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[lgsievila]

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[mike.smith]

I've taken that bolt out at least a dozen times since I built the engine and I've never had a leak. I'm not sure the design is necessarily the issue. But a 2-piece bracket certainly would not be a bad idea.

[lgsievila]

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[Sonerai13]

That you have to take the brace off every time you have to torque head bolts etc, there has to be a better way. I still think the best way would be two attachment points on the back of the accessory plate and eliminate the bottom brace altogether

There's no reason to take the intake manifold brace off at the bottom of the case just to torque head bolts. In fact, If you make a torque extension out of a 15 mm open end wrench you don't have to take ANY of the intake manifold apart. But even without the torque extender, you can just pull the intake elbows off without disturbing the manifold itself.

We've never had problems with a properly-sealed case leaking just by pulling that bolt out when the engine is cold. If it's going to leak there, it's going to leak. Removing and installing that bolt won't change that.

And where does it say anything in the AeroVee assembly manual about silk thread?????

[Sonerai13]

There has been some discussion offline about this subject, so rather than answering multiple messages I thought I'd just post my comments here for all to see...

Sonex strongly recommends that builders assemble the engine strictly in accordance with the AeroVee Assembly Manual. Any deviation from that makes it hard to diagnose problems that may be introduced by individual builders doing things different ways. Once a builder deviates from the manual in one place, it becomes easier to deviate in other places. Sort of like that snowball rolling down the hill. At any rate, Sonex cannot and does not "approve" anything that is not detailed in the manual. Local "experts" may have a "better idea", but if it's not in the manual, you're on your own.

Regarding the case half bolts: There is NO specific torquing sequence for the perimeter bolts. Only the 6 large main bearing nuts have a toque sequence. The builder is free to tighten the case perimeter nuts and bolts in any pattern he or she wishes.

Regarding my comment on a "torque extender" for torquing cylinder heads. As many of you know, when checking torque on the AeroVee heads, you have to remove the rocker arm shaft. This is fine since you are no doubt going to adjust the valve clearance anyway. But two of the nuts on the top of the head are hidden by the intake elbow. Common practice is to remove the intake elbow to get at those two nuts. This introduces a possible issue with induction system leaks if you don't get the elbows resealed to the heads properly.

Why mess with something if you don't have to! Rather make yourself a toque extender out of a spare 15 mm open end wrench. You'll need the wrench, a spare socket that fits your 3/8 drive torque wrench, and a welder. (The socket can be any size, but something that is about the same width as the wrench works very well.) Measure 4 inches from the center of the wrench's open end and mark the handle of the wrench. Then weld the socket on the wrench so that the center of the 3/8 drive is right over the 4" mark. You now have a 4" extender for your torque wrench. Now all you have to do is calculate the extra leverage of the 4" extension and set your torque wrench accordingly. You'll need to know the length of the handle of your torque wrench in order to do the calculation.

Let's say your torque wrench is 12 inches long from the center of the square drive to the center of the handle. With the 4" extension installed straight out you'll now have an effective length of 16 inches. The formula is as follows: Torque wrench setting (M1) equals desired torque (M2) multiplied by the basic length of the wrench (L1) divided by the extended length of the wrench (L2). So the formula is M1 = M2xL1/L2.

Plugging our numbers in, the formula looks like this M1 = 18x12/16. 12/16 = .75. 18x.75 is 13.5. So you would set your torque wrench at 13.5 lb-ft in order to achieve 18 lb-ft on the nut. Now you can slide your extension down between the intake elbow and the head and torque those two nuts without having to pull the elbow off.

Now, if you put the extension at a 90 degree angle to the torque wrench, you haven't actually extended the length so you can leave the setting at 18 lb-ft. But I've always found that to be awkward, so I just use the extension straight and change the wrench setting. Either way, it saves messing with the induction system, which is a good thing in my book.

Now that you've endured all that, you can just go to http://www.rv7.us/a_u-torquewrenchsetting.htm and plug in the numbers and you'll get the answer!

Hope this helps!!

[Onex107]

Why go to all that trouble. If you put a 1/2 inch adaptor on your torque wrench and use the open end/box end wrench at 90 degrees, you can torque those nuts behind the intake manifold without all the calculations.

[rizzz]

You don't need to make a torque wrench extender from scratch, you can buy one, this is the one I have:
http://www.armstrongtools.com/armstrong ... -15mm.html

Be aware my intake is slightly different from the AeroVee and it allows the 12 point adapter, you can get crows-foot adapters as well if that works better on the AeroVee intake.

Also, here's an online calculator:
http://www.workshopaddict.com/tools/torque.html

Be aware! when using a torque wrench normally it does not matter where you hold it, it always "clicks" at the same torque regardless where you hold it, when using an extension, it does matter as you can see in the drawing in the link above.

Here's another link with a bit more explanation, and this one shows whay happens if you have the extension at an angle, and yes, at a 90 degree angle the value should be the same as if you don't have an extension, however I did not find it easy to use the torque wrench that way:
http://manuals.deere.com/omview/OMAR283 ... AN07_1.htm

[Sonerai13]

You don't need to make a torque wrench extender from scratch, you can buy one, this is the one I have:
http://www.armstrongtools.com/armstrong ... -15mm.html

That one is too short to do the head nuts behind the intake elbow on the AeroVee. You need a bare minimum of a 3 inch extension, and 4 inches is better yet.

Be aware my intake is slightly different from the AeroVee and it allows the 12 point adapter, you can get crows-foot adapters as well if that works better on the AeroVee intake.

Crow's foot won't work on the AeroVee either. Again, too short.

[quote="rizzz"]Also, here's an online calculator:
http://www.workshopaddict.com/tools/torque.html[/quote}

Yep, that' one is fancier than the one I posted, but it works just as well.

[mike.smith]

I get your implication Mike but I am pretty sure I put it together correctly.

I didn't mean to imply anything. It's just worth knowing that not everyone has an issue with that bolt. I've never had a case leak. A rear seal leak and a leak from push rod tube bases (assembly or alignment errors), but never from the case. I put it together strictly per the AV assembly manual, if that means anything.

[aferddaberts]

I have gotten to the point of rigging my ruddervators and determined that the slots as plans call for, do not allow the pushrods to clear fuselage skin. They are pretty darn close, but no cigar. So I am enlarging the slots ( little bit at a time) so the push rods do not rub. Is this par for the course ? Or have I screwed up somewhere many pages back ? Thanks for your advice. I could ask Tech Support, but I usually get a non-answer from them.

AL Roberts W0209