My first project for this afternoon was to fiberglass the hole in the snorkel I cut previously to provide more relief where it was rubbing the cowl. Unfortunately, no pictures. Its hard when you’re doing fiberglass and your hands are all messy to remember to take photos. But not much to report. I put fiberglass over the hole. Job complete.

I’m going on vacation soon – caving in Tennessee – and I’m also waiting on several part orders for the airplane. In the meantime, I can start breaking things down to prepare for the parts when they arrive.

First on the docket – the leaking oil cooler bypass valve. This baby is 1 1/4″. I didn’t have a crowfoot wrench or offset big enough. And there isn’t clearance for a socket. A little creativity and I was able to get it started with an adjustable wrench and then work it out using the remaining safety wire of all things.

The cause of the leak was immediately apparent. No gasket had been installed!

Here is the diagram from the parts manual that clearly shows the required gasket!

My little form-a-funnel came in handy once again!.

Closer inspection showed there was even a little nick in the collar of the valve from where it had been torqued onto bare metal. I used a little file and emory cloth to clean it up.