The new engine baffle piece that I ordered from Vans came in today, along with a plate for supporting the mixture and throttle cables.
In the picture below you can see the difference between the new and old baffles. The old piece on top also has bends where I tried to make it line up with the right rear baffle. That whole operation was beginning to seem pretty clumsy.
I’m planning to make two of each annunciator LED on the panel. The weight penalty will be very minimal, and I’ll have the benefits of redundant systems and improved visibility, regardless of which seat the PIC is in. I spaced them somewhat arbitrarily at 1 inch.
And the other side, for wire planning purposes:
I wrote in an earlier entry about wanting to create some support for the back (aircraft forward) of the Garmin racks. I re-purposed the old elevator trim push rod tubes to create a brace. I joined the two tubes together in the middle and made a template for the bend out of welding wire. I applied those bends to the new tube, yielding this:
I cleaned up the ends, added a crooked fish mouth to each side, and clamped the tube to the bottom of the 430’s rack. I added the sides of the boot cowl to help be sure that the instrument panel was in the right place.
I welded both sides, cleaned off the old paint, and primed the whole thing. The first picture below is looking down:
I ordered part number VA-149-360-PC KIT from Vans aircraft to use as a support for the throttle and mixture controls. This seemed like a good price, especially compared to spending a couple of days making one like it. The only problem is that there isn’t much room between the bracket and the firewall.
I’m looking forward to putting the carb on and scouting out the location for the air cleaner.
Tabitha also came out in the evening and worked to remove the last of the weld beads on her window removal job.