Europa #435 G-RODO Build Journal - 2020 03

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day	notes	hours
2	Order more Mikalor spring hose clips, both wire and flat in a couple of sizes, from Advanced Fluid Solutions .
3	Clear garage floor and roll fuselage out onto drive. Re-attach the piece of firewall fabric to the forward end of the cooling duct with clecos. Get the lower cowl out of the trailer Push the duct back up into place in the tunnel and secure with the 6 bolts and 4 stiffnuts. Offer up the lower cowl and start to attach it in the usual way, starting with the top screw at the port side. However, can't get the holes on the starboard side to align. After some unfruitful tries, instead change to the penultimate screw-hole at the bottom which lines up reasonably and get a screw started there. Find a suitable piece of wood and jam it between the ground and the chin of the cowl, to keep the central notch in contact with the propshaft. Now I can get the rest of the screws in. With all screws started but not tightened, ensure that the wooden prop is still keeping the cowl in contact with the propshaft. Tighten all the screws then remove the wooden prop and the cowl sags a couple of millimetres. Get out the upper cowl and place it in position to see how it looks with the lower cowl in the sagged position - not a disaster, but not as good as it was. Remove the upper cowl. Looking at the firewall fabric on the forward end of the duct (which was the main point of fitting the cowl), it does not look at all satisfactory. It is gaping around the cowl inlet and will not really be helping to smooth the flow there. Looks as though it would be better to attach it to the lip of the cowl instead, which promises a smoother transition. Looking up into the aft end of the duct, it is obvious why the cowl was so difficult to fit. The aluminium angle on which the seal at the bottom of the oil cooler is mounted is in close contact with the cowl at the outboard edges. It should have been tapered at the ends and/or folded beyond a right angle. Remove cowl and lay it on the carpet in the garage. Remove firewall fabric from forward end of duct. Offer it up to the inner end of the cowl lip and it seems fine. Drill a 4mm hole central in the cowl lip, about 20mm in from the edge. Enlarge the holes in the firewall fabric to 4mm. Fit the firewall fabric to the cowl lip with a 4mm x 10mm rivet and 4mm washer. Have to use the hand rivet squeezer because the air riveter won't fit within the cowl inlet. Drill through the other 2 holes into the cowl lip and fit rivets there. Pull the firewall fabric tight against the starboard curve of the cowl lip and drill through for another rivet. Fit rivet. Repeat at port side. Remove the seal from the bottom of the oil cooler. The rivets limit access, but with the Gilbow tinsnips chamfer the outboard corners of the aluminium angle, and smooth off with a file. Set up the bench folder and bend the angle a little more. Have to use an offcut of steel plate as a spacer between the rivets to get the bend even all the way across. Re-fit the oil cooler bottom seal. Fit the lower cowl - it goes on easily this time without drama, although some care is needed to ensure that the firewall fabric on the cowl entry aligns properly with the cooling duct. The cowl stays in good contact with the propshaft. However, the last bottom screw on the starboard side won't catch on the anchor nut and when I look inside the cockpit it is obvious why - the anchor nut has detached. Looks as though the rivets have failed; they will need to be drilled out and replaced. The seal on the bottom of the oil cooler is now in satisfactory contact with the cowl all the way across but is not preventing the cowl from assuming its correct position. Remove cowl and store in trailer. Collect tools from drive. Roll fuselage back into garage.	3196.6
