Lindy
10/2/2008
October is here already! Jeez! I do like October though...temps are nice and cool, and working in the garage is a real treat this time of year.
The airplane is registered!! That just means that the FAA has my registration paperwork, and it's the first step in the process of getting an airworthiness certificate sometime down the road.
Today at work I made a couple of wires up from some 2 gage wire that we pulled from a Cardinal that had a battery relocation. I made the engine ground wire, the battery negative ground wire, and the starter power wire. Here they are after they had been cut to length (I used a coat hanger wire to make the runs to get the lengths), with heat shrink and lugs ready to go...
Crimping the lugs is pretty effortless with this massive tool we have at work...just squeeze until it clicks-
And here are all three wires done with lugs crimped and heat shrink applied-
When I got home this evening, I went straight to work on the RV to get some stuff done before the VP debate on TV tonight. I got my order from B&C today, and while I plan to buy most of my electrical stuff from Stein, he doesn't have these nifty grounding blocks for the firewall.
This is a block of 24 fast-on terminals with a main brass ground bolt and a secondary ground. I also got 6 and 10 place fuse blocks, as well as a diode.
With that in place, I ran the engine ground wire. I chose a spot on the left rear of the engine that had an unused hole with no threads. I reamed it out to 5/16, and inserted a screw to secure that side of the ground wire.
That picture is terrible to show the location...
Then I routed the wire across the top of the engine mount to the ground block. After the pic was taken, I pushed the wire to the back side of the mount tube for a cleaner look.
Then I installed the battery negative ground on the ground post of the block.
Since the battery is not installed yet, it'll just hang there for now.
Something I wanted to get out of the way was the alternator belt. It was a simple matter of loosening the bolts holding the flywheel on, and slipping it over to the ring gear.
It looks short, but I held the alternator in its approximate position, and it looks like it will work. If not, I'll return it for one a half inch longer.
Back to the big wires...the starter power wire was hooked up to the starter, and routed back along the left side of the engine with adel clamps holding it in place.
Here you can see where it comes off the engine, and over to the starter solenoid. It is not rubbing anything like it appears in this picture.
Oh, the other thing I did tonight, but didn't take a picture of, was to install the fourth fastener on the starter.
It's so nice to be working with motivation and direction again!
2.75 hours