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Europa #435 G-RODO Build Journal - 2018 12

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1 Remove port baffles and slightly straighten the 2 forward bends on the port front baffle. Replace it and the shape looks better but the forward edge is now fouling against the cowl. Take it out, trim with hand nibbler and smooth with file. Try the fit again - better but needs a little more trimming. Take it out and trim a bit more; now it fits satisfactorily. Mark the baffle for the fixing hole through the hole in the cowl lip. Take it out, drill and fit anchor nut. Re-fit all port baffles with temporary screws and it all looks good now.

Take off lower cowl and remove baffles in preparation for adding rubber seals to outer edges of baffles. The remaining offcuts of 50mm wide rubber sealing strips (Firewall Fabric in the parts list) are not long enough, so mark and cut a 50mm strip off the 150mm x 1m piece supplied on 2016-10-28. Cut that strip into 2 off 500mm lengths. Mark a centreline on one and lay it along the port front baffle outboard edge. Starting at the forward end, drill the baffle 3.2mm and deburr. Mark through that hole onto the rubber and punch a hole there. Assemble rubber to baffle with cleco and EURO11 washer. Repeat at roughly 50mm intervals along the edge, for a total of 12 holes.

An afterthought occurs - perhaps the cutout in the aft baffle for the fuel hose could be edged with this rubber fabric. It would probably need more than 50mm width, so it's just as well that I didn't cut the remaining 100mm width into 2 halves. 		3016.0
6 Steel saddle clamps delivered. They look OK for size, but are very heavy. If I need anything more than the rubber fabric at the cutout for the fuel hose in the aft baffle, I could bend up something out of aluminium.
7 Drill, punch and cleco to fit the rubber sealing strip on the starboard front baffle, as for the port one. For each of the baffles in turn, remove the clecos and coat both faces of the joint area with red Hi-temp silicone RTV. Fit a cleco at each end to keep the rubber in place, then fit and pull the rivets.

Remove the bolts and drop the cooling duct. Store it in the cockpit for now.

Remove exhaust system, remembering that I need to use the offset 13mm open-end spanner to get at the nuts. The retaining springs for the #1 cylinder (starboard forward) pipe pop off so put them in a small bag with the tailpipe and other exhaust stuff. Take out the stubs and blanking plugs and fit them the exhaust ports.

Now that I can get at the sump banjo bolt, I see it is pretty large. Find that a 22mm open-end spanner fits, but I don't have a socket that size that I can use with the torque wrench when re-tightening it. Will need to buy a 22mm socket. 		3018.7
8 Get a 22mm 0.5" drive socket at Halfords, and also some 3mm & 5mm ID Tee-pieces that look potentially useful.

Remove the clamps from the rubber sealing strips on the baffles. Put away the clamps and some other tools.

Loosen the sump banjo bolt and rotate the banjo to point about 30 degrees forward of starboard. Re-torque the bolt to 26 ft-lb using the Britool EVT1200RR torque wrench. Lock-wire the nut to the adjacent sump eyelet. 		3019.8
9 Search online for PTFE sheet suppliers and order sheets 0.25mm, 0.5mm & 1mm each 300mm x 300mm.
10 Remove aft baffle. With a holesaw, cut a 25mm hole at the aft end of the marked cutout for the fuel hose. Cut from the forward edge with hand nibbler to intersect that hole. Smooth off edges with files. Offer up fuel hose; looks OK for shape and a piece of the rubber sealing fabric riveted around the edge should provide suitable support and protection for the hose from the edge.

File back the edge of the top of the baffle at the port side where it could have contacted the water hose. 		3020.2
11 tick PTFE sheet delivered.

Check size of rubber sealing sheet needed at fuel hose cutout in aft baffle and decide that a piece of the 50mm strip would be OK after all. Cut off a piece from one of the short lengths. Mark its outline on the baffle for guidance. Drill & deburr 12 off 3.2mm holes closely spaced together around the cutout, but well away from it at the aft end to ensure rivet ends are well clear of the fuel hose. Mark through the end and middle holes onto the rubber, punch and cleco in place. Mark remaining holes, remove clecos and punch where marked. Insert clecos in all holes to check fit. Mark around cutout with felt-tip pen. Remove clecos and cut a round-ended slot inside the marked line. Apply red RTV, fit and pull all rivets. Get out fuel hose, check for fit and the slot is too wide! Drill out rivets and recover washers.