4	Hose clips delivered from Advanced Fluid Solutions . Remove the wire-type hose clip from the hose at the expansion tank outlet. Check fit of the band-type clips on the hose; the smaller (14mm) won't go on but the larger (15mm) is OK. Slide one of those along the hose and fit it at the expansion tank outlet. The smaller (13.6 - 14.4mm) wire type clip will not go on either, but the larger (14.4 - 15.1mm) seems if anything to give a slightly tighter grip than the band type. Slide one of those onto the bottom end of the hose, push the hose onto the overflow bottle connexion and fit the clip. Start to look at fitting the water radiator and connecting the water hoses to it. The hose C05 between the water pump and the starboard side of the radiator is slightly obstructed by the C06 oil hose from the pump to the port side of the oil cooler, and the oil hose is touching the hose clip on the TEE for the carb heat. If the oil hose C06 was slightly shorter, that would lower its route and probably keep it clear of C05 water hose. Loosen the hose clip on the port side of the oil cooler. Pull on the hose from above but to no avail. Lever the end of the hose up carefully with a big screwdriver, taking care not to damage the hose barb. Now a good strong wiggling pull gets the hose off. Cut about 30mm off the end of the hose with a knife. Lubricate it with some SAE30 oil and push it back onto the oil cooler barb. Easy enough to get it started and past the seal around the hole in the duct, but can't get it right home. Undo the hose clip at the oil pump and remove the hose there, allowing some slack to be taken aft. Now I can get a better push and wiggle to get the hose down home onto the barb. Re-fit the hose clip there, then re-fit the upper end to the oil pump again and tighten that clip. Re-position the C05 hose which was pulled out of the way while working on C06. It now sits better down against the top surface of the duct, and is barely touching the C06 oil hose.	3197.8
5	Tighten hose clips on pump end and TEE of C05 water hose. C05 is now just clear of C06. Pull both water hoses up away from duct so as not to obstruct radiator connexions while fitting. Offer up radiator to cooling duct with spacer plates and insert bolts. Before the temporary nuts can be tightened, it is clear that the inboard ends of the bolts through CD4 & CD5 will foul the sides of the radiator. Remove the radiator again and reverse each of those bolts in turn. Re-fit the radiator and spacers and tighten up temporary nuts on the bolts. Remove C05 water hose from water pump again and lubricate the bottom end of it. Align with starboard radiator connexion and push on. Quite tricky to get aligned but goes on without too much difficulty once started. Goes fully home onto the top surface of the duct with about 3 hefty pushes.	3199.0
7	Loosen hose clip, remove C04 water hose from expansion tank and withdraw hose, leaving bottom hose clip around radiator connexion. Lubricate radiator connexion and bottom end of hose. With a sharp scalpel, chamfer the inside of the bottom end of the hose to aid entry onto radiator connexion. Push hose back down into place but alignment with radiator connexion is poor. Put a tie-wrap loosely around the bottom of the hose so I can pull it aft and inboard to get it aligned. Push and wiggle to get it started, then move the tie-wrap and hose clip clear of it. Push and wiggle some more, checking the hose clip is not obstructing progress, until the hose end is down flush against the top of the duct. Cut off the tie-wrap. Holding it in position with a screwdriver, tighten the hose clip with a 7mm socket on a 1/4" square extension, working between CD5, duct, and silencer. Re-fit top of C04 to expansion tank and tighten hose clip. Position and tighten hose clip on bottom of C05 in a similar manner to that on C04. Re-fit top end of C05 to water pump and tighten hose clip. Check length of carburettor heat hose coming up from C05 TEE to outboard connexion of starboard carburettor. Cut hose to length and fit hose clip. Lubricate hose and with some effort push on to carburettor heater connexion. Tighten hose clip. Replace each temporary nut on the bolts securing the radiator with a stiffnut in turn, and apply inspectors lacquer. Fit the baffle between the oil cooler and radiator with 1/2" button-head stainless steel screws.	3200.4
10	Re-assemble wheel into undercarriage fork. Fit new lockwire through the 3 bolts on the starboard side.	3202.1
11	Update GANTT chart of project with oil & water hose completions, and add filling of oil, water & fuel systems. Set up the prepared length of 19mm round aluminium bar for the choke handle in the lathe. Face off end. Centre-drill and drill 19mm deep in stages to 6.5mm. Bore out to 14mm ID, approximately, measured with steel rule rather than plug gauge.	3203.4
