Oil Sump

Just thought I'd throw up a couple more photos.

The first shows the atrocious safety wiring job. The second shows the indicator I made, this morning, to check engine timing with an automotive timing light. It will be removed for flight.

The New Oil Sump & An Engine Start

Overall, I have been messing with the new oil sump. There was some fitting that I had to do, like moving the filler neck, making a dipstick, etc.

Here was the first go-around. You can see the interference problem with the engine mount.
I prevailed on a local welder friend to move the filler neck and to insert a patch. The mounted plate you see is just temporary so I could pressurize it a bit for leak testing.


This thing has a large opening at the bottom so I can gain access to the six mounting studs. The old Continental sump had the mounting screws on the outside, but I had David change them to the inside to make the flange neck wider and more robust. At least that was my theory.

I went with a thinner bottom cover plate than David had provided, in order to gain a little more cowling clearance. I wasn't sure if I would get a good gasket seal, so I doubled the number of mounting screws to 16. Now it looks like something off of a locomotive steam engine. Obviously, I have no idea what I am doing here.

Last Sunday I cobbled enough of it together to actually start the engine. After a little coaxing I managed an actual start and it ran pretty well. This was pretty significant in that it verified the new EFI sensor mounting assembly. I will still have to fine tune the timing adjustment but I am definitely in the ballpark.

I let the whole thing set for a couple of days but when I came back I was dismayed to find about 1/2 cup of oil on the floor. Almost every screw had oil slowly dripping off of it. I drained the oil and tried to figure what to do next. It looked like the sealing gasket was dry and that the oil was migrating through each screw, so I took the approach of sealing the hole. After several trips to town, I found some bonded sealing washers (McMaster P.N. 94709A214) and installed them, and gave the screw threads a swipe with Tite-Seal.

This photo shows how fun it will be to change the oil. Just click on it to make it uglier.


I refilled the oil tank and will go out later today to see how it turns out.


This custom oil sump business has been a royal pain in the arse and given the chance to do it over, I would not have gone this route. Remember, the reason I went with a modified sump was solely to cut down on a bit of drag. The costs do not seen to outweigh the potential gain.

If I can't get this working right, there is always the Sawsall.

Wish me luck.

So, What's the Deal, Sam?

I'm starting to get e-mails from people, wondering what I'm doing. I know, it's pathetic that I'm not flying.

My big hang-up has been getting my custom oil sump resolved. As you may know, I made a low profile sump from carbon fiber and it seemed to do the trick, except that it didn't dissipate enough heat. David Posey was kind enough to offer to build an aluminium one. I'm still fitting that one and coming up with a satisfactory dipstick.

So should that take 5 months? Actually, no.



I have also made some changes to the ignition sensor mount and I think I should have some success with it.




I am hoping to get the new sump installed this week. I need to get my ass in gear.