Cut off a new pieces of rubber strip. Punch and fit clecos as before. Trace baffle cutout shape and width of fuel hose onto rubber with felt-tip pen. Dismantle and cut a round-ended slot in the rubber, slightly narrower than the hose. Apply RTV but then notice there are only 9 off TAPD46BS rivets left in the bag I've been using. So instead use some of the stainless steel 3.2mm x 8mm rivets that I got for other purposes. Wipe off excess RTV and check fuel hose fit - just fine now.

Cut and fit a couple of lengths of MS21266-1N grommet edging strip in the aft baffle slots for the choke and throttle Bowden cables.

Line up the end of the oil hose that's connected to the oil tank inlet with the sump banjo and mark for cutting. Hacksaw to marked line. Remove banjo cap and am a bit surprised by the amount of oil coming out! Quickly push the hose onto the banjo, but the bend is not right, it is kinking slightly there, so the hose needs to be shorter. Remove hose, recap banjo, cut a little off the hose (easier to get a nice finish with a knife, particularly now that it is lubricated with the oil) and re-try. Still slight kinking, so repeat shortening in small increments until satisfied with the bend and the clearances all along the hose run. It is touching the starboard rear baffle now so relieve that bit more with a file. Despite the plan to anchor the hoses to the engine mount nearby, decide to fit a rubber edge to the baffle for extra safety. Find there is an offcut of the rubber sealing strip that will do nicely. Mark its location on the baffle. Remove baffle and drill 3.2mm in 3 places. Mark the rubber through the holes and punch. Spread a little RTV on the joint area and rivet; there were more TAPD46BS rivets in another bag in box 20. 		3024.5
14 Thinking about the way the fuel return line will go through the top of the footwell, and the desire to have both the hose above and pipe below running parallel to the surface, consider that it might be best to make up a fitting with female pipe threads. A piece of hex aluminium bar could be reduced and threaded to fit through the top surface of the footwell. It could have a blind bore 1/8" NPT in the top threaded section and another intersecting blind bore 1/8" NPT in one side face underneath. The top connection for the 100-04 hose could be either an AN822-4D elbow (no spares in stock) to connect to the planned 101-04 hose end, or an AN842-4D elbow (1 spare in stock) with a 150-04 hose end cover clamp (no spares in stock); the space available might make one or other preferable. Checking the dimensions, the 1/4" nipple on the AN842-4D elbow might be a rather tight fit in the 100-04 hose ID of 3/16". Will need to check if it would go on satisfactorily before any final decision. On the underside, it would be an AN816-4D union (2 spare in stock) for the AN819-4D sleeve and AN818-4D nut on the aluminium pipe. Don't know if I've got a suitable size hex aluminium bar in stock to make this proposed fitting - it would have to be large enough to accept an 8.5mm drilling and 1/8" NPT tapping on the end after turning down to cylindrical for threading. I think whatever size that needs to be would also be big enough to accept the same drilling in one hex face. Also need to consider what size thread and nut is appropriate for upper section; first guess is that AN8 (1/2" x 20TPI UNF, with AN924-5D nut) might be just OK. However, I don't have a die in stock for that size, but I do have a die for AN9 (9/16" x 18TPI UNF) and LAS Aerospace can supply an AN924-6D nut from stock.

