Phil Simon's Tips

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Table of Contents
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SONEX & WAIEX INFORMATION
1. Work Table
2. Plans
3. Lights
4. Electric and Air Supply
5. Shop Tools
6. Air Compressor & Pressure Regulator
7. Small Tools
8. Special Tools
9. Construction Sequence
10. What I Would Do Differently
11. What I Would Do the Same
12. Some Helpful Hints & Tips
13. How Long does it take to Build a Sonex
14. How much does it Cost to Build a Sonex

AEROVEE ENGINE INFORMATION

1. How Long does it Take to Build an AeroVee Engine?
2. What Special Tools are Required to Build an AeroVee Engine?
3. Some AeroVee Engine Building Hints & Tips
4. ENGINE ASSEMBLY LUBRICANT:

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________________ Sonex & AeroVee Info _____________

SONEX & AEROVEE INFO, HINTS & TIPS

Version 2.7
Disclaimer: this information is not official Sonex information, nor is it in any way endorsed by Sonex. I am providing this information as a service to potential or new Sonex builders. Use your own best judgment in deciding whether or not to use any of this information, and do so at your own risk.
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I can give you some general information and advice based on my experience in building my Sonex and AeroVee engine. I have digital photos available for most of the items or suggestions mentioned in this information and will be happy to E-mail them to you. Phil Simon, Sonex 492, San Rafael, Calif. E-mail: philsimon777@comcast.net

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1. WORK TABLE:
You need a sturdy, level work table to build the plane on. To make the table I used one sheet of 3/4 inch thick plywood with one side smooth; this was 4 X 8 feet in size and is large enough for building the entire airplane. You do NOT need a 12 foot long table that is only recommended for builders who are scratch building and buying large sheets of aluminum. Build legs to hold the table at a good height that is comfortable for you. I used 6 legs made out of 4 X 4 inch wood. I first made a square frame out of 2 X 4 inch wood to support the plywood top surface. Remember to leave a ³lip² or edge of plywood sticking out all around the 2X4 frame. You need this lip to clamp things to the table. Also build two shelves between the legs and under the table. On the bottom shelf you can store the flat aluminum material until you build something out of it. The upper shelf you can put your tools on. I also drilled a hole in the bottom of each leg and installed a threaded brass insert. I put a bolt into each of these and used the bolts to adjust the length of the legs to get the table level. Most floors are not level and this will help you get the table perfectly level. For information on building a moveable TOOL ISLAND see section 5 below.

2. PLANS:
You will refer to the plans hundreds of times, so I found it helpful to have them in a spot where it is easy to read them. I built a plywood support (a back and a lip along the bottom edge to support the plans) and hung this on the wall and set the plans on this. I used clamps to hold the plans in place. There is a ³building tree² in the front of the plans and after I completed a part and was finished with that portion I used a yellow ³Highlighter pen² to color that box on the building tree yellow. Remember that if you buy the kit instead of scratch building that about 1/ 3 of the boxes are already completed!

3. LIGHTS:
It is easier to work if you can see what your are doing so I installed three sets of quality fluorescent lights above the table and two other sets nearby and was very happy that I did.

4. ELECTRIC and AIR SUPPLY:
Above the work table, in addition to the good lighting, I installed:

a. ELECTRICITY: I installed two electrical outlets hanging down to plug in tools like electric drills. Also to the side I hung a reel with a retractable electric cord and this was handy, as some times I worked on the floor and I could pull the cord down to the work location.

b. AIR: Also, I installed three air outlets, each with a quick disconnect fitting, in the ceiling above the work table and a fourth air outlet off to one end of the table where I hung a retractable air hose with a trigger operated air nozzle which was handy for blowing away chips, etc.

