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Buck's RV-8
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Date: 1-10-2011
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Number of Hours: 5.20
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Manual Reference:
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Brief Description: Fuel lines; front seat support bar; wing pins
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I installed the brake lines, and also installed the rest of the fuel lines, the fuel selector, and the swivel-tee connector on the selector. And that's when I goofed. In an effort to get the final fuel line aligned precisely with the nipple on the fuel selector, I guess I applied just a bit too much downward pressure on the line where it passed through the aft side of the gear tower. I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary until after the installation was complete and I was checking everything over. The fuel line, where it passed through the bulkhead, looked like it had widened a bit -- a sure sign it had been kinked. A tip: Keep an eye out for this kind of damage to your aluminum fuel lines, because it's impossible to see a small kink when it's located in an area like this. You can only tell the tubing has been damaged by looking at the effect the kink makes on the width of the tube. Properly-bent tubes should be nearly uniform in diameter, regardless of the bend radius. That's what the fancy tube benders are for. If you make bends by hand (as you must sometimes), make sure they are minor ones, and not made against solid objects like bulkheads.
My plan is to remove the line and remake it, but I may have to order a bit more 3/8" tubing. I might also revert to my earlier idea of using flexible Teflon hose. We'll see.
In the mean time, I removed the front seat support bar (the aft cross-bar). This, along with the main rollover bar and the canopy frame, will be going to the powder-coater tomorrow to be blasted and powder-coated black.
I also made the wing drift pins, in preparation for mounting the wings. I bought eight 7/16" x 5-1/2" bolts, cut off the threads, and spun them on the grinding wheel and Scotchbrite wheel until they looked nice. At least I demonstrated one small bit of construction skill today... ;-)
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See how the line gets wider as it passes through the grommet? That's a very bad sign.
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Wing spar pins, made from 7/16" diameter x 5-1/2" hardware store bolts.
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