12	Add filling of brake system to GANTT chart. Reverse the choke handle workpiece in the lathe chuck. Face to length, centre drill, drill and bore to 14mm ID as for first end. Set it up in the milling vise to mill a flat along one side, but the 12mm end mill is giving a very poor finish. Not really sure what's wrong, but changing to a different 12mm end mill solves the problem and gives a nice finish. Once the flat is about 9.5mm wide, invert the workpiece and mill a similar flat on the other side. Next grip on the flats and centre under the spindle. Centre-drill and drill through 5mm. Change to 10mm slot drill and bore 2.5mm deep. Invert in vise and centre on spindle using 5mm drill bit. Bore 10mm, 4mm deep. Smooth off sharp edges with wire wool and ScotchBrite wheel. Put the 3/8" hex aluminium bar, for the other part of the handle, in the lathe chuck and face off. Skim off the sharp corners for as much of the length as is accessible. Turn the end down to 10mm diameter for 2.5mm. Centre drill then drill through to 4.2mm. Tap M5 for 13.5mm. Reverse workpiece in lathe chuck and face off to length. Drill 5.3mm, 14mm deep, then tap 1/4" x 26TPI BSF. Smooth off sharp edges with file, steel wool and ScotchBrite wheel. Assemble with M5 x 25mm button-head socket screw; it looks fine and fits nicely on the choke cable. It's now much easier to apply the choke. Will need to get it engraved.	3207.5
13	For the angled spacer on the end of the upper inboard screw holding the oil tank bracket, decide to use 19mm (3/4") aluminium round bar as it is nearer the size of the AN970-3 washer it is replacing. Cut off a length of about 20mm, chuck in lathe and face off. Centre drill and drill through 4.9mm in stages. Remove from lathe, check fit on screw - much too long, as expected. Holding in bench vise, file off at an angle. Check fit - needs to be angled more. File and check repeatedly, hollowing the shape with a half-round file, until satisfied with the fit and the length. Smooth off sharp edges with a fine file. Fit with a stiffnut and all looks OK.	3209.0
14	On the bottom cowl fixing position on the starboard side, where the anchor nut came loose, drill out from the bottom the failed rivets 2.6mm. Deepen the countersinks slightly and carefully from the bottom with a 5.5mm drill bit. Check rivet protrusion - looks OK now. Because my arms are not long enough to reach both inside and outside, hold a temporary 1/2" screw in place on the outside with Blu-Tack while I drop the anchor nut onto it on the inside. Place TAPK36BS rivets in the holes to keep the anchor nut in position, and tighten the screw to hold the anchor nut firmly. Remove rivets and set them from outside using the spacer as usual. They seem to have formed adequate-sized heads on the anchor nut lugs and it all looks OK. Remove temporary screw.	3210.0
16	After finding that Timpsons could not do the engraving on the choke handle deep enough for filling with enamel, consider that I might be able to do an adequate job with the letter punches. Experiment on a piece of 3mm aluminium plate. Just hitting the "O" letter punch with a hammer is a bit unsatisfactory as it's hard to get an impression that's even all over. After several tries, find that hitting it several times after careful re-positioning of the punch gives the best result, but is pretty tedious. Next try putting the punch under the lever press and that gives a much more reliably even impression. Adding the handle extension allows the punch to go fully into the aluminium sheet. File down the raised edges of the impressions with the millennicut file and rub down with emery paper. Clean off with acetone and allow to dry. Spread some black Humbrol enamel on to the test impressions and wipe off the surplus. Looks promising. Turn over the offcut of aluminium and do the full word "CHOKE" on it with the press. Clean up with the belt sander and then emery paper. Clean with acetone, spread on enamel and wipe off as before. Looks not bad, even though the line-up and spacing of the letters was done entirely by eye. Didn't bother logging the time this took as I thought it might be a dead-end. Will have to make an insert to support the thin walls of the handle while punching the letters, and maybe also make a jig to keep them aligned.
