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Engine Hanging Secrets?

Mark Dickens

Mark Dickens

Well Known Member
Patron
OK, so I tried for hours today to mount my engine on the -8...No luck. I even tried removing the engine mount and mounting that to the engine with no luck at all. I've built 99% of this plane solo and I see that there are those who've mounted their engine in 30 minutes by themselves. I can't imagine how they did that. Yes, I've read all the posts on VAF that I could find, heck, I even broke down and read Vans instructions, which basically say it's more difficult than a conical mount. Duh.

Should I level the fuselage since this is a TD? I didn't try that. I haven't been this frustrated in years and have absolutely no clue how to do this.
 
Walk away first

You've taken the correct first step...walk away from it. Soak on it, then go back and bet you'll get it in no time. Worked for me solo. I don't know if there is a trick to it or not. Need to find the right combination sequence on the first 3, number of threads started on each, then the last needs coaksing. Screw driver, drift pin , whatever. I was able to get a thread started on the last, then ran it in. Wish I was closer to help you.
 
mags

I had to remove my mags when I installed the engine. Had two people helping. Need lots of opinions, even though most of them won't make sense.
 
Mark,

I had heard about the wrestling with hanging the engine and since I was doing it solo, I decided to mount the frame to the engine before mounting to the fuse. I followed instructions from VAF and used the bullet shaped pins from AveryTools. The bolts went in and snugged up in about 15 minutes. It took 45 to get then torqued with cotter pins, but the initial fitting went well.

I highly recommend the alignment pins, a local A&P told me not to attempt it without them. I will add the link when found.

Yeah, too bad you are not closer.

Here it is: http://www.averytools.com/prodinfo.asp?number=282
 
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I have an io540, so my experience was a little different. Two things I learned.

First was the order I attempted to put nuts on the bolt was important. Unfortunately, I don't recall the order. My son and I spent a half an hour put on one side first and could get the other side on. We took a break and tried starting with the other side first. Five minutes later we were done.

The other trick was to use the harbor freight load leveler with the engine hoist. You know the one that states right on the label, not for use on aircraft. It allowed us to align the engine better with the mount.
 
BillL said:
Mark,

I had heard about the wrestling with hanging the engine and since I was doing it solo, I decided to mount the frame to the engine before mounting to the fuse. I followed instructions from VAF and used the bullet shaped pins from AveryTools. The bolts went in and snugged up in about 15 minutes. It took 45 to get then torqued with cotter pins, but the initial fitting went well.

I highly recommend the alignment pins, a local A&P told me not to attempt it without them. I will add the link when found.

Yeah, too bad you are not closer.
Click to expand...
I'll buy a set from Avery. Anything is worth not repeating this afternoon's experience.
 
rleffler said:
The other trick was to use the harbor freight load leveler with the engine hoist. You know the one that states right on the label, not for use on aircraft. It allowed us to align the engine better with the mount.
Click to expand...

That's why I was thinking about leveling the fuselage, although I'd have to be careful when removing the hoist to ensure the fuse didn't tip forward.
 
I installed mine solo in 45 minutes. Here is what I did in as much detail as I can recall, project sitting in three point stance.

With engine hoist line up one top bolt and put through with nut on. Check your alignment on the second bolt and see which way the mount has to move in relation to the engine. Using a ratchet strap attached to the engine and mount, pull the mount in that direction (won't take much) until the bolt slides through...install nut. Lower engine hoist until lower is touching mount (if not already). Check alignment on lower bolts and using ratchet strap pull the one that is closest into alignment until that bolt slides in...install nut. The last one took two ratchet straps, one pulling up and the other to the side until it aligned. Bolt dropped in without force.

I can see why people struggle so much trying to brute force this process with a half dozen people applying varying amounts of force. The key is a ratchet strap that allows you to apply only as much as you need to and in the exact direction you need. Seriously, 45 minutes from the bed of my truck to hanging on the plane. The ratchet strap never had much force on it. Just enough to move the mount a little. Really quite simple.
 
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I did mine 3 weeks ago and i feel your pain. I left it for the next day, then figured out that its the angle the engine is mating up to the mount. I used a 2x4 and exerted upward force on the bottom of the engine and the holes lined up. And The rubber mount WILL move. So adjust the angle of the motor as it approaches the rubber mounts and use leverage to adjust the rubber mount. Didnt need any bullets, but was thinking about them. When it goes in its definitly BEER-thirty.

Keith Sremaniak
 
Plus 1 on the previously mentioned Illustrated Guide to Engine Hanging (http://www.vansairforce.net/articles/illustratedguidetoenginehanging/enginehanging.htm). Go in the order of upper right, upper left, lower right and last lower left. As you get to the last one, you will undoubtedly need some kind of guide.

I have found that having assistance by fellow aviators who have never hung an engine promotes a lot of discussion of how foolish this approach is - but stay with it. The dialogue makes it seem to go faster and will provide some comic relief.

My other observation is that it is one of the few places in a build that you actually will need a hammer. But, stay with it - when that last one snaps into place, you'll know it.

Be careful if you level the airplane that you have the back end securely tied to something.

