Its official, I have begun work on the fuselage and more specifically the firewall which is the first sub-assembly. Although my inventory is only partially done...I did enough of it so I could start on the firewall. The firewall is stainless steel and seperates the cockpit from the engine compartment. Besides being a a fire barrier in the event of an engine fire, also keeps engine heat and fumes out of the cockpit during normal operation. Later I will close up any gaps along the edges with ProSeal to get a nice airtight seal.
In preparation for starting the fuselage I went down to Harbor Freight and bought this tool for $30. There is a lot of angle alum to cut in the fuse kit so this will come in handy
There is a fair amount of fabrication on the firewall assembly. Its very enjoyable work, although these two brackets were a bitch to rough cut to size.
I searched everywhere for all of these gussets...only to find them in one of the many bags in the kit. If you click on this photo for a larger view, you will see the bag number...save yourself some time.
Same deal with these spacers...
Cleco-ing the firewall together to match drill everything. Be careful with the stainless steel, it has sharp edges. It also takes some special precautions to drill.
Putting all of the gussets in place
The brake line doubler plate. You have to drill two holes in the SS, use a slow speed and some lubricating fluid when cutting. It will help save your drill bits.
I made a mistake here, this bracket should be spaced 3/32" off the bottom angle. I looked at the plans and it looks like this will just attach to the stiffeners in the floor and should work as it is. I think the spacing was just included so you wouldn't have to radius the edge of the bracket, which I did for a proper fit. At this point, I don't plan to redo them as I don't see the need. You...on the other hand, should avoid this and do it correctly. ;)
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