c. AIR TOOLS: I used air drills and an air riveter to build the airplane. They are much noisier than an electric drill, but turn many times faster and drill quicker. I had these air tools hanging from the ceiling above the table. Each one was supplied by a coiled air line (yellow plastic coiled tubing) and hung from a retractable reel or tool balancer reel with an adjustable tension knob (Hubbell-Gleason series ED, #BD-03). This was a wonderful arrangement as I was able to reach up, pull down a tool, use it, then let go and it would retract back above the table.

d. RIVETING: Even if you do not use air drills, you positively MUST buy a pneumatic riveter. You will destroy your hands and wrists trying to squeeze 15,000 rivets by hand. The $ 35 blue pneumatic riveter from Harbor Freight is adequate for this project.

e. DRILLING: You will be drilling almost 30,000 holes! 15,000 holes 3/ 32 size and 15,000 holes 1/ 8 size. I had one air drill with the 3/32 drill and a second air drill with the 1/ 8 drill (this saves changing the drill bit 60,000 times!) and the third air line with the pneumatic riveter. This was a wonderful arrangement as I was able to reach up, pull down the 3/32 drill and drill the hole, then let go and the drill would retract back above the table. Later I would do the same thing with the 1/ 8 drill, and later with the riveter.

5. SHOP TOOLS:
You will need at least the following larger electric tools:

a. DRILL PRESS - a small to medium size table top drill press, make sure it has a good chuck. I paid $ 35 ($ 39 -$ 4 coupon I downloaded on-line) at Harbor Freight for the drill press and later on I spent $ 50 for a better drill chuck from a tool supply house. The table top drill press was just fine for this job.

b. BAND SAW - a small to medium size band saw (buy the two wheel saw NOT the three wheel band saw they break the saw blades as the diameter of the wheel is too small);. You do NOT need a metal cutting band saw (slow RPM), Aluminum is not really hard like metal - it is much softer and a wood cutting band saw works fine.

c. BELT SANDER - I bought a Harbor freight a combination disc and belt sander for sanding off rough edges. It was just fine; also you need spare sanding discs and belts and the adhesive for attaching the discs.

d. GRINDER MOTOR - a table mounted grinder motor with a ³Scotch Brite² wheel (for deburring sharp edges) on one side and a polishing wheel on the other side. BTW, one Scotch Brite wheel is enough to build the entire plane; it must be balanced when you first mount it by just pushing some metal against it and letting it wear on the high side; additionally you will have to rotate it every so often to keep its shape. These do not have to be the best quality tools. All of the above tools that I used were from Harbor freight. However, the drill press chuck was no good so I had to purchase a higher quality drill chuck.

e. CHOP SAW - Optional, NOT required. A ³chop saw² with tungsten carbide tipped blade is handy for cutting long pieces of angle that are too long to fit in the band saw. The chop saw really throws the chips and you must wear a long sleeve shirt and a plastic face guard to protect your self when you cut with it. This is an optional tool. You can cut the long pieces with a hack saw, or a cutting disc on a hand grinder; it is just easier and faster with the chop saw.

f. ISLAND - I built a 3¹ X 3¹ wooden ³island² on wheels (use large 4² rubber wheels, not little ones) that I could move around the shop area. I liked this better than having these tools all on a bench. You can see the plans for the ³Island² on the EAA web site. You can make it 4¹ X 4¹ if you have more room but that is really a huge unit and too big I think. On the top of the island I kept the first four tools (drill press, band saw, belt sander and grinder motor). I had lights on this so I could see my work. I put a drawer under the drill press and kept all the drill bits etc. there. Also a shelf on the bottom of the Island where I kept a small vacuum cleaner to pick up the chips and dust and also pieces of wood (1X2, 2X4, 4X4) that are needed to back up the aluminum when you are drilling, etc. Also, I kept the chop saw on the shelf. I mounted a 2X4 vertically in the center of the island top and mounted a power strip there to plug all the tools, lights and vacuum into. I then ran an extension cord up the 2X4 to a ceiling electrical outlet that I installed. The cord is long enough that I could move the island all over the shop without having to plug or unplug the unit.

