Zodie


Here is the seat belt attachment drilled

Before I go on I need to start wiring everything that will be difficult to access when assembled. Here is where I will mount the intercom jacks.





Now wired up

And a view from the rear. I used shielded cable and heat shrink tubing.

I deburred, cleaned, primed and painted everything. Here is the antenna mount. I used blind rivets, Cherry 3/32, to mount the #8 nutplates. These really worked nice.

Here is the rear bulkhead and the fan mounted

Another view with the mount installed

Now to wire it all up. I used the stick on mounts and P clamps.

Here is the trim cable coming from the aft. The trim cable and the fan will be routed through the center.

The Com and Transponder will be routed along the right canopy rail

Before I close everything up I want to do do everything I can while I have it open. So I located and cut the holes for the Aileron cables.

I also wired up the flap drive.

Here I have the flap wiring routed up through the left canopy rail

Here it is ready to be hooked up to the switch right above the left vent

I also hooked up the elevator cables. I put the turnbuckle on the aft for the this cable. It will be easier to adjust here.

Here is how I cut off the excess cable. I first put some heat shrink, then slip a piece of Al tube to protect the cable and use the cut off wheel.

I adjusted the cable and trim and ended up a little short. From AC43-13 it says; "It is essential that turnbuckle terminals be screwed into the barrel so that not more than three threads on the terminal are exposed." So I had 5 threads so I cut the cable and made a new one. Now I have it correct. It is kind of tough to guess at the right length at first. So It really isn't that hard to make a new one.

Here is the seat belt attachment finished I can close up the top rear skin.

Another view. I meant to have it all painted grey. I missed some, but it won't matter.

This hatch was real handy for clecoing and riveting the rear sides.

Here is the aft edge with the nutplates. I realized after I had is all done that I don't need the nutplates in the top rear two holes since the fasteners will go into the nutplates in the fiberglass fairing. Oh well it won't show and it will be easy to remove the nut plates.

Here is a close up of the antenna mount. Notice that the coax connector extends out.

Ready to shoot the rivets.

All riveted and the fairing in place.

A view of the antenna. Don't look too close at the indentations on the mid bulkhead. This .016 is easy to dimple.

I added a bracket to attach a bungee in the baggage area.

I also wanted to get the intercom jack and wire installed before I close her up

Here is a view from the back side

Then down the middle and out through a grommet

Then through the hole in the spar. I have some spiral wrap on it to protect it.

Well on to closing up the skin. This really wants to buckle. I guess there is not much to do about it. ZAC talked about it that it is acceptable. Doesn't look real good. I was talking to my Brother about it and he said that I am probably the only one that would notice it. He is probably right about that.

Lots of Clecos to get it tight before riveting

A view of the inside. I had the seatbelts re sewn to change the orientation of the attach plates. They were set up with a bend that was backward for my application. Worked well.

Here is a close up of the spacing on the forward tube. You can also see some of the buckling.

Another look at it

Here is a shot of the worse buckling. I have yet to bend the edge down on the tube.

Once I got to the hangar I really wasn't happy with the look of the buckling I ended up cutting away some of the material and putting a patch over it. Not as good as I had hoped but it looks a lot better than it did.

Another view of the fix.

Turned it around to start working on the business end. Looks good.
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