17	After the reasonable success of the trial with the letter punches, decide to proceed with using them on the choke handle. Find an offcut of 20mm round aluminium bar that could be turned down to about 14mm to make a supporting insert. Chuck it in the lathe, face off and turn down the outer 16mm or so until it fits in the larger end of the choke handle. The other end is a bit smaller so cut off the turned section and repeat the process on the remaining length to fit the smaller end of the handle. The difference between the bores is 0.35mm - not too bad considering they were only measured with a steel rule. Make up a jig from L-section aluminium extrusion to hold the handle and punch in correct alignment. Add a spacer to centre the punch on the flat, then adjust handle position with shims for fine correction. Hold everything together with small G-cramps. With both plugs inserted, punch the letters in the arbour press, starting in the centre with "O" and working outwards in both directions. When all punched, the "O" impression is shallower than the others. Line up the punch again and give it more pressure in the press, but it doesn't seem to go much deeper. The plugs are very difficult to remove - eventually get them out by twisting with Mole grips. The ends are badly scarred where the punches have struck. I guess I should have made the plugs in steel rather than aluminium so that they would not deform so easily. Using the belt sander as a linisher, remove the upsets around the letters, then smooth off with 240 & 320 grade emery paper. The "O" is now looking quite faint compared to the other letters.	3212.8
23	Clamp the choke handle in the jig again, but without the end plugs. Carefully line up the "O" punch with the existing (rather shallow) impression and give it a whack with a 4lb club hammer. Result is deeper but not quite even top-to bottom. Repeat with punch very slightly angled and that is better. Repeat the process with the "H" punch. Roll the fuselage out onto the drive for access. Consider routing out more under the port side seat foam insert that covers the fuel weight sensor but decide to leave that for today. Note while I have the foam insert up that it will need further fettling to clear the seat harness, when it is fitted. Add seat harness fitting to GANTT chart. Check position where conduit can be fitted on port side of cockpit forward of headrest. Offer up the instrument module to confirm clearance from the conduit and where wires could enter it. Looks like the wires should enter via a hole to be made in the base near the port forward corner. Mark and cut a length of the smaller size oval conduit, allowing a small gap at the headrest for the analogue fuel sensor wires and a larger gap clear of the firewall at the forward end. Mark with felt-tip pen at the reinforcement bulge on the cockpit side. Gently heat with the hot-air gun and bend to clear the bulge. Get out the previously-made clips for this size conduit. With the port door open, speedclamps will just reach as far down as the conduit line. Find some pieces of SRBF to hold against the tabs of the clips, and some pieces of wood to bridge between the SRBF blocks. Abrade the bonding areas in 4 places on the cockpit side, and the underside of the clips. Mix some 5-minute epoxy & spread some of it on the bonding areas for a clip near the middle of the conduit, and on the tabs of one clip. Hold the conduit & clip in place, apply a small piece of polyethylene sheet over it, then position 2 blocks of SRBF on the tabs and place a piece of wood across them. Holding all that in place, fit a speedclamp to apply some pressure while the epoxy cures. Repeat the process for the clip near the aft end, and again for the one at the forward end of the door aperture. At the forward end of the conduit it's not possible to get a speedclamp on the spot so look for a length of wood and a wedge to jam against the tunnel. While looking for the wedge, spot some wooden bridges I'd already made for this size of clip. Mix a small additional batch of epoxy and apply it to the cockpit side and the clip. Apply polyethylene sheet and the wooden bridge, then jam it in place with a length of wood against the side of the tunnel. While I've got good access outside, replace the spreader bar across the aft end of the sub-dolly. Need to jack up the steel dolly to let wooden sub-dolly move for hole alignment. Insert bolts, fit nuts and tighten. The sample of 5-minute epoxy on the mixing platter is still tacky (quite cool outside despite the sunshine) so leave the conduit clips clamped up. Roll fuselage back into garage.	3215.3
