Europa #435 G-RODO Build Journal - 2020 06

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day	notes	hours
2	Fit fire extinguisher doubler (but not yet bracket), just loosely with the 2 screws at inboard end - have to loosen busbar assembly again to get the doubler in underneath the MGL instruments. Try fitting the sub-panel switch guards with the legend plate in place, but the rear recesses are not deep enough now to get the nuts on. Try enlarging the recesses with a 10mm bit at very low speed in the cordless drill. That allows the nuts to get started, but now not enough room to get a socket or box spanner on them. Fit a round Perma-Grit burr in the Dremel tool and carve out the recesses by hand. Not very pretty, but does the job and there is now plenty of room to get at the nuts. Fit the 3 switch guards and tighten the nuts finger-tight with a socket on the screwdriver handle. Fit trim fuseholder. Tighten backnut with adjustable spanner as I don't have an 18mm open-end spanner. Similarly fit and secure stall warner fuseholder.	3284.5
3	Insert fan and strobe switches into sub-panel and tighten up the front nuts with 15mm AF deep socket. Offer up battery master switch to sub-panel and check length of wire tails 109 & 133 for load busbar. Trim slightly. Remove switch, strip wires and crimp with yellow 4mm ring. The wires are too short to put a label at the busbar end. Fit switch to sub-panel and tighten front nut with 9/16" AF deep socket. Fit ring terminals to load busbar. Repeat the process for wires 136 & 137 on the alternator master switch. Strip, label & terminate wires 113 and 132 on the battery busbar. Strip, label & terminate wires 134 and 135 on the alternator busbar. Check length of wire 602 to trim fuseholder and shorten slightly. Strip, label and terminate with red female blade. Connect to fuseholder. Similarly label, terminate and fit wire 610 to stall warner fuseholder. As things now seem almost ready to fit the F14 Instrument Module to the firewall, re-fit the fire extinguisher bracket. Offer up the IM to the firewall and lead all the trailing wires from the firewall through the IM. Attach IM to firewall with a few temporary screws. It would probably be good to fit any other antennae before finally fixing the IM in place. Also will need bushed holes for wires entering the IM from the 4 conduits - want to avoid the chance of wires chafing on the edge of the fibreglass. Get out the 3 antennae from the Garrecht TRX-2000 box and the GPS puck from the Dynon D2 box. I had thought that there was an external antenna for the Airbox Aware but it appears not. Search online for guidance on GPS antenna spacing. A Garmin website for marine applications suggests half a foot between GPS antennae, which sounds fine to me. Search online for supplier of Heyco bushings, and find Optimas in UK. Alas, their minimum quantity is 1000 pieces - slightly more than I need! They offer samples on their website but the process for ordering them isn't working for me so put in a request by e-mail instead.	3287.0
4	Update wire database with yesterday's terminations and upload current list to website. Take antennae (3 TRX-2000 & one Dynon D2) down to garage. Check that there is room for the 2 additional GPS antennae on top of the F14 Instrument Module with 6" spacing, which seems OK. Would be even better if the middle one could be near the aft edge of the IM to make triangular rather than linear spacing, so that the port one could be more on the flattish top of the IM rather than slightly down the side slope. Will need to check how much intrusion that would make into the eye line. The 2 dipoles for the TRX-2000 could go inside the IM at each end, mounted on the near-vertical faces - it seems possible to get reasonable clearance from other metalwork. I am not sure how good the 3M adhesive patches on them will be, but note that a 7mm composite cable clip would fit quite neatly over each dipole arm.
5	Take main instrument panel down from office to garage. Remove F14 Instrument Module from firewall. Fit radio and main panels to IM. Check from firewall side where TRX-2000 dipoles can go, and trace their outlines on the inside of the IM with a felt-tip pen. Remove instrument panels from IM. Check locations for GPS antennae. The Velcro mounting pad for the Dynon one will raise it higher than the other one. So the best compromise seems to be for the TRX-2000 GPS antenna to be towards the pilot near the eyebrow of the IM, and the Dynon one near the firewall. But the latter location needs to be checked with the IM fitted to the firewall so it will be clear of the windscreen frame. Also will need to consider where the cables should enter the IM - taking them across to the grommet for the Garmin GPS antenna cable might waste too much length and leave loose leads flapping around on top of the IM. Probably best to have a dedicated adjacent grommet for each one, and as the connectors are quite small, the grommets do not need to too large. Search again online for Heyco bushes and find both 25.4mm & 12.7mm for sale on eBay, so order some of each. If I route the wiring from all of the conduits through these bushes, it will restrict removal of the IM thereafter for maintenance, so I might want to think again. Perhaps a grommet in a notch might be better.	3288.0
6	Search online for grommets suitable for thick panels (most of my stock are for thin metal panels and won't fit the thick glassfibre walls of the F14 Instrument Module. Find that Vital Parts have a wide range of grommets to suit various panel thicknesses. Order a selection from 6mm ID to 22mm ID for both 2mm & 3mm panel thickness.
