Matt's RV-8 Project



Matt Dralle's RV-8 Project
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Date:  7-16-2011
Number of Hours:  2.00
Manual Reference:  
Brief Description:  Fuel Vent & Brake Line Installation - Part - 02

Fortunately, many of the old brake lines were still usable and so that saved some work. However, the lines that go inside of the gear towers - the most complex bends, of course, were a little worse for wear after I got them out, finally. So I decided to just custom bend a new pair, and I'm very glad I did! The new ones came out way nicer than the original set - and the original set were pretty nice! You can see from the pictures that there is a left and right hand version of the tubes. Note that there is no real "pattern" in the plans really for bending these, espically since I did a custom low-side brake line installation. So, you just start at one end and work your way to the other end carefully bending and testing and bending and testing until you finally get the part done.

Inside the gear tower, you don't want the tube rubbing against anything, but you do want it to be out of the way so you have to make a design to come up the side, then spiral out though one of the lightening holes in the gear tower. Then it has to attach to the gear tower on the outside with a D-clamp, then snake over to the high-side fittings that attach to the rudder pedals. Its a bit of a trick to get it "just right", but patience pays off. Once you have the first side that fits right, you then have to start all over again and make a mirror image of the part for the other side. You could probably get away with a much sloppier bend pattern and go a lot faster, but when has that been my MO?

Anyway, I'm happy to report the new set of lines came out nearly perfect and fit exactly right on both sides. The 90 degree bends in the center look cooler than the original 45 degree bends I did on the first fuselage and turned out to be a lot easier to do and should be more reliable.

The final touch was adding the brake fluid reservoir to the firewall and connecting it to the rest of the plumbing.

I can't believe this task is complete! And in only one weekend! Amazing! Yahoo!
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Gear Tower Fuel Vent & Brake Line Installation - Right

Gear Tower Fuel Vent & Brake Line Installation - Right

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Gear Tower Fuel Vent & Brake Line Installation - Right

Gear Tower Fuel Vent & Brake Line Installation - Right

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Gear Tower Fuel Vent & Brake Line Installation - Right

Gear Tower Fuel Vent & Brake Line Installation - Right

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