Tonight I wanted to mount the engine mount in preparation for hanging the engine in a few weeks. It took some force, but I managed to install it tonight. 

I only have the 4 outside bolts installed. The remain two on the bottom I didn’t install yet because I need to fabricate some shims. Here you can the see the gap between the engine mount and the firewall. I’ll fabricate a small shim and then I’ll install the remaining two bolts. 

Next up is to install the landing gear! 

Today I received my engine! Its AWESOME! I ordered mine from Superior Air Parts. The engine is an XP-IO360-B1HD2. It’s 185hp with a cold air induction system and duel P-Mag electronic ignitions. It’s going to be incredible! 

Here’s a shot from the back of the engine, you can see the two P-Mags on the back (gold and black) on either side of the oil filter. The oil filler neck is on the right side behind cylinder 3. 

I’m setting up a large order from Vans that include a lot of the firewall forward kit components, but I need to delete several things because of the custom configuration of my engine. 

Yesterday I spent several hours installing a bunch of firewall components. I started by drilling a 2″ hole for the stainless steel heater box. I then positioned it and drilled the two holes for mounting. 

It came with a tube of firewall sealant, I lined the underside and then bolted it in place. 

A tube will attach to this end and a heat muff surrounding the exhaust on the other. 

I then began measuring and lining up the battery tray. I’m going with an EarthX lithium battery. 

This is mounted using three bolts from the inside of the firewall. I also installed my vent line ports. These are some fancy aerodynamic covers that I got from JD Air. They require a 5/8th hole and mount from the inside. 

Here are the two vents installed. 

I then installed the brake reservoir. It’s mounted on the passenger side in case I want to add copilot brakes later on. 

The hydraulic low pressure line attaches to the inside of this reservoir. 

Lastly I installed the master relay and starter relay. This took some work mainly due to the slightly different battery case. I had to drop the pair down a bit lower than the standard installation spot. 

Here’s everything installled on the firewall. You can see the relays just below the battery. 

Next up, firewalls recess, then the engine mount. 

Yesterday I spent a few hours working on the panel support angle. 

This angle was drilled and then notched with the bandsaw so that it can follow the contour of the panel. 

Here’s how it looks as it takes form. I then drilled this to the panel with a #30 bit for the -4 rivets. 

This is the angle clecoed to the panel. 

I also mocked up the panel layout and drew switch location and other peripherals. 

I then decided to hook up the ADAHRS and GPS to the display. I was able to get a fix on position and also noticed that my mounting of the ADAHRS was off just a tiny tiny bit. I will have to shim it with something very thin.