Take cowls out of garage. Clear tools etc from underneath fuselage and roll it out onto the drive. Disconnect the throttle and choke cables and remove the oil and water hoses, re-capping the engine orifices. Open the trailer, take out the engine pallet and leave some blue foam in the trailer. Move the engine crane out to the drive and extend the support arms. Remove the fuselage dolly front wheels to let the crane approach close enough to the engine. Attach a loop of rope around the inlet manifolds and crane hook and jack the crane up until the rope is just in tension. Loosen the Allen screws holding the Rotax mount to the Europa mount with 17mm spanner & 8mm hex driver. Adjust crane to keep the engine just supported enough to extract the screws. Pull the engine clear of the fuselage. Replace the screws and nuts finger-tight on the Europa mount. Lower the engine towards the pallet. It's too far away, so lift the forward end of the pallet onto the crane support arms. Lower the engine until the forward transit bolts can be inserted, then lower further for the aft bolts. Slide the pallet off the crane arms and tighten the bolts, adding the spacer on one of the forward ones.

Clear the area at the west side of the garage and vacuum it. Roll the engine pallet down into the garage and position it in the cleared area. Put other tools etc back around it. Roll fuselage back into garage and put toolboxes etc away.

Check aluminium hex bar stock - there are various lengths of 3/8", 1/2", 9/16", 5/8" & 7/8" AF (nominal sizes). Start to draw up possibilities for fuel return line firewall fitting in CADintosh. 		3027.6
15 From my aluminium hex bar stock, I think only the 7/8" hex aluminium bar would be big enough to allow room for the 1/8" NPT side tapping.

Start to check how the AN842-4D elbow might fit into the 100-04 hose, but can't find it straight away. However an AN840-4D is available, so try that in the open end of the 100-04 hose. The initial short straight section is a very tight force fit, and I think that getting the hose over the nipple would be quite difficult. So, that means the AN822-4D is the preferred solution. Looking at the fuel pressure sensor on its bracket I wonder if it would be OK, and easier, to use aluminium pipe for that very short run instead of braided hose. The centreline of the pressure sensor is about 23mm above the mounting plane; will need to draw up the firewall fitting to see how much offset the pipe would have to accommodate. The top of the fitting needs to be long enough to pas through the firewall, plus the thickness of a nut, plus at least one thread clear. In passing I note that the sensor mounting male thread is 5/8" x 18 UNF and needs a steel AN316-10 nut as there doesn't seem to be an aluminium AN924 nut in that size. There is quite a lot of metal left around the 1/8" NPT tapping so I think my intention of threading the top of the firewall fitting 9/16" x 18TPI UNF should be fine.

From the initial drawings of various hex sections, it looks as though 3/4" hex would be the optimum size for the fitting. Have a look online for some 3/4" aluminium hex bar but hard to find in that size - none of the suppliers I've used before now has it in stock. Eventually order a length of 19mm AF on eBay. Delivery is pretty slow, not until Jan or Feb, but that is not a problem.
17 Continue drawing up the fuel return line firewall fitting.

Note that the AN822-4D elbow fitted to the TANK C adaptor has its centreline about 12mm proud of the surface that the NPT thread screws into; that the firewall thickness on the top of the footwell is about 4mm; that the thickness of an AN924-6D nut is 0.266" (6.76mm); and that 1 thread of 9/16" x 18TPI UNF is 0.556" (1.41mm). Thus for the AN822-4D elbow to line up with the AN826-4D on the fuel pressure sender (23mm above the mounting plane), the upper end of the threaded portion of the proposed fitting should be 11mm clear of the footwell top surface. That should leave 3 threads clear of the AN924-6D nut, and the overall length of the threaded portion needs to be 15mm - which is, amazingly enough, exactly what I had chosen on the CADintosh drawing as a good starting point.

Thinking about the sequence of operations, first locate the fitting through the top of the footwell and tighten it in place with the tapping on the underside correctly oriented. Next screw in the AN822-4D elbow to orient it correctly. Fit the fuel pressure sensor to its bracket and screw in the AN826-4D TEE to finish with the side port correctly oriented. Then a suitable short length of 1/4" aluminium pipe will be made up with fittings and flares at both ends. Next that pipe will get fitted to both AN826-4D and AN822-4D, which will define the mounting position of the pressure sender bracket. Drill through the bracket holes into the firewall and fit anchor nuts.