24	Roll fuselage out onto drive. Remove clamps from conduit clips. Thread the trim cable through the new section of conduit. Get out the fuel weighing module and store it in the port headrest. Measure and mark the small oval conduit for the route on the cockpit floor between the port stick and the firewall, along the front of the seat and the base of the tunnel. Cut to overall length then part-cut and bend for the inboard aft corner. Trim to allow a bit of room for encouraging wires around the corner. Measure, mark and cut another length for the vertical run up the tunnel/firewall joint. Select composite clips for securing the conduit in 7 places; 1 is plain as used yesterday, the rest are corner-style. Mark and trim the tabs as needed. Vacuum and blow out dust from cockpit floor. Start to figure out clamping arrangements for bonding clips. Some can be just weighted down with the cast lead weights but most will need something more clever. Note that, for the starboard side, I will need to make some new composite clips in the sizes for the fuel return line and the larger oval conduit.	3217.1
25	Roll fuselage out onto drive for access. Remove stuff stored on port seat and lift inboard blue foam piece. Check what tubing is to be used for the vent side of the fuel weight sensor - it's the 1/8" bore polyurethane from LAS Aerospace , and I recall that it needs to be expanded slightly with a warm mandrel before it will go onto the transducer port easily. Can't find the small Eliza Tinsley hose clips that I got from B&Q , and thought I'd stored with the tubing Consider the route for the wiring from the fuel weight transducer to the instrument panel. I had originally thought it would go up along the outboard corner of the seat to enter the conduit under the door frame by the headrest, but now realise it could go forwards through the thigh locker instead, to join the conduit from the stick. It would need some protection from damage inside the thigh locker. That would be a shorter route and avoid the need for a conduit up the corner of the seat. Mark out underside of blue foam piece for the wiring and tubing routes. Looks as though the vent tube could turn quite sharply and go back over the top of the transducer box towards the aft inboard corner. The wiring will have to curl up to make room for the connectors - wonder if a light circular container could be used there to keep the wires dressed. Fit the router attachment to the Dremel tool and rout out new slots and recesses for wires and tubing. Need to use the Dremel freehand for the deeper areas. Alas, when I try the vent tube in the proposed position over the top of the box, it kinks and flattens which I don't think it did on the first trial. Anyway, a smoother and less sharp curve can be had by taking it around the inboard side of the box so rout out a rebate for that. The recess looks a reasonable size for the wires but will need to be a bit deeper in the middle for the connectors. Check with a torch how close to the corner of the the thigh support a hole could go for the wires. Drill a small hole, starting with the bit at right angles to the surface, then tilting the drill to go as near parallel to the cockpit floor as possible. Enlarge the hole to 8.5mm, just big enough for the sleeving to enter. Working from inside the thigh locker with the Tight Fit drill kit, drill a hole in the inboard corner of the front face of the thigh support opposite where the bend in the conduit will be. Enlarge the hole slightly with the Dremel to admit the sleeving. Offer up the conduit to check to check alignment and relieve the gap at the bend to allow free entry from the new hole. Poke the sleeving through the thigh locker from the aft end. It is unwilling to go through the forward hole, but putting a small dowel inside the end keeps it circular and helps to get it through. Cut off sleeve with generous length each end. Dab some UHU clear glue on the sleeving at both ends and wiggle back & forth to get the glue spread into the holes. Place dowels in each end of the sleeving to keep it circular while the glue sets. Roll fuselage back into garage. Note that I will need to make some composite clips to retain the sight-gauge tubing on the seatback, and also some for the fuel weight sensor vent tube - maybe double-barrel clips to hold both? Have a look online for the small hose clips in case I can't find the really safe place where I've put mine. B&Q have them but cannot make deliveries at present. Advanced Fluid Solutions do have a good selection available, including types with a single clenching ear, which might make things easier in the confined space of the transducer box. Will check tomorrow what size is needed.	3220.3
26	Roll fuselage out onto drive for access. Remove dowels from sleeving through thigh locker - forward one has gone in too far to grip and has to be blasted out from aft end with air line. Trim excess sleeve at both ends. Check fit of conduit and trim forward end of sleeve a bit more. Hold the conduit in place at the base of the tunnel and check that a length of 22AWG wire will push through and self-guide into the forward section of the conduit. Offer up the F14 Instrument Module to check where the wires from the vertical section of this conduit will enter the IM. Had forgotten that the conduit comes up in the now-redundant sight tube recess, so it could actually have been a bit longer. File off a corner of the IM to ensure clearance for the wiring. Noting that there is no need for a grommet at that point, wonder if it would be possible to use a similar notch-type wire entry at the port