Oil cooler and Reiff sump heaters

• After a fair amount of fitting I found a great location for the oil cooler that has plenty of clearance and works with my home made duct for the oil cooler valve.
• I also hooked up and tested the servo for operating the valve.
• I did the initial install on the Reiff sump heaters. This involved removing the paint from the engine sump and bonding them in place with some epoxy (similar to JB Weld). The next step is placing another bead of epoxy around the edges of the heaters and the thermostat.
• The plan for the sump heater is to have a cell phone switch in the hangar. On cold days I will just turn the heater on a couple of hours before I fly to keep the engine happy!

Oil cooler 4" air valve closed:

Open / max flow position:

Left Reiff sump heater attached. (silver object under duct tape - I will get some better pictures!) To the right of the heater is the thermostat. After the epoxy cures I will add a bead of epoxy around the edges of the heaters, wires and thermostat.

Test fitting the final oil cooler stand offs made from 1/8" aluminum bar:

Second mock up using some thin aluminum sheet scraps:

Figuring out position for oil cooler and duct:

Initial mock up:

Propeller Installed:

Looking more airplane like!

It took a while to get the prop bolts initially tightened. I will torque and safety wire at a later date:

The shop crane made it easy to install the prop solo:

Inside the crank shaft after cleaning (Getting the crankshaft plug out took a lot of effort. My friend Frost and I tried to punch a hole and pry it out but we did not make much progress. After more research I used the two hammer method. A ball peen hammer up against the plug then hit it with another hammer while wearing safety glasses. Three hits and the plug popped out):

I raised the tail to help drain the preservative oil from the crankshaft:

Spinner back plate mounted:

Test fitting spinner back plate

Match drilling spinner back plate:

New SDS billet aluminum valve covers. O-ring seal, slightly lighter, also look very nice!

Right wheel work and spinner back plate

Spinner back plate doubler (L) and spinner back plate after initial cut out:

I traced the doubler then drilled the spinner back plate: 

Using the doubler as a pattern for cutting out the back plate to clear the prop hub:

Right landing gear ready with all bolts torqued:

Raising the fuselage to remove the right wheel:

Wheel pant plate nuts installed:

Engine work:

The following was completed over several days:

Pulled the bottom spark plugs, drained the preservative oil and temporarily put in auto spark plugs and adapters:

Alternator install in progress ... modified adjustment arm for safety wire tie offs:

Re-clocked the mixture control arm and replaced the fiber lock nut with a metal lock nut:

Fitting the dual EFII electronic ignition crank sensor:

Fuel flow sensor mounting bracket:

Fuel flow sensor on mounting bracket (I will measure the hose and send it to TS Flightlines to be modified):

First pass at making fuel flow sensor bracket:

Test fitting cabin heat muff on #1 cylinder exhaust pipe to check for clearance from fuel flow sensor:

Heat muff on #1 exhaust pipe (heat muff is stuffed with stainless steel mesh - pot scrubber - to slow airflow, increase surface area and aid heat transfer):

Test fitting mixture linkage, fuel servo permanently installed:

Test fitting throttle cable:

90 degree AN fitting on for engine driven fuel pump vent:

Andair tachometer drive cover (gray circle with hex fitting) with safety wire provisions:

Oil breather fitting (shiny - top middle), Andair tach drive cover (on right) and oil cooler return fitting (left, brass fitting is oil temp sensor):

Test fitting prop and mixture controls. (My prop control was defective and I ended up ordering a new one from Van's):

More mixture linkage fitting:

Working on prop governor:

Throttle cable bracket (white), brass fitting with cap is manifold drain check valve:

Test fitting fuel servo: