Re-mounted engine to firewall, installed B&C alternator | 12.8.2020

Today, I finally got the longer engine mounting bolts that I had ordered after a USPS snafu. Obviously, the thing to do now is install the engine. :)

Emily was busy, so I managed to do this *mostly* by myself. The new bolts that I ordered were perfect length on the first try, which basically never happens to me, so that was a plus. I'm planning on this being the last time I mount the engine, so I installed it with the locknuts and there she sits.

Engine re-mounted

Once that was done, I set about installing the B&C 60amp 12v alternator that we had ordered. The engine came with a perfectly functional 60amp Chrysler pattern alternator, but no regulator. I was going to just order a regulator initially, but as I was on their website looking at the B&C regulator, I convinced myself to order a new alternator for a few reasons.

First and foremost is that when we had the engine mounted initially and put the bottom cowl on, it contacted the alternator significantly. We would have had to make a bump in the cowl for it, which would have been additional work, on top of it adding more drag in the air.

Second, the B&C alternators are *light*. Specifically, it and all of its mounting hardware came in ~4.6 lbs lighter than the old Chrysler alternator and all of its mounting hardware. I know this doesn't sound like a ton, but this is a significant weight savings for basically changing a few bolts (and spending more money....). Every pound counts on a plane.

Old alternator and mounting accessories

 

New alternator and mounting accessories

First up was to install the mounting bracket onto the engine boss. The alternator grounds through this, so I cleaned the aluminum mounting location with rubbing alcohol before installing it. These were torqued to 140 in-lbs per the install spec, and then safety wired and the retention tabs bent into position.

Mounting bracket in place.

Next up was to install the alternator to the bracket and install the tension adjustment arm. Once these were torqued down, I realized that I had a bit of a problem. See, I thought I was going to be so smart and slip the belt over the starter ring gear without having to remove anything since I don't have a prop installed yet. Nope. Even with no prop, you still need to remove the starter ring gear because you can't get the belt past the starter drive itself anyway.

At this point, Emily helped me hold everything steady while we took the prop extension off to get the ring gear off.

Off it comes.

Once that was off, I installed the belt, torqued the belt slippage to ~12ft/lbs, and tightened everything down. Still need to safety wire the bolts, but will get this when I'm doing something else

This picture was taken before I realized I needed to take off and re-install the prop extension...

Lastly, I fit the cooling plenum to the engine and read through the engine to see what work I had ahead in that department. Should be pretty straight forward, but I have a few questions regarding the runners that I'll have to ask the factory about.

That's all for now!
- Jeff