August 25, 2007 - Firewall Forward

Continuing working on the firewall, I looked at all the engine sensor stuff that came with the Dynon. Lots of stuff but at least I have a better understanding of what it all is than I did when I first got it.

I temporarily bolted on the transducer manifold. I attached the fuel pressure line to the manifold bottom section. Then I screwed in the fuel pressure sensor to the manifold (the bottom cylinder). It sounds complex to the novice like myself, but it's really pretty simple. The transducer manifold is just an aluminum router. Flow comes in one port, the second port is plugged, and the third port goes to the sensor. Sensor sends the information electrically via a wire to the Dynon computer.

Next I did the same thing with the oil pressure line. Attached it to the manifold center section, then screwed in the oil pressure sensor to the manifold.

I thought I better take a look how I'm going to attach the cowl to the firewall. I had bought a MilSpec fastener set through a Vans Air Force group buy a few months ago. Stainless steel, phillips head. I know I will need to make an aluminum support strip that rivets to the firewall and holds the receptacles. I measured the lengths of the firewall bottom, sides and top so I can order the support strip material. Material should be .064 thick 2024 T-3 aluminum, 1 1/2" wide. I'm supposed to rivet the receptacles to the support strip first, then the strip to the firewall. So it's something I can do now; well before I start messing with the cowl.

The wiring harness kit came with the firewall forward kit. This surprised me -- I didn't do my homework very well in this regard. I thought I would have to make up all the cables myself. At first I was happy. But after studying the drawings I realized that I won't be using that many of the pre-made cables. It's mainly because the supplied wiring harness conforms exactly to the drawings, which is perfectly reasonably. But my electrical system is based on the AeroConnection Z-11 diagram. So it's not the same. I may have wasted some money by getting the wiring harness. Still, I can use some of the bigger cables like the ones that go to the starter and alternator, so it's not a total loss.

The wiring harness shown here is designed for a circuit breaker and switch layout but I'm going with a fuse block so the wire lengths are all wrong. I can use these wires but will just have to cut them differently.

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