For spanner clearance on the AN818-4D nut, the centreline of the AN816-4D union needs to be at least 10mm away from the mounting surface. I had initially drawn the fitting rather longer than that, but I think about 12.5mm would be a good safe dimension while keeping the aluminium pipe reasonably close to the inner surface of the footwell.

Complete the drawing of the fitting.

With the changes to the fuel return line, I will have to order some more AN hardware, after carefully cross-checking the parts database with what is actually in stock.

Just realised, I don't think I can use the solid aluminium pipe between the fuel pressure sender and the firewall fitting, because the restrictor FS02 has to go inside that connexion. A quick check shows that is true - the restrictor is the same OD as the pipe so definitely won't go into it but it is a tight push fit into the 100-04 hose. Despite the greater length of the 101-04 hose-end (~40mm) compared to the AN818-4D nut & AN819-4D sleeve, there will be no space problem as there is plenty of width on top of the footwell.
20 Undo bolts and nuts holding Europa engine mount to LG frame. There are 4 AN960-516L washers directly under the nuts at the aft end of the (head forward) bolts on the top corners, and no washers elsewhere on those bolts. The lower (head aft) bolts each have 5 AN960-516L washers between the LG frame and the shock mount cup washer, with no washers elsewhere on those bolts.

It's difficult to get the engine mount off - the top bolts are very reluctant to come out of the LG frame and I have to spin them with the cordless drill to get them out. Testing the fit again with the bare bolts shows there is some sort of constriction at the aft end of the LG sleeve. Spin a 5/16" drill bit carefully in each sleeve and that makes things much better. Clean out the sleeves and apply ACF-50.

Tidy up some tools and parts, and remove stuff that has accumulated on top of the build manual, so I can turn to chapter 31, firewall. 		3029.2
22 Offer up lower SS firewall piece to the LG frame. Slot for port side of LG frame is too tight. Trim and smooth it until fit is satisfactory. Apply paint pen to ends of lower LG frame tubes and press firewall piece into place to transfer the paint marks and check the position of the bend line - looks OK. Leave bending until later.

The port and starboard upper firewall pieces seem to fit OK.

The starboard side part is still a problem. It is not fitting close enough to the diagonal tube in the area where the rudder pedal shaft crosses, at least partly because of the need to clear the mounting clip near the top and the protruding end of the LG tube at the bottom. Put the steel former in the bench vise and hammer the firewall piece against it in the offending area. That seems a slight improvement but still far from good enough. Not sure how to achieve the required shape so stop for further thought. 		3030.0
24 Leaving the firewall problem aside for the moment, start to work on replacing the rubber connexions to the aluminium filler pipe with the blue silicon replacements. I'm not sure how I will get the rubber off the other parts - the Loctite 5922 seems to have set pretty firmly where it is exposed to the air. It would be too dangerous to cut along the length of the rubber as that would risk making longitudinal nicks on the aluminium or polyethylene underneath. Will try to cut centrally through both rubber connexions to free the aluminium elbow and thus allow working on the rubber attached to it more easily. That would not solve how to get the rubber off the polyethylene bosses but might give clues about how to proceed most safely.

Loosen off all 4 Jubilee clips (strangely, they have 2 different sizes of hex driver) and start to cut through the upper rubber connexion with a Stanley knife, lubricating the blade for easier action. Pretty hard going, so try a padsaw instead, but first put the vacuum-cleaner hose into the filler neck so that any rubber crumbs are sucked out and do not fall into the tank. Manage without too much difficulty to cut all the way around with the padsaw, protecting the cable conduit under the rubber with an offcut of aluminium sheet. The aluminium pipe is now free to move very slightly, but the bond to the tank boss is too strong to try levering off the lower connexion.

Before starting to split the lower connexion, realise that from the vacuum extraction point of view, I should have done that one first. Re-seal the gap in the upper connexion with insulating tape. Start cutting with the padsaw at the mid-point of the rubber but before long find that I am cutting into the edge of the aluminium. I guess that I butted the end of the aluminium elbow against the tank boss, to minimise the area of rubber exposed to the fuel. Try further cuts with a quadrant saw blade on the oscillating tool, but access is badly impeded by the tank adaptor C immediately above. Looks like that will have to come off to make the job possible at all. (It's also sealed on with Loctite 5922 - boring, boring, boring!)

