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This may save someone a few days:
While I had the main gear box out of the fuselage and clamped upright I went to install the grease blocks. I found the second set of holes that Lancair had drilled made the blocks extend beyond the rack housing so I opened out the original, centered holes. That worked fine with the RH rack. Trimming 1/8" off the end of the rack and using a bottom tap in the hole made for a good fit with room to install the down switch striker plate.
After loosening/tightening the cylinder plugs and mopping up oil spills each time I moved the piston I skipped way ahead to page 26-35 and installed the fittings. Connecting the fittings together with temporary tubing assemblies allows the cylinders to move freely with no mess and no dirt getting in.
The LH was a different story. The grease block hit on the thickened section (where the cylinder ram attaches) before the gear was fully retracted. If the block was repositioned forward in the 'new' holes so there was no interference then it extended beyond the rack far enough to expose the grease groove. This meant that when the fitting was greased it would all escape instead of spreading evenly as intended. I could not come up with a good fix for this. As far as I can tell the pinion gear is indexed 1/2 tooth different from the RH side in relation to the leg. The gear is not reversible. After a lot of trimming, fiddling and fussing the best I can come up with is to roughen a short section of the groove and fill it with JB Weld. The stuff can be trimmed level with a razor blade after it sets. The plugged section extends under the end of rack when the gear is fully down. I'm open for other solutions.
I also installed the strikers and microswitches (19-123). I think using a VOM audio signal or light circuit gives a more positive contact indication than a "Click", but that's just me.
As far as I can tell the instructions don't mention this- I was told by tech support that the rack housing through bolts are tightened so the sleeves push against the grease block and lock it into place. The block is supposed to be wider than the rack for clearance. It's not. I'm going to make a shim from .010 brass or stainless and bond it to one side of each grease block. Maybe with crazy glue- it only needs to hold until the screws are tightened.
My admiration grows for those who have managed to complete their lanes... -Bill Wade
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