9	Abrade the bonding area inside the port side of the F14 Instrument Module for the GPX-2000 ADS-B dipole and degrease with acetone. Shorten the tabs on 4 off 7mm composite cable clips. Abrade and degrease the tabs. Stick the antenna in place with the 3M adhesive pad. Mix a small batch of 90-second epoxy, spread it on the tabs of 2 clips and place them on the roots of the dipole. No need to hold them in place for long as epoxy gets viscous very quickly. Repeat the process for the FLARM dipole at the starboard side of the IM. Consider while working in that area that the audio-out wires on the soldered joints could do with some support. Find an offcut of pre-preg with a bend from the cockpit module that might serve. Cut off a potentially-suitable piece. The bent foot area is slightly curved. Cut a slot out of the middle of it to make 2 tabs. Clamp the tabs between 2 pieces of aluminium angle and heat it well with the hot-air gun, with the intention of getting it above the glass transition temperature so the tabs will soften and re-set in alignment. Leave it clamped up to cool.	3289.1
11	13-off Heyco 20mm ID snap bushings SB-1.00-12 delivered from eBay seller. Surprised to notice that they have a rather sharp lip on the inside. Maybe it could be softened with a bearing scraper. Find that, although I'd never noticed it before, all the assorted Heyco bushes I have in stock are the same!
12	Grommets delivered from Vital Parts . Unclamp the angled piece of pre-preg. The tabs are now quite well in line. Cut and shape another piece of the pre-preg offcut to form a buttress. Abrade and degrease the mating areas. Mix a batch of Rapid Araldite and add a small dose of flox to stiffen it. Spread on bonding areas of both pieces and press into contact. With an acetone-wetted spatula, remove excess epoxy and smooth into a small fillet each side of the buttress edge joint. Leave to cure fully. Check the grommet sizes for the GPS antenna leads and connectors. There is actually a smaller one in stock that suits the TRX-2000 lead better than any of those in today's delivery. For the Dynon lead, one of 6mm ID can just be persuaded over the plug, and a 10mm hole in a test piece will admit the plug after making it very slightly oval with a round file. Offer up wire support beside audio wiring and mark location of tabs on inside of F14 Instrument Module. Abrade tabs and bonding area and degrease with acetone. Mix a batch of 90-second epoxy and spread onto tabs and bonding area. Position wiring support and hold in place until epoxy cures. Review sizing and possible locations of grommets at port side of IM. I will probably have to remove the busbars again for safety when drilling holes. My earlier idea of putting the wires in a slot does not look good - cutting through the bottom flange of the IM would weaken it and compromise its stiffness significantly. So, need to be sure that IM will not need to come off the firewall again once the wiring and tubing from the conduits is drawn through. I should have enough slack in the wires already made up to leave at least a small maintenance loop by the grommets.	3291.0
13	10 off Heyco snap bushes SB.625-8 delivered from eBay seller. Cut off some excess length from the wiring support with the Dremel cutoff wheel. Drill several holes in support and fit cable ties to secure the wiring to it. Replace the standard M3 washers on the screws for the GR6 regulator connector block with M3 penny washers. Abrade the aluminium nutplate and the fitting area for it inside the top of the port footwell and degrease with acetone. Mix a small batch of Rapid Araldite and spread onto nutplate. Offer up the nutplate inside footwell and engage screws. Tighten the screws only enough to hold nutplate in place, but not enough to compress the relatively soft insulation of the connector block.	3292.0
16	Review the conduit schedule and add one omitted wire. Consider that it might be useful to have a location diagram for the electrical items. Offer up F14 Instrument Module to firewall and draw all the wires from the firewall through it. Fit IM to firewall with a few temporary screws. Check the locations (6" apart) for the GPS antennae and mark locations for the cable holes with white paint marker. Check locations for grommets or bushes on the base of the IM to take the wire and tube bundles from the conduits. Check what size is needed for each of the bundles. The Heyco 0.625" snap bush looks OK for both port and starboard sides. For the bundles coming up the side of the tunnel, the 6mm ID grommet (10mm panel hole) looks good. A quick smooth with the bearing scraper removes the slight lip I noticed before on the Heyco snap bushes. Remove IM from firewall. Drill 1/4" for the TRX-2000 GPS antenna cable grommet near the aft lip of the IM. Degrease with a light wipe of methylated spirits the bonding area adjacent to the hole. Insert the lead and the grommet, then bond the antenna adjacent. Repeat the process for the Dynon antenna with a 10mm hole and insert lead and grommet. Degrease bonding areas. Attach the hook face of the Velcro pad to the antenna and bond the assembly to the IM adjacent to the cable hole. At the port side of the IM, do a final check of the position of the bush and drill a pilot hole. Open it up to 16mm with a step drill and deburr. Fit a snap bush, inserted from the upper side. At the starboard side, use the step drill to make a 16mm hole at the marked