6. COMPRESSOR & PRESSURE REGULATOR:
a. AIR COMPRESSOR: You will need air at least to operate the pneumatic riveter. The pneumatic riveter requires very little air and I think that an inexpensive ³Pancake² compressor might do that job. However, I do not recommend that type of compressor. Do NOT buy a cheap oil-less compressor. It will not last at all. Buy the largest compressor you can afford, or fit into your shop. The plane can be built using electric motor hand drills. However, a pneumatic drill does a much better job as it turns much faster. Pneumatic drills use a lot of air. I recommend that you get the largest air storage tank you can possibly get. That way your compressor can replace the air at it¹s rate while you might be drawing air out of the tank at a greater rate. Compressors are VERY NOISY (as are the pneumatic drills) so you will have to wear hearing protection when drilling. The neighbors won¹t like the noise from the compressor. I ended up putting foam board insulation on the inside of my garage doors to reduce the noise from my compressor going into the neighborhood. I was able to get a good deal on a pretty large 230 Volt, 60 gallon tank compressor at Home Depot. They had a program where you could pay it off in a year w/o any interest. It was great having the large tank as I could drill a long time with out the compressor coming on. b. PRESSURE REGULATOR: You will most likely drill at 90 PSI and rivet at 45-50 PSI, so invest in a good filter/pressure regulator with a pressure gauge on the discharge so that you can change the tank outlet pressure quickly. I got mine from Harbor Freight (it was very inexpensive) and it only took 5 turns of the regulator T-handle to change from 90 to 50 PSI or back.

7. SMALL TOOLS:
You will need a variety of small tools including:

a. DE-BURRING TOOL: The blue handled de-burring tool with the long extension handle from Avery Supply is the best. You need the long extension to deburr holes next to an obstruction.

b. UNIBITS: You need a ³Unibit² set to enlarge small holes to larger holes without the location of the hole moving on you if you use drill bits it will ³walk² off to one side or the other. Harbor Freight has a set of 3 different size Unibits for $ 9.99.

c. REAMERS: You need some ³reamers² to enlarge a dozen or so holes to an exact size. These are located where bolts are used to hold the aft fuselage to the cockpit and the engine mount to the forward fuselage. A drill will NOT drill an exact size hole, but, a reamer will. So you drill slightly undersize and use the reamer to properly size the holes for a perfect fit for the bolts. We got perfectly adequate used reamers from Airparts Inc., Kansas City, KS http://www.airpartsinc.com/

d. RIGHT ANGLE DRILLING: You need a ³right angle² drilling attachment for drilling into hard to reach places. Don¹t buy a big one, you want a tiny one that uses threaded bits (stubby, short & long). I got mine used on E-Bay, along with many of the threaded drill bits. The ³Stubby² bit is the handiest. Also available onE-Bay are offset right angle drills, snake drills, etc.

e. CAGE TYPE COUNTERSINK TOOL: Also called Microcounterstops. You need a countersink tool with an adjustable cage to adjust the depth accurately. You want to get the quality aircraft construction type which have a splined cage that you can loosen and rotate in .001 in increments. Chuck the tool on your drill press and practice on a piece of scrap aluminum until the countersink depth is perfect to have the CC rivets flush. (e.g. on your spar) then you can quickly slide the piece along the drill press and accurately counter sink each hole in a few seconds. A used one from E-Bay is just fine. Also, Airparts Inc. Kansas City, KS (http://www.airpartsinc.com/) has 1/4 X 28 degree thread, 100 degree, surplus tools for $ 10.50 each. Additionally, they sell surplus Countersinks for $ 3.15 each.

f. CLAMPS: Lots of clamps. I liked the ones that are on a vise grip body, but make sure they have the swivel head not the solid head. They go on sale at Harbor Freight frequently, and I had 10 and many times wished I had more.

