This was a good day. I finished tacking together the motor mount using the smallest and fewest tacks I could. then I took it out to the airport and test-fitted it to the engine and to the firewall. The fit was not perfect, but very close to perfect. there was enough flex in the assembly that I was able to get it bolted up to both the engine and the firewall. When I put the mount back into the welding fixture I used a ratchet strap to pull some of the feet closer together, and then I tightened all the bolts in the fixture for the next round of welding. At this point I am not sure whether to do a second round of more tacking and a second test fitting, or whether to just go ahead and do the finish welding now. One of the factors in the decision will be my supply of shielding gas. I am using TIG welding on this mount, so it requires shielding gas and I am running pretty low. So I am going to distribute the welding all around the mount, and see how long my gas holds out. But it was definitely a thrill to see the mount bolted up to the engine and firewall today.