position and deburr. Fit snap bush. Use the step drill again to make 10mm holes near the centre and fit grommets there. The ones for 2mm panel thickness fit best. Offer up the IM again to the firewall and draw the wires from the firewall through it. Start to fit the AN525-10R14 screws called out in the manual, but it seems they are a bit long. AN525-10R12 fit better. For the fixings along the bottom edge where the anchor nuts are on the thinner aluminium sheet, AN525-10R10 are more than sufficient. It's a bit tricky getting the 2 lower screws at the starboard side done up because the fuel pressure sender and the fuel return line restrictor assembly are blocking the original straight-line access to the screw heads. Should have noticed that when planning the fuel return line route! However, it's possible to tighten the screws using the Armeg ratchet driver - with a single extension for the one accessed through the battery box; and with 2 extensions in tandem for the other one, in between the battery box and the overflow bottle. The single long 1/4" hex extension is just too long to be used here.	3295.1
17	Fit remainder of screws securing F14 Instrument Module to firewall (5 off AN525-10R12 & 2 off AN525-10R10). Looking at manifold pressure sensor near the fixings reminds me that I haven't yet sorted out the mounting for the filter/water trap device. The airline one I bought and for which I made adaptors to take the 4mm ID tubing is quite tall with everything assembled and won't fit directly below the sensor so the tube will need to have a loop. Consider instead using one of the redundant Sytec PRO805 filters supplied in the kit for the fuel system. That would be slightly lighter and potentially shorter. It could be held in a couple of Terry clips - the ones I have in stock marked LS.101/15 seem ideal. The fixing holes are 3.9mm but are quickly opened to 4mm for rivets. Dismantle one PRO805 filter to check the dimensions of the end connexions. The ID of the nipples is slightly tapered from about 5.1mm to 5.6mm, suggesting that the part is a casting. The plain ID is about 17mm long, so it could be shortened to about 8mm. The best thread fit for the ID would be 1/4" - 28 UNF. Chuck one end fitting in the lathe and part off the end of the nipple leaving about 8mm of plain bore. Grip a 1/4"-28 UNF tap in tailstock chuck and start it in the bore to make sure it goes in square. Remove workpiece from chuck to complete the tapping using a tap wrench, holding the hex of the workpiece in an adjustable spanner. Clean up and blow out with the air line. Repeat the whole process on the other filter end fitting. Assemble the filter, including the LC-042G-2 spring. Check journal of 2016-04-19 for the machining sequence for the adaptor made to fit the carb balance pipe. Cut off about 25mm of 1/4" hex brass rod and chuck in lathe. Face off and turn down the outer 10mm to 4.32mm OD (should have stopped at 4.5mm but wasn't paying attention!). Turn the inner 7mm of that down to 4mm OD to leave a slight nipple on the outer 3mm. Centre drill and drill through 2.4mm. Chamfer the end slightly with a smooth file. Reverse in chuck, holding about 4mm of the hex section in the jaws, and face off to total length of about 23mm (10mm nipple, 5mm full hex, 8mm thread).	3298.2
18	Turn down the outer 8mm of the workpiece until the flats of the hex barely disappear. Using tailstock dieholder, thread it 1/4"-28 UNF. Reverse die in holder and run it up again so the threads go as close to the shoulder as possible. Remove from chuck and clean with air line. Check for fit in end of filter but it won't go in. For sanity, check an AN4 bolt and it fits OK. OD over bolt threads is 6.24, over workpiece threads is 6.34. Re-chuck workpiece, return die to normal face and close it very slightly. Run it along the thread again. Remove from chuck and blow clean. Now it fits easily in the end of the filter. Repeat the machining process on a second 25mm length of 1/4" brass rod to produce a second adaptor. Dismantle the filter and degrease the ends and the adaptors with petrol. Blow dry with air line. Assemble each adaptor to the filter end cap using Loctite 577 thread sealant. Assemble the complete filter. Consider various graphical ways of documenting the physical wire routings but eventually decide to do it in FileMaker Pro . Start by creating a new file but later realise it makes sense to just have extra tables in the wire labelling database file, so import the tables and their data. Start to enter data.	3300.1
19	While entering data for the various wires and cables routes, and thinking about adding explicit connector details to the wiring diagrams, consider that it might be desirable to have the strobe cables screened where they run alongside other wiring. I have some 3-core screened in stock, but it is 24AWG and it would be best to use 22AWG to match the supplied cables. Check availability from Parts For Aircraft and order 8m of 3-core screened 22AWG. While on the website, I am drawn to the new instruments from MGL with colour displays and notice that the latest version of the temperature and pressure display (Vega TP-3) can have up to 4 inputs, rather than the 2 on the TP-1 I am using now. That would solve the problem of how to display the water temperature, so after checking dimensions to ensure it will be a drop-in replacement and reading the manual to be sure it will do what I want, decide to order one.
