Alex's Vans RV-10 Build Log

Another modification I am making in the firewall area of my RV-10 is upgrading to a larger oil cooler ( Airflow Systems 2007X vs. the recommended 2006X ). Running SDS EFI and cold air induction on my engine, along with my home base being in warmer climates within CA, I wanted to ensure that I have adequate cooling available as needed. The downside of this is that the 2007X oil cooler is taller than the 2006X cooler (due to an additional 2 rows of cooling fins). It therefore won't fit the stock Van's cooler mount as is, and I need to modify the mounting bracket to accommodate the bolt locations on the larger oil cooler. This modification has been done by numerous other builders, and mine is no different. The lower bolt holes on the stock mount remain where they are. In order to space the top and bottom bolts further apart I have to remove the top row of predrilled bolt holes, and drill new bolt holes into a piece of 1/16" thick angle that will be attached to the top of the ...

As I will be installing the SDS EFI system to manage fuel flow in my RV-10, I had also previously purchased the Andair EFS 2020-D2-TMT fuel valve with return fittings. Unfortunately this valve does not fit into the stock fuel valve bracket from Van's due to the mounting holes on the Andair valve being further apart and the center hole requiring enlargement, so a modified bracket is required.  I again decided to follow other builders in fabricating a modified valve bracket and found a nice 3D printed template here (thanks Allen!). After printing the drilling template, I went to work to recreate it from 0.063" aluminum Printed template alongside a piece of 0.063" aluminum cut to size and deburred, with the hole positions marked Drilling the center hole using a hole saw on the drill press Center hole came out perfectly positioned Lightning holes were also drilled using a smaller hole saw Next I match drilled the #12 holes (for AN3 bolts) and the #40 rivet holes Bracket clam...

There are a couple more tasks I needed to finish before I start riveting the forward fuselage assembly together including Dimpling the firewall Installing tunnel access panels to make future inspections inside the tunnel easier Firewall recess flange holes dimpled. Here you can see that I had already started thinking about control cable pass-thrus and had made some markings in the recess. I'll talk to this in an upcoming post Dimpling the firewall with the DRDT-2. Stainless steel dimples very easily and the dimples appear crisp Holes near the flanges of the firewall were dimpled with the squeezer For a few holes right next to the flanges, I used the rivet dimpling technique Firewall dimpled as seen from the forward side... ...and the aft side I test fit all the angles and brackets to make sure everything aligned I also decided to redimple the scat tube support as I wasn't fully happy with the attempts earlier. To get a crisper dimple I pulled the flange out about 20 degrees usi...