John's Build

[jrevens]

I made a removable tailpipe "stinger" with with a little bend in the end. I'd been planning to do that since the first time I paid attention to the way the new ones are hangin' straight down. It just appeals to my eye a little more. Not enough bend to make it harder removing or installing the lower cowl.

[efwd]

Why are mufflers and the like on airplanes held together with springs?
Eddie

[jrevens]

It's just one way to secure two pieces of pipe at a male/female slip joint. Saddles & links, pins, and various other ways are also used. The springs do apply constant tension to the joint, pulling it together, as well as potentially allowing limited movement from expansion and contraction if necessary. I have a good fit on the tailpipe, and I've secured it with a short s.s. pin held in place with a s.s. hose clamp. The pipe is made of 321 stainless, the same as the rest of the system.

[Floog]

Your tail pipe is a nice improvement, John! It just looks FINISHED. A cautionary note to builders: leave plenty of room around the tail pipe where it exits the cowl. Unbeknownst to me, engine torque/vibration was causing contact between the two. Over time (+\-500 hrs) I discovered a crack in the muffler end cap
Shortening the tail pipe long ago didn't arrest that problem. Fortunately, my neighbor is an excellent welder. All good for the last 500 hours 😄

[jrevens]

If the tail pipe was angled like that on Guy Buchanan's beautiful bird it would look really great, but I think there would be a problem with removing & installing the current cowl design and possibly with the position of the radiator & oil cooler also. I did try to duplicate the original distance from the bottom of the cowl. I'm leery of exhaust gas impingement on a fabric belly skin especially. I think this will work fine. Thanks for the nice comments!

[jrevens]

Thanks, Carl. I think it's going to look ok to me... sort of follows the rest of my build - "refined rough".

On the subject of data plates, someone posted a link to the following site on one of the EAA forums -

https://www.mydogtag.com/industrial-nameplate#

These look ideal to me. I'm already having a new one engraved now, but I would've used one of these if I had known about them. The price is very reasonable also... less than I'm paying my local engraving shop to do mine, and I furnished the plate.

[SSFoxBuilder]

FWIW, I also gave my gear a "scotchbrite" look but then had it clear anodized for corrosion protection (very reasonable price point). Without some preventative you may encounter oxidation in the future. I've also read a couple good coats of wax might help as well.

[jmodguy]

Thanks for the link on the nameplate. Have it bookmarked for when the time comes.
Looking real nice John. Hope you get around to flying soon!

[jrevens]

FWIW, I also gave my gear a "scotchbrite" look but then had it clear anodized for corrosion protection (very reasonable price point). Without some preventative you may encounter oxidation in the future. I've also read a couple good coats of wax might help as well.

Thanks Dustin. I will use a good wax on it. I think anodizing is great. I'd like to make a few comments about anodizing, FWIW. Clear anodizing is done with a sulfuric acid process. There were studies done years ago that indicated that type of anodizing decreased fatigue resistance of aluminum to a measurable degree. Cracks tend to propagate from the hard surface more easily. That is the reason that most "aircraft" anodizing that is done (for instance on propeller blades) is with the chromic acid process, which produces a characteristically silver/gray finish. When building my first plane, I studied the issue and built my own set-up to chromic acid anodize everything I could fit into the tank. The process utilizes a variable DC power supply, so I used a variac (variable transformer) and a full-wave bridge to do it. All that being said, I doubt that there is much likelihood of you having any problems - it's sure not a propeller with many thousands of flexing cycles every time you run the engine. I just think that people should be aware of the issues, just like baking plated 4130 parts for hydrogen embrittlement.

[jiott]

Several folks have had their Grove gear powdercoated. Looks good and seems to be durable.