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I finally was able to get ahold of Klaus Savier, and he had the problem sorted out in about three minutes. The electronic ignition is OK, but I wasn’t doing the phase test properly. I wasn’t rocking the prop back and forth quickly enough. Klaus told me you need to generate at least 2 pulses per second - that means two complete back and forth movements in less than one second. Once I rocked it very, very quickly, I got the spark I was looking for. Both coils check out OK.

I hope to get the first engine run done sometime on the coming weekend, weather permitting.

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I made progress today, but ran into a big problem with the Lightspeed Engineering Plasma II electronic ignition. It has two coils, one for cylinders #1 & #2, and one for cylinders #3 & #4. There is a phase check, which tells you which coil needs to be connected to which cylinders. But, when I do the phase check, I don’t get the spark across the coil output that I am supposed to get. I checked all the wiring with multimeter, and can’t find any glitches. I’ll call Klaus Savier at Lightspeed tomorrow to get his assistance.

I could do the first ground run on the magneto only, without using the electronic ignition. But I spent a lot of time trying to see why the phase check wouldn’t work, and I spent another long time getting the under-cylinder baffles pulled tight against the cylinder fins. I discovered an interference problem between the tab on the under cylinder baffle below #3 cylinder - it hit the screw on the outboard hose clamp on the oil return line. The hose clamp was oriented so the screw was on top - Van obviously assumed that the screw would be on the bottom. It was a royal PITA to get at that hose clamp, but I eventually managed to get it reoriented. Anyone with an IO-360-A series engine, and Van’s baffle kit, should make sure that the outboard hose clamp on the oil return line from cylinder #3 is oriented with the screw on the bottom.

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Thursday I managed to get out to the hangar for a few hours and made some progress on getting stuff back on the engine. Up til now, the exhaust system had not been fully torqued in place - it was sitting against the plastic plugs in the exhaust ports, and the exhaust pipe gaskets weren’t installed. Now that I am getting ready for the engine run, I removed the plastic plugs, installed the gaskets, and properly torqued the exhaust pipe nuts. The result was that the exhaust pipes ended up in a very slightly different position than they had been before, and that had a knock-on effect that meant a few other adjustments were needed.

Today I was at the hangar for ten hours, and got most of the engine stuff reinstalled. I put the tail wheel on a support to get the engine horizontal, then drained all the remaining preservative oil from the engine, and replaced it with Phillips 20W50 mineral oil. Then I spent hours puzzling out how to check the timing on the magneto. My first mistake was only looking at the procedure in the Owner’s Manual. I eventually discovered that the Lycoming Direct Drive Overhaul Manual had a more complete procedure that filled in some of the missing links. My second mistake was not realizing that the magneto timing box I had worked backwards to the way the overhaul manual describes. The overhaul manual timing procedure is written on the assumption that your magneto timing box lamp illuminates when the points open. My timing box lamp extinguishes when the points open. I knew something was horribly wrong when I turned the prop over by hand, and the “click” from the release of impulse coupling was happening a long ways away from top dead centre. I’m glad I found this before attempting an engine start.

Then, I had a real fun time getting the magneto to end up at an angle that missed both oil cooler hoses. I would pull it off the accessory case, rotate it one tooth’s worth to get the desired orientation, then put it back on the accessory case, adjust the timing, and find that I ended up at the same angle as before. So next time I rotated it even further after I pulled it off the accessory case, and ended up with the angle too far in the other direction - I had moved it two teeth’s worth. I finally got the magic combination, and it ended up at a suitable orientation, with the timing bang on.

I have a few more odds and ends to finish off before the first engine run. The biggest item is putting some fuel in the tanks, priming the Airflow Performance boost pump, confirming no major leaks, and doing an initial fuel flow test on level ground. If that all goes OK, I’ll pull the aircraft outside, gather up some fire extinguishers and helpers, and see if the engine will start. After that, I might have time for the real fuel flow test, which will happen with the tail wheel well below the main landing gear to put the aircraft at approximately the maximum climb pitch attitude.

