step repairs RV-6A

I had to repair a right step that cracked at the weld on my 6A. I was going to replace it and had recieved a new step from Vans, but after looking at the difficulty of back drilling new holes in the new step, and talking to Vans about fixing the old step, I decided to clean out the crack in the old step.

I removed the step by drilling out the rivets. Then I had a friend reweld the crack and add a patch to reinforce it, and reinstalled it using pop rivets instead of driven kind. It worked great. Just some on going maintenance with the bird.

I also installed RV 10 vents in the lower cowl, trying to lower the #3 cylinder temp. I really can't say it helped much, but it was worth a try.

My lower cowl piano hinge was breaking, so I replaced it with .040 strip of 2024 and nut plates. It is much more heavy duty and I belive will never crack.

Just some things to pass along to others, reminding people that even RV's need constent attention.

Dale 565DM

Have you installed a cylinder blocker on #1 cylinder? That'll make a surprising difference on #3, without making a big difference for #1.

I simply pop riveted a 1" or so air dam in front of #1, thinking I could adjust the size if necessary. I was happy with the 1" solution, so I have not touched it since.

Dale said:

I also installed RV 10 vents in the lower cowl, trying to lower the #3 cylinder temp. I really can't say it helped much, but it was worth a try.

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You've probably heard of this already, but just in case: Did you try the thin washer between the right rear baffle trick? Worked great for me.

I just noticed a crack in probably the same location. I will be making the same repair that you did.