It was clear the CPCs I have for the firewall won't work in the location that Van predrilled for wiring. So I needed to make new penetrations, which I did after testing a new technique with the Greenlee punches; you can see the lower hole in the test piece went fine. Details at VAF soon. I used some of the scrap stainless (from the bent firewall of my RV-6A) to create patches for the pre-drilled holes. Since they are behind the motor mount, I had to remove the mount and nose gear first. While I had the mount off, I also located the remote oil filter and punched the holes for the CPCs above the mount area. It's a little hard to see in Image 3, but there will be a cross stiffener at the top of the oil filter mount to keep the firewall from oil-canning. It will consist of an angle that ties in to the existing angles on either side, and a pair of spacers to allow the stiffener to rest on the existing angles and the oil filter mount doubler. I'll do that fitting and riveting when I remove the panel to finish the forward deck.
