I started the day by making a drill bushing to fit the engine mount. I thought it would be easier to drill a series of holes up to the correct size than trying to drill a 3/8 hole first. I drilled the top right hole after holding it in place and looking to see how they lined up. After I got a bolt in it, Reva came out and held the mount while I drilled the rest of them the small size. They lined up with the pilot holes surprisingly well. I then proceeded to step drill them up to size. I had to grind down one of the bolts holding the fuel pump on as it cautions in the instructions. Once that was done and all the holes drilled I bolted it on and torqued the nuts and added the cotter pins. It's on and ready for the engine, sometime in January, I hope. I then soldered the wires on the headset and mic jacks and mounted them in the cover. Also, I realized that I hadn't put the cotter pins in the pivot bolts on the brake pedals so I completed that today also.
That's all for this year. I looked back and realized that it's been 4 years and about a month since I started this project. When I started, I wasn't in a hurry (good thing) as I had an airplane. It was something that I had always wanted to do and gave me something to do in the winter time after work. Since then, we sold our share of the Cherokee that we had. That made me quicken the pace a little but in the summers it was just about too hot to work in the shop. I added an air conditioner and that helped. Anyway, we're nearing the end of the build and it's within the realm of possibility that we'll get done in 2010. We'll have to work hard to make that happen, but it's possible.
We're going to move the wings to the airport this weekend so they are out of the way. That move will give me a little more room in the shop and hopefully be able to get back on the fiberglass fairing for the canopy when it warms up a little.
