Continuing where I left off before the Labor Day holiday, I decided to add the optional lightening holes to the battery box and attach strap. One of those worked out great, the other resulted in an order for a replacement part. The strap is made of 1/8" aluminum stock--pretty easy to cut with a Unibit. After measuring for the holes, I made six pilot holes and then opened them all up to 3/4" per the plans. There is something about lightening holes that makes a piece go from "hunk of aluminum" to "aircraft part"...not sure just what it is, but I like the finished look.
The battery box didn't fare so well...trying to cut 2" holes in a steel box with a circle cutter was a bad idea. The cutting bit dulled after the first hole and I have no other way to make the cut. Pretty sure I'm not going to invest in a set of knock out punches, so I guess I'll just leave the new box as is when it arrives.
The rest of the time I spent working on attaching the master and start relays and trying to figure out where to have the fuel line come through the firewall. I have to say that the firewall forward plans from Van's leave a little to be desired. I spent an inordinate amount of time just trying to figure out what was supposed to go where--and in one case, the plans conflicted by having the fuel doubler attach at the same place as the start relay. Still not sure where I'm going to put that.