g. PNEUMATIC RIVETER: The blue pneumatic riveter ($ 35 at Harbor Freight) is just fine. Mine lasted the entire project and still works fine. However, I did make an extended nose for it to get into tight corners for hard to reach rivets. I also made an extension nose that had the face beveled off to one side. Use this tip, along with bending the shank of the rivet, to get into places where the riveter wont fit - you can get the riveter off to the side as much as 45 degrees using this method.

h. LONG DRILL BITS: Six inch drill bits (you do not any 12 ³ drills), these are very handy for getting into tight places, additionally they allow you to more easily sight the drill to make sure it is vertical or horizontal. Buy them from an industrial supply house, not an aviation supply house which most likely won¹t have them. You need at least 1 or 2 each of #40 and #30

i. LAY OUT INSTRUMENTS: Lay out instruments -A long metal rule with the scale in both inches and millimeters, a metal 6 inch rule, engineers squares (you can get a set of these on sale at Harbor Freight), a couple of different types of protractors, a dial caliper (you will be using this all the time to determine the thickness of aluminum sheets, the diameter of drills and bolts, et.). A very handy device is the plastic magic marker holding scribing unit used for drawing the blue line down the center of ribs and angles.

j. SHEARS & SNIPS - do not buy the cheap shears from Harbor Freight - they are worthless. Get good Wiss shears. There are three you need - red, green and yellow handled. One is for cutting a curve to the right, the other to the left, and the yellow is for cutting straight. Most useful to me were the 12 or 14 inch replaceable blade Tinner Snips which I used the majority of the time.

k. DRILL BIT SET: For about $ 30 at Harbor Freight you can purchase a complete set of Numbered, Lettered, and Fractional drill bits. This boxed set will come in very handy as there are many times that you will need an odd sized drill bit, for example when under drilling a hole to ream it, or for drilling tiny holes for safety wire.

l. CONVERSION CHART: All machine tool houses sell a chart that you can put on the wall that will give standard drill sizes and their decimal equivalent. Some charts also include a tap drill chart, and even a machine screw chart. Also very handy is a conversion between Fractional, Decimal and mm values (e.g. 1/ 8 = .125 = 3.175 mm). You will refer to this chart hundreds of times to determine what size drill bit is required, etc.

m. HEX HEAD ALLEN WRENCHES: You will need a good set of these and if you are building the AeroVee engine you will also need a set of metric sizes. T-handle ones are very handy and go on sale frequently at Harbor Freight. However, for your main set buy quality ones. The type with a ball on one end are very useful as that allows the tool to be used at an angle off-axis to the screw.

n. VISE: The bigger the better. At a minimum you need a 5 inch vise. One that rotates along the horizontal axis is handy for many situations. You can use a 5² magnetic base metal bending brake with this vise.

8. SPECIAL TOOLS:
I There are some specialized tools that will make building your project much easier. Here are a few of them:

a. BURRAWAY: Cogsdill ³Burraway² hole deburrers are wonderful and you will need one for the blind spaces where you can¹t get to the back of the piece. However, they cost about $ 50 each new. I bought them off E-Bay and got a complete set very reasonably. At a minimum, try to buy both a 3/32² and 1/8² Burraway deburrer.

b. GREENLEE HOLE CUTTER: A Greenlee Stainless Steel Hole Cutter (buy used on E-Bay) is used to cut the large hole through the S.S. firewall for the heater box inlet. Without a tool such as this it would be almost impossible to cut out a large hole in the SS Firewall. Drill a smaller hole through firewall, then insert the large bolt and screw the two halves together and tighten up with large wrench. The half with the cutting blade will cut through the SS firewall very easily, leaving a clean, smooth hole. When you are finished sell it on E-bay and get your money back.

c. CARBIDE DRILL BITS: Carbide drill bits - it is almost impossible to drill into chrome moly steel (e.g. the horizontal stabilizer horn) with a standard drill bit. You can purchase these drills at a machine tool house such as the one where you get your 6 inch drill bits and Conversion Chart.

