Removing the Lycoming Engine

It's time to remove the engine and work on the baffles. It's also a good time to remove the nose gear and make some adjustments. Let's get er done!
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[@danielbasovitch5087]

The extra pucks are because you don't do STOL with a MOONEY but when you do it with this plane you can SLAM the nose down and not have to worry about bottoming the strut!

[@littlewingpsc27]

I'm sure there are more also in case you run over rocks, small ditches, and other depressions in the ground when off airport that might require they be there that a MOONEY on a paved airstrip doesn't have to contend with.

[@aciagriculturalconstructio2264]

Not sure if you do much off airport operations but on my zenith the nose gear just wasn't robust enough. Started getting distortion in firewall brackets, and the floor really rattled on rough terrain rollouts. I extended some channel underneath to the seats and beefed up the firewall. Then I added the nose strut from a Cessna 172. The new nose gear has been a game changer with my plane. I built in an extra 6" of prop clearance while I was at it. New gear is significantly heavier but has totally been worth it to me. I can't say enough about how well an oil filled nose strut does on the zenith.

[@davestrong2971]

I have been a long-time subscriber. Thanks for your time editing the videos. I appreciate your efforts..

[@zbigniewbasiarz8108]

Happy New Year 🎉🎉🎉

[@davelastowski2158]

Might be time for a ride video...always liked it when u took us up in your cruiser..great videos..looking forward to another..

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

Everyday I’m home I stare out the window wishing I could fly. It’s about 1,000’ overcast for Seven months straight in Michigan.

[@davelastowski2158]

Lol...come stay in Canada...we get our nice days..I put you up anytime..

[@4437RR]

You really want full movement of those pucks to provide proper shock absorption. As tight as they are now will cause problems. Lubrication is the issue and that will deal with your corrosion concern. Remove the paint.

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

I'm actually thinking of just getting a new gear leg from Zenith. I want them to weld in the small tube at the bottom that used for their tow bar.

[@Know-Way]

Thanks for the video. Regarding the 290mm measurement, it looks like there are 12 disks in the manual, but only 10 on your nose gear. Are you short two?

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

Hmm I didn’t notice that. I installed everything zenith sent me. I don’t have any extra aluminum disks that go between the pucks so this is what I received in the kit. I’ll have to ask Zenith if they shorted me or if they changed the number of pucks!

[@patrickfarley8864]

Good call @know-way, I think that this is why the plan is calling for 290mm each spacer/washer kit seams to measure 20mm (that I could make up from the video) So if Kitplane Enthusiast say that he is at 250mm now + 2x20mm (Missing spacer/washer) = 290mm exactly as per the plan.

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

@@patrickfarley8864 Yes with two more pucks the 290 measurement would make sense.

[@thomasmitchell6921]

HA ha, if you had another hanger you’d have another airplane😂

[@foesfly3047]

When the music starts at 6:05, I can’t help but imagine Austin Powers doing a silly dance in his skivies 😂

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

I will do that in my next video!

[@foesfly3047]

@@KitplaneEnthusiast😂😂😂

[@aviationled_mmix]

Did you solve the mystery of the 290 mm discrepancy ? Should the measurement be to the lowest surface in the assembly of the ‘donuts’ (including the bottom two steel fittings) ? … or is the dimension shown on the drawing for a different assembly configuration when compared with yours ? Impressive patience 👍 Exceptional attention to detail as always 👏

[@aviationled_mmix]

Just finally read through the earlier comments, so it was a different number of pucks (donuts) installed 🤔

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

@@aviationled_mmix Yes my kit was shipped with the 750 STOL nose pucs and plans page. Roger at Zenith sent me two additional pics so with the two additional pics all the measurements were correct.

[@Sometungsten]

Mark, something dark showed up on the floor next to the nose tire and went off frame toward the left-wing tip at 3:49. I can't tell what it is, but it is about two or three inches across.

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

Yep that was one of the rubber engine mounts.

[@n206ja]

Your nose gear puck adjustments would have been much easier if you hadn't coated the area under the pucks with paint or powder coat (don't know which one you used). It's much better to leave that area bare metal - I ground off the steel scale and even slightly polished it. Then, liberally grease the pucks and nose gear leg with 3M silicone paste grease. I also lightly sanded the i.d. of the rubber pucks to ensure they would slide firmly but smoothly on the nose gear leg. Using this method, I can slide the pucks up without having to remove the leg - gently pry with a pair of big screwdrivers if necessary. Then, loosen and push the upper collar up against the stack, push the lower collar up against the the upper and secure the bottom collar. Then again with a pair of screwdrivers, you can pry the upper collar up to tension the stack, secure the upper collar screws, and then bring the bottom collar up and secure. You can repeat this as necessary to get the proper tension. I've had zero corrosion problems with not painting or powder coating the area under the pucks and the suspension is very smooth and supple - feels like a pneumatic strut!