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Ron M., an experienced Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (Canadian equivalent of the US A&P) agreed to help me pull two cylinders to check for any internal engine corrosion. The engine was “preserved” by Aerosport Power immediately following the overhaul and test cell run, but that was seven years ago. If there was a problem, it would be cheaper and safer to find it now than deal with the consequences later.

I took a day of comp time today, and finished pulling off all stuff around cylinders #2 and #4. The Lycoming Overhaul Manual said to put the piston of interest at top dead centre, to allow you to grab the piston as you pull the cylinder off, to avoid it falling and hitting the crank case. I pulled the plastic plugs out of the bottom spark plug holes on those two cylinders, in case there was any oil in them - no oil. I assumed that the other two cylinders would be similarly oil-free, so didn’t bother to check them. I pulled the desiccant plugs out of cylinders 1 and 3, then started slowly rotating the prop to bring cylinder 2 to top dead centre. As cylinder #1 was coming up towards top dead centre there was suddenly a huge jet of oil that squirted out of the top spark plug hole. It went about 15 ft out into the hangar, making a mess over all kinds of stuff. A few drops sprayed in my hair, but fortunately none got in my eyes. What a mess. Lesson learned - beware assumptions.

Fortunately Ron wasn’t yet at the hangar when the oil disaster happened - he would have died laughing.

Ron pulled cylinder #2 off, and we had a careful look at the cam, crank and cylinder. Everything looked absolutely perfect. Not a speck of corrosion. Based on the good state of everything, we decided to not pull #4. I helped Ron get the cylinder back on, then he left. I had been on pins and needles, waiting to see how this inspection went. I was so relieved to find the engine in such good shape. Now that I have allowed a bunch of moist air into the crankcase, I want to get the first engine run done ASAP, so splash some oil on the cam and crank. I will try to get that done this weekend.

I spent the afternoon starting to reassemble induction tubes, exhaust pipes, EGT probes, baffles, oil cooler support, etc. I didn’t get it all done, but I eventually stopped so I could come home and have a celebratory bottle of wine.

Now that I know that I won’t have to delay the first flight while the engine gets opened up, I have arranged to do some tail wheel refresher training, possibly starting this weekend. I learned to fly on a tailwheel aircraft, way too many years ago, but I have done very little tailwheel time since, and none at all since 2001. I am going to fly with Andrew B., in his Maule and Pitts.

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Just a quick post while I have lunch - Today I had an experienced aircraft maintenance engineer help me pull the #2 cylinder - Thanks Ron. We both took a good look at the cam shaft lobes and crank, and inside the cylinder. Everything looked as good as new. No sign of corrosion at all. We had planned to pull #4 cylinder as well, but #2 looked so good that he said it wasn’t worth the trouble. Woo hoo!! I’m going to open a bottle of wine tonight to celebrate.

Now I can press on as quickly as possible to get the first engine run in, maybe this weekend. Now that I have let all this moist summer air inside the crankcase, I want to get the first engine run done ASAP to splash some oil on everything.

More details, a picture, and a lesson learned later.

I have also managed to ditch a planned work trip that would have eaten up 4 or 5 days during the week of June 23rd. That makes me very happy, as I am quite close to flying, and I want to get the last details wrapped up as quickly as possible.

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This week I finished 99% of the wiring tidying ahead of the firewall, and then reattacked the transition between the cowling inlet and the plenum chamber. I was able to finish the right side far enough so I could demonstrate installation and removal of the upper cowling and the plenum chamber roof. I've still got several hours of work to do here, but I was able to get far enough to satisfy myself that this probably isn't a dead end.

Today I spent several hours removing enough baffles so I can pull two cylinders on Wednesday to check for internal corrosion. Initially, I decided it would be easier to pull the baffles on the right side, as the left side has the complicated oil cooler door mechanism. I got the baffles 90% removed on the right side, then ran into a major snag - there is a one inch square tab behind the base of the aft cylinder. That tab sticks straight down when you first fit the baffles, but then you bend it forward to block a large gap at the base of the cylinder. But once you bend the tab forward it prevents you from pulling the baffle outboard, unless you are prepared to do some major surgery. I eventually gave up fighting with it, and removed the baffles on the left side instead - it only took about a half hour to get the oil cooler and oil cooler door removed.