d. NIBBLER: A hand operated (not electric or pneumatic) ³nibbler² is used to cut away metal in difficult to reach places. I do not like the big cheap units that pinch the metal, but rather prefer the unit that has a blade that works like a guillotine. It costs about $ 8.99. I believe it is identified as a MOD Nibbler Metal Cutting Tool.

e. BRAKE: I built the entire plane without a large metal bending brake (I did have to go to a sheet metal shop to use their large brake to bend the seat pan and maybe something else). I purchased two small brakes at Harbor Freight which were handy. The larger is a bench mounted 18² brake and the smaller is a 5² magnetic vise mounted brake. These worked fine for bending small pieces. A Vise-Grip type metal bending tool with thin blades is also very handy. I did not like the ones with thicker blades.

9. CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE:
I suggest that you start with the flaps or tail first. You can hang the completed parts from the ceiling when you are finished to get them out of the way and to keep them from getting damaged or dented while you are storing them. The control surfaces (elevators, rudder, ailerons and flaps) are easy to build and are rewarding as you can see progress and can compete something large quickly. The aft fuselage was also fun. I built it in three weeks. However it is large and difficult to store, so I suggest that you build the tail, the control surfaces and the wings first. They can all be stored in a small area. Once you build the fuselage and get it on the wheels it takes up a lot of space. If you want instant gratification build a flap for your first project. A flap can be built very quickly (probably in a couple of hours if you have some building experience) and it is big and you can show it off to your friends. If you do not complete something on a part, and plan on coming back later to finish it, I strongly suggest that you write down what you need to complete as you WILL forget what you were going to do when you get back to it later on.

If you are going to polish the airplane I suggest that you polish each part as you finish it. This is much easier than trying to polish the assembled airplane as it is difficult to reach portions of the plane when it is all assembled. Plus you can lay the parts flat on a bench to polish them, rather than trying to work on a vertical surface, fighting gravity.

The most difficult part of building for me was the bending of parts. I did not have one of the pole benders that some builders use and can not comment on its usefulness.

10. WHAT I WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY:
a. I would build a tail dragger (Conventional gear) rather than the tri-gear (better looking and much lighter weight).

b. I would think seriously about having one center control stick instead of dual sticks (my wife is not interested in learning to fly it, which was the reason for the dual controls).

c. I would locate the fuel and mixture on the new Sonex quadrant on the left side of the fuselage, instead of in the center like we now have (wouldn¹t have to change hands to put out the flaps).

d. I would use engine instruments that show each EGT or CHT as a vertical bar graph or a dial so I could see all of them at the same time (for quicker engine analysis and for more accurate leaning of the engine).

e. I would use an EFIS system that does not fade out in the sunlight (my older Dynon is difficult to read in the sunlight, perhaps the newer models don¹t have that problem).

f. I would run the electrical wiring from the wing tips (for landing lights, strobes and navigation lights) forward of the spar instead of aft of it (it is difficult to run them forward of the spar in the cockpit).

g. I would buy a quality antenna for the comm. radio instead of the cheapest one (which doesn¹t work that well).

h. I would polish the parts as I built the airplane rather than trying to polish the completed airplane.

i. If I could afford it, I would use the Jab 3300 engine instead of the AeroVee There is nothing wrong with the AeroVee, it is a wonderful engine that is reliable, and bullet proof, but the Jab 3300 has a lot more horsepower. I climb at 500 FPM and they climb at 1,300 FPM. I have to dive to get to 150 MPH to do a loop and they can do it from level flight, etc.).

j. I would positively put safety nibs on each of the flap detents (instead of only on the position 30 per the plans) as I have the handle pop out of the detent 2 times (I usually land with flaps 20, not 30).

k. I would not install the horizontal stabilizer skin upside down as I did on this plane. I didn¹t even know I had done so for about 1 year. When I went to install it I was shocked to find out it didn¹t fit. The wider part of the skin goes on top - look at the curved section of the fuselage and you can see that less skin is needed on the bottom where the fuselage is wider.

