Saturday, February 20, 2021

This is Exhausting...

Haha I couldn't resist... the title is in reference to the fact that I now have the exhaust system fully installed.  After a trip to the welder to weld in the bung for the O2 sensor and a bit of progress on the FAB I figured it was time to do a fit check with pretty much everything installed.  Pix below.

I also did something new this past week.  I did some DIY anodizing of some aluminum parts!  It was a fun process and overall I'm happy with how things came out.  Not perfect but pretty darn close.

On another topic I got the new FAB mount for the SDS air servo to FAB.  I had to modify it a bit for the vacuum hoses but it feels like the FAB will be nice and solid.  Hopefully no cracking like has been seen on many RV's.


O2 sensor installed in its bung on the #1 exhaust pipe about 12.5" down.


Exhaust system installed

I had to modify the cable bracket again...the center console was not sitting down properly.  I trimmed it down about 3/8" and then cut a slot in the tunnel cover to allow the throttle and prop cables to flex normally.  I riveted an aluminum plate under the tunnel cover as a doubler since the center console cover is considered structural.

This is my anodizing station setup.  Rinse water in the blue bucket, Anodizing mix in the white bucket, power supply in the back, and two hotplates for both the dye and the boiling water used to set the color.

One of the plates perking away in the anodizing bath.  You can see its running about 2 amps and 11.5 volts.  This goes on for about 2 hours.
The one on the left is what I started with and the one on the right is the finished product.



Here are the brackets bolted on to the back of the seat.  You can kind of envision how the seat belts are going to thread through the slots.

SDS FAB mount installed on the sump.


And last but not least...the center console is installed and the control knobs bolted on.  The blue prop knob is one that I cut with my CNC and then anodized when I was doing the seat brackets.  I'm pretty happy with out it came out.