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Sticky valve?

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So last evening I managed to succeed at getting the oil return lines installed with the new constant tension spring clamps but I failed at using them on the intake tube hoses. I had ordered a bag of 10 ea 7329K18 clamps from McMaster-Carr (the largest size they have) and the bottom line is that they were just too small for my engine and the official Lycoming hoses (new ones). I managed to get 3 of the 4 installed but the clamps were at their extreme open position and I had to force it all together. Never did get the 4th one on.

After all that, I did not want to trust my life to what I was seeing so off they came and the original hose clamps went back on. It was virtually impossible to get the hose centered up on the tube and the intake fitting while wrestling those clamps. :mad:

Bob Martin has put me on to a source for some that are the next size larger @ 2.165 nominal diameter with a 1.843-2.283 range. The McMaster-Carr ones top out at 1.969 nominal with a 1.713-2.087 range. The OD of my Lycoming intake tube hoses are ~ 2.23" installed.

Anyone have a source with these larger sizes that beats Amazon on price and delivery?
 
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So today I installed the custom pushrods I ordered thru Smith Brothers Pushrods. Those things are a thing of beauty! Great quality for way less than Lycoming's rods! All dry tappet clearances checked out on the mid-upper end of the tolerance range which is what I was shooting for.

All new seals on the pushrod tubes. Reinstalled with new nut lock tabs. New silicone rocker cover gaskets and rocker covers back on.

On to remounting the exhaust and I got to the last nut and the stud felt soft from the getgo. Rats! Pulled right out, threads and all! Turns out the engine builder apparently had already had this problem before because it already had a +3 oversized stud in there. So off to the store and back with a Helicoil kit. Drill tap and insert. Back together and all is well with the exhaust.

On to mounting the original PMag back in its hole. Bottom nut good, top one soft and bam, out it comes with 1/8" of threads with it. This engine builder installed too short a stud and it was only inserted about 1/8". So I realized that there was still about 3/8" more threads in the hole and that the hole was open to the inside of the accessory case. I put a wrag in there and ran a tap thru to clean up the threads. Put in the correct stud and it had plenty of threads left to hang on to. Crisis #2 averted.

On to mounting the second Pmag after installing the drive gear and cotter pin. It went on with no issues. The studs I installed worked fine. I had already built all the wiring harnesses. Turned the engine to TDC and set the timing on the Pmags using the blow in the hose method. Easy peasy!

Next I prepped the car plugs by gapping to .032, anti seized the plugs and the plug adapters. Installed all 8 and torqued them down. Connected up the plug harnesses being careful to get em in the right order. Used dielectric grease on the terminals.

Used the EI Commander to download a modified curve to the Pmags. I limited the PMag advance to 25.2deg (to get this you must put 23.8 in the EIC) and shifted the curve down -1.4 deg (I plan to keep increasing this negative shift until I see something less than 25.2deg at max manifold pressure, will take some trial and error.). Worked like a charm.

Pulled the old bird outsize and it fired right up and ran smooth as silk. Idles like a dream @650rpm. Mag check at 1750 was normal. The EIC confirmed that at idle I was getting 21deg of advance. At 1750, 25.2 degrees which is the limit I set.

Let her warm up and noticed that my ECG's appear to be running closer together than before. Everything seems very normal.

I was way too tired to attempt a test flight so I decided to drain the oil and pull and cut open the filter just to be sure nothing else was going on. I changed the oil right before Osh so this oil change was way early but I don't want to take any chances. The filter was clear with nothing found in it.

So tomorrow hopefully I can get the oil change finished, tidy up the plug wires, cowl it up and go fly the thing to see if I have solved the riddle.
 
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Good Update

So today I installed the custom pushrods I ordered thru Smith Brothers Pushrods. Those things are a thing of beauty! Great quality for way less than Lycoming's rods! All dry tappet clearances checked out on the mid-upper end of the tolerance range which is what I was shooting for.

All new seals on the pushrod tubes. Reinstalled with new nut lock tabs. New silicone rocker cover gaskets and rocker covers back on.

On to remounting the exhaust and I got to the last nut and the stud felt soft from the getgo. Rats! Pulled right out, threads and all! Turns out the engine builder apparently had already had this problem before because it already had a +3 oversized stud in there. So off to the store and back with a Helicoil kit. Drill tap and insert. Back together and all is well with the exhaust.

On to mounting the original PMag back in its hole. Bottom nut good, top one soft and bam, out it comes with 1/8" of threads with it. This engine builder installed too short a stud and it was only inserted about 1/8". So I realized that there was still about 3/8" more threads in the hole and that the hole was open to the inside of the accessory case. I put a wrag in there and ran a tap thru to clean up the threads. Put in the correct stud and it had plenty of threads left to hang on to. Crisis #2 averted.

On to mounting the second Pmag after installing the drive gear and cotter pin. It went on with no issues. The studs I installed worked fine. I had already built all the wiring harnesses. Turned the engine to TDC and set the timing on the Pmags using the blow in the hose method. Easy peasy!

Next I prepped the car plugs by gapping to .032, anti seized the plugs and the plug adapters. Installed all 8 and torqued them down. Connected up the plug harnesses being careful to get em in the right order. Used dielectric grease on the terminals.

Used the EI Commander to download a modified curve to the Pmags. I limited the PMag advance to 25.2deg (to get this you must put 23.8 in the EIC) and shifted the curve down -1.4 deg (I plan to keep increasing this negative shift until I see something less than 25.2deg at max manifold pressure, will take some trial and error.). Worked like a charm.

Pulled the old bird outsize and it fired right up and ran smooth as silk. Idles like a dream @650rpm. Mag check at 1750 was normal. The EIC confirmed that at idle I was getting 21deg of advance. At 1750, 25.2 degrees which is the limit I set.

Let her warm up and noticed that my ECG's appear to be running closer together than before. Everything seems very normal.

I was way too tired to attempt a test flight so I decided to drain the oil and pull and cut open the filter just to be sure nothing else was going on. I changed the oil right before Osh so this oil change was way early but I don't want to take any chances. The filter was clear with nothing found in it.

So tomorrow hopefully I can get the oil change finished, tidy up the plug wires, cowl it up and go fly the thing to see if I have solved the riddle.
Brian......you have been busy.
Send you pics of the 55mm clamps and hoses. Via email.
Best of luck with your test flight.
 
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