This weekend got a chance to get started on the eningine baffles. The photos here are after initial fit to the engine, there is actually about a days worth of match drilling, deburring and fabricating parts prior to this point and reading ahead in the plans I probably got a few more weekends ahead of me on these babies.
The oil cooler mounts on the rear of the vertical face behind cylinder #4. Because the baffles support the oil cooler often times they are prone to cracking, therefore I added an additional 1" x 1" aluminum angle to the inside corner and will eventually add a kicker on the rear baffle to help stiffen it up.
Fitting the baffles is quite an iterative process from this point forward. It is imperitive to achieve a good fit and seal all the gaps for proper air flow across the cylinders. The top of the baffles will get rubber like seal to the underside of the top cowl so that no air escapes over the baffles.
The way this works is air is forced into the inlets on the sides of the propeller. The air is the forced down through the cooling fins of the cylinders and out through the bottom of the engine cowl near the exhaust outlet.
The inlets on these RV's are a fraction of the size seen on typical Cessnas or Piper's and therefore more aerodynamic and efficient but because of the less amount of air, the baffles need to be very tight.
Initial Fit of engine Baffles
Reinforce corner near oil cooler mount
Exit air port for scat tube to cabin heat Selector
