Fulltime RV Living Adventures
Yeah… I know… I can’t seem to sit still for very long. 🤔 I’ve got a new project and it is a big one! It’s a property right on top of the continental divide in south-central New Mexico. I don’t have a name for it yet but working on that – and accepting suggestions. It… [Read More]
The new Lycoming O-360 on my RV-4 finally sprung to life!! This is the first engine start! She started and ran very nicely! I performed a couple of ground runs, resolved a couple minor squawks, and then it was time to fly. Aircraft engines have to ‘break-in’ or more appropriately ‘wear in’ and we are… [Read More]
After solving the oil cooler duct situation, there were a thousand tiny things to finish but none of them are very interesting. The engine baffles had to go on. Van’s Aircraft produces a very nice kit but a lot of time is still required. Getting them fit to the engine is one thing, getting them… [Read More]
In my last post, I showed some photos of the oil cooler mounted. Like this… I now had to get air from the high pressure side of the plenum (above the engine) into and thru that oil cooler. Normally, I would create a foam mold and then fiberglass it to make a duct. However; I’ve… [Read More]
Golly! It’s been a while since my last engine update. I have been VERY busy on that project. Fitting the new cowling was next. That is a BIG task. The cowling comes in a relatively raw form – fiberglass. It is oversize and doesn’t have any hardware installed – all that is left to the… [Read More]
Alright! Finally time to get the new O-360 onto the airplane. We left off waiting for the engine and the airframe to get themselves bolted together. It took a couple of days but they finally got the job done and were looking swell. It was then time to add the cylinders. Aircraft engines are quite… [Read More]
Yeah… I know… that engine is missing its cylinders! That is very observant of you! The last post showed the ‘short block’ overhauled Lycoming O-360 engine – the base of the engine without cylinders. No, I did not forget about them. I had hoped to install new Superior Millenium cylinders. However; they are proving to… [Read More]
After a lot of cleaning, measuring, inspecting, and fiddling; it was time for the new engine to start going back together. I should probably note that the measuring is related to wear limits established by Lycoming. Most everything in the engine has published limits – everything from bearing journal diameter to crankshaft out of round,… [Read More]
One of several areas that I wanted to clean up while down for the new engine was the fuel system inside the cockpit. Fuel flows from one of the wing tanks thru the fuselage and to the engine. To get there, it flows thru the fuel selector valve, thru an auxilary fuel pump, thru a… [Read More]
I had a Sky-Tec HT starter installed on my old engine and it has worked fine for a long time. I’ve pretty much ignored it. Keeping with the ‘while I’m at it’ theme, I decided to give it a thorough inspection before installing on the shiny new Lycoming O-360 (last mentioned here). The first thing?… [Read More]