side of the IM rather than a grommet through it. Decide a grommet is the sensible approach - although it might be attractive from a maintenance viewpoint to be able to remove the IM without disturbing the wiring, I think that cutting away the flange and floor of the IM for a notch would compromise its strength and rigidity undesirably. Look through the stock of grommets for one to suit the wires coming through the port side conduit. Find a plastic Heyco bushing that looks promising. All of the rubber grommets are designed for thin panels and are no good for the thick composite of the IM. Check the OD of the 1/8" bore polyurethane tubing for the fuel weight transducer vent. Although one short piece is 6.5mm natural size and 7mm when expanded to fit the transducer, the long piece of stock that will reach to the filler vent connexion is only 4.5mm natural size. When expanded, a 5mm hose clip should be OK on that. I think I should make an aluminium mandrel which can be heated in boiling water for expanding the end of the tube. Returning to the wiring along the port side, check the conduit schedule for all the wires that have to go between the headrest and the IM. I had forgotten that the pitot and static tubing also have to go in that conduit, and of course the small conduit is too small for that! Start to think about cutting off the composite clips to remove the small conduit, and find that the el-cheapo 5-minute epoxy is losing its grip on the clips. It's quite easy to peel off all 4 clips and the conduit without damage. Most of the remaining epoxy is quite soft and can be scraped off with a chisel. Now there is a more urgent need for the larger size of composite clips! Check the length of wiring harness supplied with the analogue fuel sensor and it is plenty, even though the blade connectors at the aft end will need to be cut off and re-made inside the headrest. Store that harness in the plastic box with some other electrical items and the now-redundant DL10 etc. Store the Anixter plastic bushes for the sight gauge and vent tubing in the plastic box with the fuel fittings etc. Cut a length of the larger oval conduit for the port side. Fill it with sand to see if that helps to keep it in shape while bending. Gently warm with hot-air gun and bend carefully to clear the bulge in the fuselage side. Not sure if the sand is actually helping. Roll fuselage back into garage. Order some small hose clips from Advanced Fluid Solutions .	3223.5
28	Order some Araldite Rapid in syringe packs from an eBay online seller. Cut off about 240mm of 10mm OD aluminium tube to use as a former when making the clip layup for the sight tube, and find a length of 1/4" OD aluminium fuel pipe for the fuel return line clip layup. That size should also be about right for the vent tube from the fuel weight transducer. Cut off about 240 mm of the larger oval conduit for a former. Find a sheet of plywood about 350mm square to do the layup on, and 4 strips of wood to weigh down between the formers. Position the formers on the plywood with patches of double-sided tape to hold them in place. Cut a couple of pieces of polyethylene sheet to go above and below the layup. Cut 2 pieces of BID about 250mm x 250mm and lay each one on a polyethylene sheet. Mix a peg-2 (36g) batch of Ampreg 21 and wet out one piece of BID. I had forgotten how Ampreg 21 needs more time and encouragement to wet the glass fully. Lay the 2nd piece of BID on the 1st and stipple with a brush. At first it looks as though I'll need more epoxy, but after a while it wets through completely. Lay the 2nd polyethylene piece on top and drape the assembly over the formers. Position and press down the wooden strips between and outside the formers and put lead weights on them to hold them down. Take the whole thing in to the boiler cupboard to cure overnight.	3225.2
29	Clip layup cured; remove from boiler cupboard and peel off polyethylene sheet.
30	Small hose clips delivered from Advanced Fluid Solutions . Rule off sides of layup with felt-tip pen to make neat edges on outer tab areas and trim with large cutoff wheel in Dremel tool. Mark at 10mm intervals along length and extend marks across width with engineers square. Mark along centres of tabs between forms and cut into 3 pieces. Cut the 4mm clip length into 23 off 10mm slices and store in a plastic tub. Label the other tubs with the sizes and types of clips they contain.	3225.8
31	Cut off 23 off each of 7mm clips and 27mm conduit clips and store in marked tubs. I think it's now safe to fit the aft baffle. Fit wire 101 to the starter motor terminal with a stiffnut (10mm AF) and wire 104 to the earth terminal on the starter motor with a socket head screw and stiffnut (5mm hex key & 10mm AF). Thread wire 101 through the bush and offer up the baffle to the firewall, sliding the Bowden cables into the side slots. Place 0.5" button-head stainless steel socket screws in the 3 firewall fixing positions, but can't seem to get them started in the anchor nuts. Don't recall much trouble when I did an early test assembly.	3226.8

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