20	While editing a copy of the TP-1 wiring diagram to turn it into the TP-3 diagram, notice that I have missed an important point about the earth lines on both TP-1 and E-3 - they both need to go direct to the engine block, not via the common earth point. Will need to add a couple of extra wires through the firewall for that. Complete TP-3 diagram and add it to wirebook, replacing TP-1 diagram. Edit E-3 diagram to show earth wire going to engine block and update wirebook with that change. Edit wire labelling database to reflect change from TP-1 to TP-3 and earth wire changes. Consider that it would be useful to have an items table in the wiring database, so add it. Remove F14 Instrument Module again for access to back of TP-1 and to firewall for fixing MPS-1 filter. Mark position of clips for filter on firewall with felt-tip pen. Drill 4mm. Fit clips using 4mm x 11mm closed-end rivets with M4 penny washers on cockpit side. Try to feed a piece of 22AWG wire through the firewall penetration, but it's not stiff enough to go all the way through. Even the 80lb nylon line doesn't want to go through. Find a length of 3/16" OD aluminium tube. Smooth the end of it with steel wool and push it gently through the firewall penetration. Now wires will go through easily. Check the size of screw used to secure the temporary magneto shorting wire to the top of the engine block - it is M8. I do not have any M8 red ring terminals in stock but the M6 red rings have quite a bit of metal around the hole. Try enlarging a few of them with a step drill to 8mm and that is fairly successful. After starting to enter some data in the items table, realise that the item data has mostly been entered in the load analysis database file, which was later expanded to include switches, fuses and lamps. Move that file to the same directory as the wire labelling one for easy linking.	3301.6
21	Link wiring and electrical items databases, create data entry layout and enter location data. Add wire 218 for strobe case earth to wire database & modify misc wiring diagram. Also identify the terminals in the USB & other power outlet circuits. Update PDF and wirebook. Add strobe cables to wire database; cores still outstanding.
22	Add strobe cable inners to wiring database and update website copy of wire list. Print new labels for wires 316, 335 & 350. Push a couple of generous lengths of 22AWG wire through the aluminium tube in the firewall penetration. Disconnect wire 350 from engine side of firewall common earth point and shorten it suitably for connecting to engine block earth point instead. Terminate and label wires 316, 335 & 350 to a single 8mm red ring terminal (one of those modified from 6mm) and fit the terminal to the engine block under the temporary magneto-shorting terminal. Remove the aluminium tube and label the cockpit ends of wires 316 & 335 with tape flags. Remove TP-1 from F14 Instrument Module sub-panel and box it up for later disposal. Check the potential location of the USB outlet on the side of the IM above the shelf. Needs to be near the aft (panel) edge of the IM to keep it away from the TRX2000 FLARM dipole. Fairly high would keep it clear of the items on the radio panel, and of anything on the shelf.	3303.7
23	Fit radio panel temporarily to F14 Instrument Module with a couple of screws. Check USB power outlet location and mark suitable spot on inside of IM. Remove radio panel. Drill a pilot hole in the centre of the marked area. Open to 26mm with step drill and enlarge slightly more with taper reamer until USB socket just goes in. There is a slight step beyond the threads which needs a tiny bit more enlarging of the hole to get home fully. Align socket so that USB plug will show the logo facing towards P2 and tighten backnut. Can't find a tubular spanner big enough to fit it, but eventually find that a 1.25" socket will grip OK. Obviously can't fit a square drive as the wires are in the way, but I can grip the socket by hand and tighten the nut enough for it to feel secure.	3304.1
24	3-core screened cable and MGL TP-3 delivered from Parts For Aircraft . Connect the TP-3 to power and it lights up very pleasingly.
