I got my turbo manifold welded up
(thanks to a friend on the field), turbo and waste gate installed and
this last week I got the intercooler, BOV and piping all plumbed together.
I also removed a big ol' fan that I
think was restricting radiator air flow that was located on the
"in" side of the radiator and replaced it with two smaller fans located
on the "out" side to pull air through the radiator.
I pushed the plane out of the hangar,
chocked her up, advanced the mixture to full right, gave it four spurts of
prime and she cranked right up, dialed the mixture to twelve o'clock
and it ran pretty darn smooth. WOW, is it QUIETER!!!!
REALLY really Quieter. Straight pipes out of the rotary was
having the military jet jockey's coming by to see what the noise was <g>
All looked good...well, since the
building Gawds like to have fun at my expense after running for a few
minutes I noticed a nice stream of coolant shooting up into the air.
Sigh. I must have ding the radiator when I pulled out the old fan.
Anyway, I did shut down and just to see
what would happen, I started it up and shut down a few times. It started
fine each time (this had been a problem in the past). No more primer
needed and the mixture was just past twelve o'clock. The leak was not a real
factor for these short runs.
Here is a link to it running at
idle. Note no leak since the pressure had not risen yet. Please
forgive the artifacts of the prop as this was taken on my phone. I am not
as close to the prop as the artifacts make it appear. I will try to
remember to take my camera out once the new radiator is installed and get some
shots of the install and plumbing and better running shots.
I did apply some power twice and got it
up to 39 MP at just over 6000 rpm for several seconds. I was not able to
test much due to the leak. I pushed her back in to the hangar and removed
the bad radiator. I could have messed with getting the
leak fixed, but the reality is the PITA factor would have bugged
me (find a shop, perhaps have to find another shop<g>, have
them repair and test, charge me, maybe got it right, maybe not....etc) so I
just ordered a new one for $250 from Summit.
It should be here in a few days and delivered to my door.
I occupied myself the rest of the
evening doing some clean up work that was much easier with the radiator
removed. I also made a support bracket to help support the turbo so all
the weight is not on the turbo/exhaust manifold.
Even though I am annoyed at the
radiator leak (can't blame anyone but myself), it was a great two days of
progress overall. It was great to hear the plane run so much quieter and
to have it start and RESTART all but effortlessly.
Also, I got my Dynon Skyview
mostly installed. The AHARS is a combination of the magnometer
and the pressure sensors so you have to mount the unit in a magnetically
neutral area AND run pressure lines to the unit. So, finding a good location in
a canard is posing a challenge. The Dynon looks really kewl
though.
I am waiting for a buddy of mine to
finish some of the more complex wiring tying my King 125's,
Transponder, audio panel and intercom. It is his line of work and allows
him a break from his RV-7 with a Soob build <g>