l. I would run the fuel line sideways from the tank to the gascolator inside the cockpit instead of inside the engine compartment where it gets hot and adds to engine hesitation. Also, I would mount the gascolator vertically instead of slanted against the firewall.

m. I would mount the mic. and headset jacks lower on the aft bulkhead (roll over protection) instead of high up which I did. They are difficult to reach. Don't put them on the horizontal box assembly or they might get caught in the shoulder harnesses.

n I would use combination circuit breaker/ switches which would reduce the wiring behind the panel by one half not having both circuit breakers and switches.

o. I would use an engine monitor that does not require all the wiring to pass through the firewall. I now have 4 EGT wires, 4 CHT wires, oil temperature and oil pressure wires, all going through the firewall. Newer designs have only one wire going through the firewall.

p. I would probably not use the NACA inlet and eyeball vents and associated tubing again to provide cooling air. I would probably use the circular plastic vents that snap open/closed and can be installed in the windshield. The NACA vents work fine, but take a lot of fitting and work to install.

q. I would leave the forward fuselage bottom skin, or the firewall, off (just cleco it in place) until all of the electrical wiring, fuel piping, etc. is installed. It is very difficult to hang upside down from the seat under the instrument panel. Remember also to not rivet on the aft fuselage skin until the day you are ready for your first flight.

r. I would install one or two bicycle water bottle holders on the forward side of the spar tunnel before it is closed up. Locate them between your legs, to hold a water bottle in easy reach w/o being in the way. These must be installed with flush rivets or nut plates.

s. I would try very hard to build a lighter airplane. Mine is quite heavy (699 lbs.) which cuts into it¹s performance and the useful load. The major extra weight is the trigear.

t. I would not mount the ELT antenna on the top of the fuselage at the rear. I can not access the antenna now without a lot of trouble. At the time I felt it was better to have it on top of the fuselage in case of an off field landing where the gear and any antennas on the bottom of the fuselage would get knocked off.

u. I would use quality flush fasteners on the engine cowling, not the cheap Southco fasteners recommended on the plans. Yes, the Southco fasteners only cost a few pennies and the quality fasteners are over $ 7 each. But for around $ 50 I would have had a better looking airplane. Currently I like the Skybolt fasteners with the adjustable receptacle and the phillips head 1/4 turn studs. See http://www.skybolt.com/ (the ³RV and other kit plane² section). Their CLoc light duty 2600/2800 series can accommodate different thickness of fiberglass on the cowling

v. I would copy the horizontally split engine cowling that Rod Panzer designed. He is able to easily lift off the upper portion of his cowling to inspect his engine, check oil level and add oil, without having to fight with piano hinges.

w. I would explore buying an oil air separator for the breather tube rather than making my own again. However, I have not yet located a reasonably priced separator. The M-20 Ultra air/oil separator cost over $ 360. The AirWolf (Mini Sep) starts at $ 399. Builders make them out of beer cans, Draino cans, etc. We used a red aluminum camping fuel bottle, which we stuffed with copper ChoreBoy scouring pads. But it does leak some oil. Detailed instructions how to make one out of PVC , copper fittings and a sink drain are found at: http://bernardembden.com/xjs/pcvfilter/index.htm

11. WHAT I WOULD DO THE SAME:
a. I would build the Sonex kit again; probably the aerobatic model. There is no better value for the money. It is a plane that does it all- sport flying, cross country flying and aerobatics!

b. I would install the DigiTrak wing leveler again I like it very much. It tracks the Garmin 296 GPS course signal perfectly.

c. I would install the two 12V DC power outlets in the two corners of the instrument panel again (These provide the power to the Garmin GPS and for the auxiliary fuel transfer pump).