27	Fit TP-3 to F14 Instrument Module sub-panel as for the other MGL instruments with plain nuts captive in the recess and stiffnuts behind the panel. As usual need to hold the screw heads with the hex driver to ensure they do not turn while tightening the stiffnuts. Fit the high-density connector and tighten the securing screws. Fit connector to BAT-1 and start to tighten the screws but they seem to stiffen up as if not the right thread or cross-threaded. Try to undo them and the pillars come off together with the instrument backplate! Remove the whole assembly and look for an open-ended spanner to hold the pillars. 5MM AF seems to fit OK and I can undo the screws. Re-assemble the backplate and pillars to the instrument using a 5mm AF deep socket. Fit the connector again and the screw tighten up within a very few turns. The rectangular washers under the screw head appear to be firmly seated on the connector shell, so that seems OK now. Fit lower connector to E-3 and do up the retaining screws. The upper connector is not used in my configuration, but double-check the manual in case any of the wires in it need to be grounded when not in use. Apparently no such requirement, so leave that connector off. Number the conduit clips 1-5 for the starboard footwell conduit sections. Abrade the clips and the corresponding bonding areas.	3306.3
29	Degrease conduit clips and bonding areas in starboard footwell with acetone. Mix a batch of 90-sec epoxy and apply it to clips #1 & #2. Position them on the bottom piece of conduit and hold in place until the epoxy appears to have cured. However, after releasing finger pressure, the #2 clip pops off. Remove both of them, abrade and clean up again. The side of the tunnel is slightly concave and the #2 conduit clip was having to pull the conduit in towards the tunnel. Mix another batch of 90-sec epoxy and spread it on clips #1 and #3 as well as the corresponding bonding areas. Only just time to do that and press the clips into place before the epoxy starts to gel. Hold clips in place for a couple of minutes and this time they stay in place when I take my hands away. Mix another small batch of 90-sec epoxy and apply it to clip #5 for the top of the vertical section of conduit. Position and hold until cured. Repeat for #4 clip but it is not such a good fit and I have to press quite hard to keep the tabs in contact with the bonding areas. Eventually it seems OK and I can release my pressure on it. Find a wooden bridge for the #2 clip, and a piece of metal to press against it. Mix another batch of 90-sec epoxy and apply it to the clip. Position on conduit and with a small piece of polyethylene sheet interposed to stop it sticking, place the bridge over it and jam the metal piece against the cockpit side to apply pressure while it cures. Checking the other clips, notice that #4 has sprung slightly, leaving a small gap under one tab. Mix a small batch of Araldite Rapid and add a tiny dose of flox to it. Spread the mix under and around the gappy tab. Remove the cushions on the starboard seat for access to the fuel tap cover. Fit the cover with a temporary screws and trace its outline onto the tunnel with a fine felt-tip pen. Remove the cover. Actuate retract lever a couple of times to check the movement of the flap actuating rod. It moves up from the "wheel-down" position so any new fixing will have to be below the original one (which fouled the rod in the "down" position). Mark a suitable level for a new hole on the tunnel. Offer up the cover and transfer the marked position to it. Mark a centre at that level, on the line between the existing holes on the straight (forward) edge of the cover. Pilot drill and drill out to 4.8mm.	3309.2
30	Remove metal prop and wooden bridge from #2 conduit clip in starboard footwell; that appears to have bonded closely. The #4 clip looks much tidier now, with no protruding edges to catch anything. Fit fuel tap access cover with temporary screws. Drill through the new cover hole into the tunnel 4.8mm. Remove cover. Hold anchor nut in place on the outside of the tunnel with a temporary screw and spacing washers inserted from inside. Drill a rivet hole 2.4mm. Insert TAPK33BS rivet to keep alignment and drill 2nd rivet hole. Remove anchor nut. Countersink rivet holes twirling a 5.9mm drill bit by hand. Fit anchor nut in correct location inside the tunnel with the temporary screw and spacers, inserting rivets to keep aligned. Pull rivets as usual with spacer on rivet stem to keep rivet gun nose clear of temporary screw. Remove temporary screw. Fit cover plate with 1/2" stainless steel button-head screws. I will need to fill the redundant hole in the cover plate at some stage.	3309.8

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