N74418 HID Cowl Light Installation
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First step: remove cowling. LoPresti split cowl makes it easier.
You will need:
04-06020 Click Bond Stud Kit from Aircraft Spruce and Supply ($8.50 + s/h)
XV-36-SL kit from XeVision (50 watt; bulb, power pack, 4ft HV cable, about $500 + s/h)
your favorite brand of latex or nitrile gloves, some tie-wraps, butt-splices for the +12 volt and ground.
Installation took me 4.4 hours while A&P supervised (wasn't in any hurry).
Next: Pick a spot on the firewall for the power pack and clean off 30 years of dirt.
Here using a 3M Roloc 50 grit finger wheel (Auto Zone parts store; paint aisle $7.99), or your favorite flap wheel.
A template helps visualize the stud locations. Sheetmetal template would be better. Cardboard works.
Polished mirror clean! Use your template and the Click Bond Studs to lay out the centerlines.
Use the cleaning pad in the kit for final prep but be careful not to remove your outside centerlines, etc.
Caution! Cleaning pad contains Acetone, n-Heptane, Methylcyclohexane, Cyclohexane, and p-Amyl Acetate. Use gloves. Stay away from paint job.
The Click Studs (in the right cups). Crack-and-peel paper removed off sticky feet. Ready for a dab of cement in the center, then you stick them to the firewall and click the center post. Small plastic leaf springs hold the stud in place at the correct compression until the cement cures.
Kit comes with glue, popsicle stick, and plastic card. Lots of resin, tiny amount of activator (pre-proportioned).
Once the glue dabs are on, locate the plastic towers and press them home. Note the squeeze-out color (creame).
Cement first mixed; creame color. Cement cured; mint green color.
I waited 2 hours after the ooze turned green before tightening the nuts on the studs. Shop temp 65 deg. F.
The pliers here is strictly for dramatic effect. Any red-blooded male can twist off the plastic towers with bare hands.
Take care to keep the wire to the bulb away from the muffler or exhaust pipe (that's the thingy at the bottom of the picture).
Looking straight down from in front of cyl #2. Clearance to engine baffle shown.
Power pack installed on firewall. +12 volts taken from old bulb lead.
FLAME ON!! (compare it to the shop light on the floor...)
Final comments:
I am completely satisfied with the quality of all the components. I will continue to be satisfied if they last the 2,000 hours claimed (don't see why they won't). I was particularly impressed at how easy it was to install the entire package and how well the Click Bond Stud kit works.
There was NO interference with any communication or navigation equipment after installation (Garmin 430). On return trip, the tower put 5 planes on a "using-both-sides-left-right-downwind" pattern and the plane farthest out called me in sight when I ruddered the
nose in his direction. Awesome!
questions? email: danrubino(@)att(dot)net -remove parenthesis, replace dot-
Do you have a CanopyAirlock?
Next: Pick a spot on the firewall for the power pack and clean off 30 years of dirt.
Here using a 3M Roloc 50 grit finger wheel (Auto Zone parts store; paint aisle $7.99), or your favorite flap wheel.
A template helps visualize the stud locations. Sheetmetal template would be better. Cardboard works.
Polished mirror clean! Use your template and the Click Bond Studs to lay out the centerlines.
Use the cleaning pad in the kit for final prep but be careful not to remove your outside centerlines, etc.
The Click Studs (in the right cups). Crack-and-peel paper removed off sticky feet. Ready for a dab of cement in the center, then you stick them to the firewall and click the center post. Small plastic leaf springs hold the stud in place at the correct compression until the cement cures.
Kit comes with glue, popsicle stick, and plastic card. Lots of resin, tiny amount of activator (pre-proportioned).
Once the glue dabs are on, locate the plastic towers and press them home. Note the squeeze-out color (creame).
Cement first mixed; creame color. Cement cured; mint green color.
I waited 2 hours after the ooze turned green before tightening the nuts on the studs. Shop temp 65 deg. F.
The pliers here is strictly for dramatic effect. Any red-blooded male can twist off the plastic towers with bare hands.
Take care to keep the wire to the bulb away from the muffler or exhaust pipe (that's the thingy at the bottom of the picture).
Looking straight down from in front of cyl #2. Clearance to engine baffle shown.
Power pack installed on firewall. +12 volts taken from old bulb lead.
FLAME ON!! (compare it to the shop light on the floor...)