Little helper.

Engine baffling.

The new engine baffling added a ton of time to the whole process, but it sure does look nice when it's done.

The finished product after installing the flexible engine baffling (the black material).

Installing the back baffle piece.

This is basically the finished product for the back engine baffle.

This big back piece also had a couple places that were formed out to clear the exhaust and intake areas of the aft cylinders. This is one of the sets of blocks made fot his purpose. The 2 big pieces were clamped tight and then the arbor press was used to press down on the center die to form the aluminum.

Lining things up preparing to make a joggle.

The joggle die doing its thing.

The rear baffle piece requires a couple a joggles in the material. Dad made me 2 sets of joggle dies (one 1/2" set and one 11/32" set) for this part of the project. They worked great in the arbor press.

The long process of final fitting.

This is what it looks like after the flange is formed.

This shows the flange as it is being formed.

A couple of the baffling pieces required a 1/2" flange all the way around the outside. This was done by making forming blocks and then a leather mallet to form the flange around the outside. This required quite a few trial and error pieces to get it right.

More baffling fit and installed.

Installed.

After some trimming and bending.

After some deburring I started with the baffling that goes around the bottom of the case to see how things were going to fit.

Dad got my new baffling all cut out this week. The original baffling was used as a template and all new was cut using a water jet.

Valcom radio installation.

A coat of paint.

The cover plate and some other parts primed and ready for paint.

Cover plate on and radio in. It even powers up and operational check is good. Now need to take it apart and prime and paint the cover plate to match.

Cutting out and installing a new cover plate.

Mounting the radio rack.

Another one of the '10-'11 winter projects was the installation of a legal radio. I ended up with a Valcom 760 single com radio. The radio has a very good track record, flip-flop capability, and takes up very little room in the dash, which is very important on this airplane.

Installing the engine and more build.

The push rods, rocker arms, and new rocker shafts installed. Just need to check the dry lifter clearances and install the valve covers.

Starting to come together now.

2 of the cylinders installed.

Getting everything laid out to start installing the cylinders. They came with new pistons and rings already installed and fit. All that's left to do is pull the piston out far enough to get the new piston pin installed and push the cylinder onto the engine.

3/25/11 my cylinders showed up. They were done by Brown Aviation out of Tulsa, OK. They are now .015" oversized with all new exhaust valves, guides, seats, and intake seats and guides replaced as needed.

Some days I look at it and wonder if it will ever fly again.

At this point the magnetos and oil sump are installed and almost ready to install cylinders. I am also waiting for a new drive gear for the starter to finish assembling and installing.

These are the new engine attach bolts, bushings, and washers.

Putting an engine together.

Installing the generator and the oil screen housing and screen. At this point I went ahead and installed the engine on the airplane.

Accessory housing is on and everything is torqued down.

Installing the camshaft and crankshaft gears.

The crankshaft went .020" under on the main and rod journals. The camshaft was rejected so I had to buy an overhauled camshaft. 4 of the 8 lifter bodies were rejected due to spalding on the face. Sighhhhh, nothing money can't take care of.

Case halves togher. The string that is sticking out where the case halves meet together is silk thread. The sealant between the 2 halves is a combination of loctite 515, aviation permatex, and silk thread.

Installing the bearings and the thrust washers.

Getting the case halves cleaned up and ready to start putting together.

Connecting rods being installed.

I didn't really like how the covers turned out after the plating, so they also got primed and painted.

All of the external hardware along with the valve covers were sent off and "gold plated". This is not the right term, but they had some kind of plating process done and they look gold, so that's what I call it.

Finally got all the engine parts back. The case, oil sump, etc. get a light coat of primer followed by a spray coat of Continental gold.

While waiting for all of the engine parts to come back and some warmer weather to paint the top of the wing, it was a good chance to clean up and paint all of the little parts that will be installed once the engine goes back together.