At work today I
painted the mounting plates for the GPS and the ELT antenna. I primed both plates and then painted the GPS
mounting plate gray to match the other painted components mounted to the firewall. I painted the ELT antenna mounting plate TAN
to match the interior of the airplane.
This evening I mounted both plates.
I had to drill out 3-rivets installed in the back brace behind the
co-pilot position to mount the ELT antenna plate. I used my nutplate jig to drill #40 holes for
the nutplates. I also final drilled #19
the rivet holes. I riveted the nutplates
in place and installed the ELT antenna mounting plate. I then attached the GPS antenna to it's
mounting plate. I had to remove some of
the plate material at the edge of the large hole to allow the cable to pass
through without being smashed. I used my
handheld nibblers to remove the same amount of material from the antenna shelf
previously attached to the firewall. The
antenna attached to the mounting plate and the mounting plate attached to the
antenna shelf like they were designed to do so.
I ran the GPS
cable through the grommet in the firewall and through the snap bushings and
cushioned clamp on
the instrument shelf. I inserted the
pins into the GPS D-sub connector and the installed the inserted the connector
into the control module.
The plans indicate installing Switch module and the center
instrument panel with flat head screws.
My plan is to install the panels with the black 632 pan head screws I
ordered from Fastenal. After reading
some new information I learned that it would be a good idea to install the
center panel section with flat head screws because the "THROTTLE",
"CHOKE" an "CABIN HEAT" labels will cover the heads of the
screws. Pan head screws in that location
will be a problem. So I decided to
counter sink the 6-each screw holes at the bottom of the center panel. I was concerned that the cutter would rip the
carbon fiber vinyl I have already installed on the instrument panels. I set up the microstop in the drill press and
proceeded to countersink the first hole.
I went perfectly. I then
countersunk the remaining 5-holes. I painted
the holes with a black marker so the aluminum won't show after the screw is
installed. I used some flat black paint
to paint the heads of 6-flat head screws.
I will be ready to attach the center panel after I have repaired the switch
module. I am waiting for the parts Van's
said they put in the mail yesterday.
