From early December 2025 through end March 2026, I primarily focused on all the work required firewall forward. Primarily it was doing final connections of all fuel and oil lines, including installing the oil cooler. Also, the cowl baffles get installed that route air around the cylinders and engine to provide cooling as the engine is only cooled by air. Air also gets routed through tubes to the oil cooler and both ignition sources.
In addition, I had to make final modifications to the cowling to account for baffling. There was also work to make all the cable connections to the propellor governor, throttle, and mixture controls. The sensors all had to be wired into the lines that go through the firewall to the avionics. For example, readings for each cylinder and exhaust temperatures, oil pressure and temps, fuel pressure and flow rate, manifold pressure, and more. I also made final connections for the smoke system that is an add-on I installed.
Finally, I had to do a final install of the rear canopy window and the main canopy. I had some great help from both Anna and Grace. This will also be the last post showing work of N14KR at the home workshop as I’ll document the move and attaching of wings next.
This is a longer timelapse than normal because this has pieced together four months of work sessions