Sheet Metal Bending - 6 hours (348 Total)

Today I started bending the sheet metal for the enclosure. I started off by bending the toughest pan first. This pan requires a complex bend since the rear is bent around a 3" diameter object while the front two curves are bent around a 2" diameter objects. In any case this wasn't easy and took many attempts.

The second piece wasn't much easier but I found that using Rans' suggest 5" bend wasn't accurate. I had pretty good luck measuring the distance between the edge of the pans and where the curves needed to start and marking them on the unbent sheet metal. I then measured the distance around the curve needed and marked that on the sheet metal as well. I did this for both the front and back edges of the rest of the pans and then bent accordingly.

Below are a few pictures of the process.

More Prep for Enclosure - 2 hours (342 Total)

Before I start placing the sheet metal panels on the plane, I took some time to secure any wiring and plumbing that could be damaged due to vibration. In many cases this just meant tightening and trimming the zip ties that were already in place.













In the photo above you can see the piece of rubber hose wrapped around the oil line. I added zip ties to hold this piece in place.


























In the upper right corner of the photo above, you can see the reinforcement I added to the CDI connectors. These connect the CDIs to the engine. I zip-tied the wires and connectors around a piece of plastic tubing. The plastic tubing is flexible enough to allow for the wire and connecters to be be snuggly secured but rigid enough to prevent vibration damage.













The photo above shows another angle of the CDI connector fix.


























The photo above is a close up shot of the secured wiring for the fuel pumps.














In the photo above you can see some silicone that I put around the trim cable and strobe wire.














The fuel line down stream from the fuel flow meter was rubbing on one of the cabaines. The photo above shows the results of shortening some of the fuel lines to alleviate the chance of rubbing.