I wonder if, while I have tank connector C off, I should replace the rubber part with a Samco ProFuel connexion too. But checking the Merlin Motorsport website shows that the straight coupling hoses are only available in IDs 51mm and above! The straight 25mm ID hose is only available in 1m lengths at £75 + VAT. However, maybe a 45 degree elbow would provide enough straight length (102mm to centre of bend) to do the job, as the Europa manual calls out just 40mm for the tank connectors. The cost of that is £23 + VAT and delivery is 56 days, so pause again for thought. 		3031.0
29 With a few minutes available, continue sawing at the lower rubber connector on the fuel filler pipe with a padsaw from the underside. It looks as though I may be able to get it off without removing the vent stuff above it. Progress seems to get very slow as I approach the top edge of the rubber, partly because the saw stroke is more hampered there. 3031.2
31 tick 19mm aluminium hex bar delivered.

With the vacuum cleaner running as before, cut through the last bit of the lower fuel filler rubber connector with the padsaw. Remove the aluminium elbow with the 2 rings of rubber on it. At the lower end the sawcut has removed a sliver of the aluminium but not enough to worry about - the cut was central in the rubber. Try cleaning off the Loctite 5922 around the end of the rubber with acetone, and that seems to dissolve it quite well. As a double-check, try petrol and that does not seem to attack it at all (which is good!).

Carefully slit longitudinally along the rubber at one end of the aluminium elbow with a lubricated knife, going very gently and making sure that the knife does not get deep enough to scratch the aluminium. With pliers, try peeling the rubber back from the cut and that is moderately successful, although the rubber tends to break off if bent too far. However, notice that the Loctite is coming cleanly off the aluminium where the rubber is stressed. Squeeze the rubber all around along its length with pipe pliers and all of a sudden it all comes off quite cleanly. At the other end of the aluminium elbow, squeeze the rubber in the same way and after working all the way around, it also comes off nicely.

Apply the same technique to the rubber on the tank boss and that works well even though I can't get get all the way around it. Similarly, with even more restricted access, the rubber on the filler neck also comes off, although it take longer because it has a greater bond area.

Clean all the Loctite 5922 residue off the aluminium elbow with acetone and clean up the sawn end with a file and emery paper. Wash off all swarf etc inside & out with acetone. Clean the Loctite off the tank and filler bosses, taking care not to get any loose stuff into the tank.

As Tim Houlihan has reported that the first silicon connectors he received were not the correct fuel-proof type because they had been mis-picked, and had to be exchanged, double-check the ones I've got. The pack shows the correct ProFuel product code PSCH/51-BLUE and both are the correct green colour inside.

Get out the tube of Loctite 5922 but consider that it may not be really needed, and may actually make fitting more difficult (as well as messy). Check the fits of the connectors on the aluminium elbow and the plastic bosses - they fit closely but slide smoothly on the aluminium and are slightly easier on the plastic. Because the aluminium elbow almost butts up to both the filler and tank bosses, it is not possible to fit the connectors to the elbow and then to the bosses (nor vice-versa). Instead, slip one connector fully onto the slightly longer upper end of the elbow until it is flush with the end of the elbow. Load the 4 stainless steel clips (SSHC-40-60) onto the elbow with the drivers oriented as required. Next fit the other connector to the lower end of the elbow, with a tiny smear of Loctite 5922 (can't use Loctite on the upper connector because its viscosity makes it impossible to slide the connector on the elbow). Slide this assembly onto the tank boss, again with a tiny smear of Loctite. Swivel the elbow so the upper end aligns with the filler boss and (with some effort) slide the connector up onto the boss. Position all 4 clips and tighten them up (6mm hex heads). Wipe off a little excess Loctite that has appeared around the joints. This now makes the fuel filler compliant with LAA Mod SM14809. 		3032.9
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