Have you made any decisions on the retension/sealing method
for your 20B "P" port inserts ??
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Original message from Mark Steitle <msteitle@gmail.com>: --------------
Bill,
I'm not sure what's changed, but my oil temps are up from what I
reported earlier. I routinely see 220-225 on climbout, then they
settle down to 200 in cruise. Maybe I'm producing more hp now,
or maybe the earlier temperature report was not in mid-summer, or
possibly my system is not cooling as well as it did earlier. I'm
just glad that I installed TES o-rings throughout.
My cowl flap initially had an aluminum lip, that protruded
into the airstream about 1". This was a quick and dirty
test to see the result. I couldn't open or close it, it was
open all the time. I have since replaced the 1" lip with a
servo-controlled door so I can open/close as desired. When
closed it is the same as a stock cowl. This is very helpful in
cooler climates, not so much during triple-digit Texas summer
months.
I also added an "airfoil shaped" piece on the firewall directly
above the cowl flap opening. This was done in the
hope of helping coax the heated air out of the
cowl. But I didn't detect any great improvement in
cooling. Oh, well. Next thing I plan on adding is
small air dams on each end of the flap door. The idea here is to
promote more efficient airflow out of the cowl flap. I've heard
that these make a big difference. We'll see.
If you are considering installing a cowl flap, you may want to
consider locating it on the side, or possibly install one
on each side, back near the firewall. This would allow you
to make the opening larger, and this
location may be in a lower pressure area than the
bottom, especially during climbout. Just a thought.
Cooling is still marginal in the Texas heat, and it
will be worse with the new P-port 20B engine. So, I may be
forced to make some major changes to get the more powerful engine
to cool, or else be forced to throttle back during climbout.
I've been considering relocating the radiator from under the
engine to the cool side of the engine (fore/aft). This
would allow me to use a slightly larger radiator. It would clean
up the plumbing and significantly shorten the cooling lines
too.
No, I haven't experienced SAG. But then I'm running Renesis
type irridium spark plugs. I'm at 143 hours now.
Personally, I won't use anything else.
Mark