Sam the Plumber

Cold weather continues to hamper progress. Last week it was 19 degrees F and the hangar was probably 23F.

To me, this electronic fuel injection is a big deal to install, but very interesting. Right now, I still don't have have all the plumping fittings that I need.

It seems like I always have the wrong ones. I recently sat down and ordered everything I thought I'd need. I used a couple of sources, Summit Racing and Ebay. When everything arrived I found a major screw-up. I ordered -6 fittings, instead of -4. Rats! You ever try and return anything through Ebay?

Yesterday, I found that even the different brands aren't always compatible. I had accumulated Earls's fittings, Summit Racing's own brand and Aeroquip. I find that the Earl's fittings don't like the Aeroquip braided hose. From here on out I will try to use the Aeroquip, but man, they are proud of their stuff! Expensive!

The fuel system is a closed loop. Here is the path:

From the header tank
through the shutoff valve
through the 40 micron gascolator
through the fuel pump
through the 10 micron filter
through the left firewall
past five fuel injectors
returned through the right firewall
through the fuel pressure regulator and
back into the header tank.

There are probably 30 joints where fuel can leak, this part is a challenge.

Speaking of fuel injection, through a rotary engine news group, I came across a link on rolling your own fuel injection controller, from Paul Lamar. While it may look promising, it apparently hasn't been built yet. There is also some information about Klaus Savier's fuel injection system.

Year-end Update

Off topic, from the '70s. Here's an old photo of me and my buddies making a practice jump at East Troy, Wisconsin. We were getting ready for regional 10-man speed star competition.


It was a good year, but I do regret not getting to fly and race this thing.

Having said that, I am really getting close. I'm working on firewall forward and things aren't too bad. I just had two days of working with the hangar door open and it is really a morale booster. So much better than trying to think and fabricate in a dungeon.

My most recent success (meaning overcome obstacle) is mounting my ignition coils. With the RWS EC3 injection/ignition system, each plug gets it's own LS1 coil. I understand these coils are used on Corvette engines. I took a cue from Lynn French's creative installation and mounted two of them directly on the engine mount. I think this will work pretty well.




My short-term goal is to fire up the engine by the end of January.

I don't work in a total vacuum and certainly don't have the skills to do it all myself. Here are just some of the people that helped me this past year. I know I don't have everyone and if you don't see yourself here, please don't be offended. I probably lost those brain cells connected with your name.

Billy Cheek
Bob Knuckolls and the AeroElectric Connection e-mail list
Bruce Dallas
Charley "C-Rod" Rodriguez
Cory Steinkoneig
David Posey
Dennis Hannon
Don Bartlett
Grither's Auto Body
Harry Hinckley
Jerry Marstall
John Cotter
John Eynon
Ken Robinson
Larry Dauer
Keven Mitchell
Lynn French
Mike Bergen
Mike Burgener
Mike Dwyer
Mike Most
Rob Hoskins
Various SIU Aviation Technology students

And the award for the most help and patient understanding goes to:

My beautiful wife, Sandy

My original target date, for project completion, was May 1, 2008. I still think that was realistic for the original project list, but I kept adding things and it grew and grew and grew. Not on the original list were; replacement of the rear wing, new canopy, and TWO PAINT JOBS.

I just need to stay at it.

Now - Where was I?

Time to get back to the fun stuff. While I was waiting for the paint to dry I did get some other work in on the aft side of the firewall. Specifically, I'm working on the instrument panel, location of the batteries, and getting the fuel system in.

Because I'm using fuel injection, I will need a fuel pump to boost the fuel to about 45 psi. It is a closed loop system, meaning, the fuel is in constant circulation as it's filtered, boosted and regulated. The pump and filter package is mounted to the fuselage wall, just aft of the pilot.

I chose Walbro pumps and I have a second as a backup. Fuel leaves the header tank via the black fuel line and goes to an aft mounted 70 micron gascolator. Then through the fuel pump, through a 10 micron filter, then through the aluminium tubing to the firewall. After making the circuit around the engine, it returns back through the firewall and is delivered to the fuel pressure regulator. After the regulator, the excess fuel is dumped back into the header tank.

One of the biggest challenges was bending the aluminum tubing, especially the 1/2" stuff. It was tough even finding the right bender. Fortunately, I was again able to tap into SIU AvTech and got hold of Professor Billy Cheek. Billy used to bend tin for the Air Force and pulled me out of the deep hole I'd gotten myself into.

The photos are showing the work in progress. Click on 'em to see 'em bigger. Please excuse the dust.










Today I actually applied power to the fuel pumps and pressurized the system. For testing purposes I took it to 80 psi, but I think I will normally run it at 45 psi. The test was a great morale boost!