used a new gasket that came in the Bravo kit, but it looks like one place we are getting oil is there. Also it looks like maybe where we removed the clutch driven vacuum pump. We're almost there . . . . 1 Quote
carusoam Posted April 29, 2018 Report Posted April 29, 2018 Let us know what oil leaks you find, Lance... Somebody on MS will know something about a better way to keep oil from getting away. This stuff makes me nervous. Getting it right for flight time is so important... Best regards, -a- Quote
LANCECASPER Posted May 7, 2018 Report Posted May 7, 2018 On 4/28/2018 at 10:52 PM, LANCECASPER said: Later this afternoon we cranked the engine without the bottom plugs to circulate some oil and found a couple of oil leaks. So it looks like some more work this week chasing down the oil leaks before it's running and we start the break-in process. During the Bravo conversion the oil filter adaptor had to come off to accommodate the new oil lines. When it was reinstalled we used a new gasket that came in the Bravo kit, but it looks like one place we are getting oil is there. Also it looks like maybe where we removed the clutch driven vacuum pump. We're almost there . . . . Follow up . . . The oil leaks on the back of the engine are fixed - the oil filter adaptor was tightened up and where we took off the clutch driven vacuum pump that leak was fixed. We started it up this afternoon and it ran well but there is a significant oil leak on one of the three left cylinders (2, 4 or 6). So tomorrow we will start chasing that down. The first place we are going to look is making sure that the oil drain line clamps are tight. Any other suggestions? Quote
Awful_Charlie Posted May 8, 2018 Report Posted May 8, 2018 Well done Lance - you're getting there step by step and I admire your persistence to get through this! For the oil leak, might be worth checking the cylinder head feeds too - I had a leak on one of mine some time ago, but due to the downdraft of cooling air, the drips and mess would always be on the bottom of the cylinder 1 Quote
LANCECASPER Posted May 8, 2018 Report Posted May 8, 2018 13 hours ago, Awful_Charlie said: Well done Lance - you're getting there step by step and I admire your persistence to get through this! For the oil leak, might be worth checking the cylinder head feeds too - I had a leak on one of mine some time ago, but due to the downdraft of cooling air, the drips and mess would always be on the bottom of the cylinder Thanks, yes one of the oil leaks was on the T fitting on the oil supply line on cylinder 6. It looks like the other one is on the turbo oil inlet fitting - new part should be here tomorrow. Quote
LANCECASPER Posted May 9, 2018 Report Posted May 9, 2018 Parts are installed and no oil leaks. Good temps on runup. I'll be glad to have this finished. 1 Quote
LANCECASPER Posted May 10, 2018 Report Posted May 10, 2018 Follow Up . . . N134JF is back in the air again. Everything was finished up today and signed off. The engine/prop combination feels exceptionally smooth. It was a lot of hard work but I feel like I know the airplane so much better now. 2 Quote
carusoam Posted May 10, 2018 Report Posted May 10, 2018 Lance, You know we are going to need to see pictures of it flying really fast with really cool CHTs... Best regards, -a- 1 Quote
rpcc Posted May 10, 2018 Report Posted May 10, 2018 Thanks for the updates and glad you are back in the air. Quote
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