Also - watch the installation of the to the mounts - there's a hard side & soft side. On the upper - the hard side goes on the firewall side and on the lower, the hard side goes on the forward side.

Dan
 
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OK, one more comment. I did not use any straps in bolting the engine mount to the engine as the engine was on the hook. I did read the instructions above, and that come with the Avery alignment bullets. As two bolts were installed the other two were clearly not going to align since the bolt axes form a cone. I decided to tighten two of the bolts to reduce the misalignment of the other two. IIRC, a little tightening then tried to tap the remaining bolts in . . .they went in nicely. NO STRAPS. At least not for me.

I am not an expert, this was my first and only, so maybe I just got lucky.

Good luck, I know it will fall in place in the next try.
 
Where There's a Will...

Got it done! Leveling the fuse made all the difference. Still had to fabricate a small drift pin out of a 7/16 bolt to get the last hole, but I got 'er done!

IMG_0709.jpg


Thanks to all for encouragement and tips!!
 
DanBaier said:
Plus 1 on the previously mentioned Illustrated Guide to Engine Hanging (http://www.vansairforce.net/articles/illustratedguidetoenginehanging/enginehanging.htm). Go in the order of upper right, upper left, lower right and last lower left. As you get to the last one, you will undoubtedly need some kind of guide.

I have found that having assistance by fellow aviators who have never hung an engine promotes a lot of discussion of how foolish this approach is - but stay with it. The dialogue makes it seem to go faster and will provide some comic relief.

My other observation is that it is one of the few places in a build that you actually will need a hammer. But, stay with it - when that last one snaps into place, you'll know it.

Be careful if you level the airplane that you have the back end securely tied to something.

Also - watch the installation of the to the mounts - there's a hard side & soft side. On the upper - the hard side goes on the firewall side and on the lower, the hard side goes on the forward side.

Dan
Click to expand...

Yep to needing a drift pin for hole #4. I spent more time on that one that any of the others. And yep to watching the new weight and balance of the fuse. Definitely a difference when I got done. Double checked all the mounts and washers and I have them right.
 
A great way to start the weekend! Now you will need to get something to stand on to work in the fuse! I had to weight the tail (no emp installed) to keep it down. It would stay by itself but so light that I had nightmares about it tipping up unexpectedly. Now, no chance of that.

Congrats, a major milestone.
 
engine hanging

Mark, I have hung my IO-540 twice in the past 6 weeks, taking an hour at the most each time.
Now, I'm a first time builder so I'm far from an expert and have heard the stories.
As Bob Leffler mentioned, I also used a load leveler with the hoist. I simply inserted the lower bolts first, left them loose but just tight enough to keep everything aligned. I then maneuvered the hoist/leveler until the top bolts inserted by hand. Seemed quite simple.

Having said that I wonder if some engine mounts aren't misaligned a lot compared to others. When I tried to bolt my mount to the fire wall, the bottom, center 2 holes were way off. Rather than trying to pull the mount into place, I used a drill bushing, and drilled new fire wall holes somewhat offset from the original pilot holes. Whether this helped with mounting the engine, who knows?
Good luck.
Rick
#40956
Southampton, Ont
 
Engine Hanging Secret

I hung my engine last weekend - the secret was purchasing the engine alignment bullets which I think I got from Avery. If you can get 1/2 hole to line up, you use the alignment pin to get it centered and then push the bolt behind it (quickly when it lines up). While its not super easy, I got it done in a couple hours and didn't need to risk damaging the threads on the bolts by jamming them in.

Good Luck:cool::cool:
 
BillL said:
I had to weight the tail (no emp installed) to keep it down. It would stay by itself but so light that I had nightmares about it tipping up unexpectedly. Now, no chance of that.
Click to expand...

That's the sort of "tipping the canoe" you want to avoid!!
 
Solo RV-8 Engine Hanging - My Experience

For those who will follow:

Just hung my first engine, solo. An Aerosport Power IO-360-B1B in an -8.
Took 1:20.

My tips:
- Pieces of foam pipe insulation on the tubes of the engine mount to protect it and the engine accessories.

- Cinder block chocks in front and back of both tires. Keeps things very stable. Very easy to make fine adjustments.

- Started with it in 3-point, tailwheel on the ground. Ended up with a cinder block and putting in / taking out various pieces of lumber under the tailwheel to make adjustments.

- Both lifted and lowered with the hoist during the process. Used very fine adjustments.

- I should have put the lower rubbers in sooner.

- You can take the aft and spacer rubbers out and look in to see exactly where things need to move.

- I think moving BOTH the plane AND the engine as required to make the adjustments contributed to the relative ease of the process.

- MOST IMPORTANT? The Avery Tools installation pins are fantastic. I cannot imagine doing it without them. No prying required. Started the pin with junk hardware before putting in the real bolt. I drove it until I could just see the tip come out of the engine block hole, switched to the real bolt.
I did not have to loosen any of the previous bolts as I worked on subsequent bolts.




Hope that's of some help to the next person.

P. Happ
 
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I also followed this guide and it went very smoothly. I didn't need a hammer or drift pin. What I did find was if the engine hoist and fuselage were not angled correctly, it was very difficult to get bolts in.
 
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