I started work on the stainless steel door that allows heat into the cockpit.
Over a coffee, I looked at my to-do list. One item outstanding for months was to investigate some open holes in the firewall. I assumed these were to attach engine accessories, but I had not so far found any use for the holes. Looking back at the plans I found the problem. I had omitted to install 8 rivets. These are part of the engine mounting blocks on the other side of the firewall so are probably quite important ;-). These are flush rivets that must be inserted from the engine side of the firewall. And they are located under the engine and nosewheel mounts. As my coffee went cold, I reached the conclusion that the engine and the nosewheel must come off.
I went out in disgust, while I reconciled myself to the work. Several hours later, I was ready. In fact it only took a couple of hours to undo the wiring and remove the engine and the nosewheel. I managed to slide the engine onto a workbench without assistance. The only help I did need was to move the engine out of the way while I pulled the missing rivets - a five minute job.
Rivtes installed, and to-do list updated, I got help to reinstall the engine. Two hours later everything was bolted back in - just the rewiring to do. Picture 1 shows the offending rivets.