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

John, I thought about that when I had the gear leg powder coated. I knew it would make the pucks more difficult to move or install, but I wanted the steel protected. I’m sure with enough grease on there it would sort of act just like the powder coating to protect it from corrosion. 👍

[@n206ja]

Yes, the grease is protective and also the stack is so tight from compression and with the grease between the pucks, the gear leg is essentially sealed water-tight!

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

@@n206ja How did you polish the bare steel?

[@n206ja]

Used a foam-backed sanding pad on a grinder and successively finer grits of paper and gave a final smoothing with Scotchbrite.

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

@@n206ja I’ve been thinking about replacing this gear leg for a white because I wanted to have the Zenith tow bar tube welded in. Removing the powder coating on this gear leg is too difficult to do (as far as I know) but if Zenith will weld in the tow bar tube I may just get a new gear leg. Would be interesting to polish the top as you did.

[@azminear]

2 things - Noticed what I would consider a problem with your throtle cable mount. You have the cable sheath mounted to the motor mount, of course when the engine is running there is relative motion beween the engine and the motor mount. This motion can manifest as throttle movement because of your securing the throttle cable sheath to the engine mount. I secured the sheath to the motor (via a bracket mounted on the engine/carb). About the puck stack, how is your clearance between the nose gear upper mounting bracket and the aluminum washers between pucks. I had to chuck mine up in a lathe and machine them down so they wouldnt rub on the bolts and rivets on the inside of the upper nose gear bracket.

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

I'm aware of that. There are a few things FWF I'll probably be changing. I did notice the tight tolerance between the disks and the bolts, and it's VERY close, but they do not touch.

[@johnfitzpatrick2469]

Do you think Zenith should circulate a service bulletin about the 290mm nose wheel assembly measure, to give more ground clearance to the prop? 🌏🇭🇲

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

If you read the other replies, an eagle-eyed viewer noticed my gear has 10 pucks and the plans show 12. So I'm not sure if Zenith changed the number of pucks and didn't update the plans, or they just didn't send me the two extra pucks. But with the 12 pucks, the 290mm is accurate. So the real question is: how many pucks are suppose to be on there?!?!

[@brunovhida]

One day i purchase a airplane kit and build too...

[@1shARyn3]

How many pucks did you use on the Cruiser?

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

I have the Viking spring in the Cruzer.

[@telliott100]

Mark, why didn't you use a heavy duty spring for the front landing gear instead of the rubber doughnuts?

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

Because the kit comes with the rubber donuts. If I were to do it again, I may be tempted to use the Viking spring.

[@mkosmo]

@@KitplaneEnthusiast There's still time!

[@FlyingtheBigTireCruzer]

@@KitplaneEnthusiast The Viking Spring has been indespensible in the backcountry for my Big Tire Cruzer. I also added +4 inches to my nose gear and main gear besides the 27.5 for 12" of prop clearance. Glad I did.

[@telliott100]

Adam, at Aero Works, who is also building a 750 SD, custom ordered a special oil-filled, heavy duty spring for the front to replace the donuts from ACME. This means they have all the basic specs on the 750 SD. Adam didn't tell them the proper internal diameter of the nose wheel strut, but that just needs to be measured and given to the folks at ACME to get it right. It is shown on episodes 34, 35 and 36 of Adam's build site on KZbin. It does take some modification but it looks amazing and might be great for backcountry flying.@@KitplaneEnthusiast

[@Texxas750Cruzer]

Have ya concidered NOT having your lift boom extended so far ? If ya shortened it , it wont tip forward. ( ex crane operator ) 😂

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

That's a good point Dave. I had to have it extended pretty far to get it off the crate it was shipped in. So I just put the engine hoist back to where I had it previously. Looks like I didn't need to extend it so far this time. But hey...it worked! LOL

[@onedream1soul]

Your Mooney didn't land on sand bars and back country strips.

[@KitplaneEnthusiast]

Hey how do you know? LOL

[@onedream1soul]

@@KitplaneEnthusiast i didn't see any NTSB report, lol!

[@tinolino58]

Ah you are using this historical engine. Did pharaohs fly behind them? 😂

[@stevetrapp1095]

low audio

[@Tryagain205]

Layman here… I noticed the rear tires are quite large in overall diameter and may pitch the aircraft down at the nose. Did you account for this somehow?

[@jms241965]

hire some help