d. I would install the auxiliary fuel system connection again. Since I want to fly the Alaska Highway in the future I need to be able to fly a longer distance (to the destination airport and return to the start if the weather turns bad) I need more fuel than is available in the standard fuel tank. For this I have the Turtly-Buddy 40 liter which holds 10.5 gallons (see www.turtlepac.com). The auxiliary fuel connection I have goes into the rear top connection on the fuel tank and has a shut off valve on it in the cockpit.

e. I would polish the airplane again BUT I would polish each part as I built them rather than trying to polish the completed airplane.
f. I would install the cabin heat again; I like having it a lot. I used a SS heater which I cut in half and lengthened to almost twice its original size giving me more heat.

g. I would install a SS heater box again. An aluminum heater box will burn through in about 20 seconds if you have an engine compartment fire, leaving you with a 2 inch hole in the firewall. Also use SS firewall penetrations for wires, etc. Buy the SS Heater Box, and the fireproof firewall penetrations from EPM. See: http://www.epm-avcorp.com/ssdiv.html

h. I would use the standard exhaust system again (vs. the 2-into-1 system) as it allows the mounting of a heat muff for the cabin heater. I do not know if this is possible with the 2 into 1 system.

i. I would add the ³in between² flap position again. I labeled my three flap positions 10, 20 and 30 degrees although I do not actually know that these are the correct values. However, I almost always use the center flap position that I added and never use the full flap position that is called for on the plans.

j. I would again install the brake ³doubler² using the design that John Monnett came up with. This will give you two times the brake pressure, but requires two times the movement.

k. I would again install the optional, fence type, Sonex/AeroVee Baffle Kit. Make sure you get this Kit (p/n SNX-P30-10) for your AeroVee installation. We built our plane using the original design baffle system (the fence type wasn¹t available then) and had constant problems with high CHTs. So high that we over heated and ³cooked² one head flying from the SF Bay area to Oshkosh, and on the return flight over heated and ³cooked² the second head. We stopped flying the airplane until the fence type baffle design was available and installed it. The CHT temperatures were reduced 50 to 75 degrees and have not been a problem since.

l. I would flush rivet the entire airplane again. I think it looks much nicer than having the protruding head rivets and it didn¹t add but few hours of extra building time. I timed the dimpling of a large wing section and using the C-frame it only took 10 minutes. In addition to the C-frame you will need a couple of the vise grip type dimpling tools. On one of these I had to grind the nose down so it would fit into the narrower parts of the wing rib flanges. When ordering your kit tell Sonex you want to flush rivet it and they will send all flush rivets. However, 5 years ago at least, they did not have a handle on the total number of flush rivets required and I had to order extra rivets several times.

j. I would again devise a short stand-off device to hold the canopy slightly open (1 to 2 inches) while taxiing around in hot weather. With the engine running this provides plenty of cooling air. However, this is a potentially dangerous situation, as if you attempt to take off with the canopy open you may not be successful. To remind me to lock the canopy closed before taking off I have a little red flag attached to the positive locking, single action, quick release pin (QRP) I use (sometimes referred to as a quick disconnect pin), and I always keep the pin on top of the glare shield so the red flag hangs down in front of my instruments.

12. SOME HELPFUL HINTS:
a. Use an electric pencil type soldering iron and a long straight edge to remove the protective plastic covering that is on the aluminum sheet wherever you want to lay out and rivet sections of the airplane. Tearing the plastic doesn¹t work and using a razor blade will scratch the surface.

b. Use ³Mar Hyde Self Etching Primer² (buy at an automotive paint store) to spray along the strip where the pieces make contact (it quickly dries) everywhere two pieces are riveted together. This is to provide some corrosion protection without having to Alodyne or use Zinc Chromate.

c. Raise the windshield bow (the aft side of the windscreen) as high as possible. This not only gives more headroom, but changes the angle or slope of the windshield allowing you to trim the cowling parallel to this slope. Now the entire profile of the front of the plane will be one long straight line, instead of having a bump where the canopy starts.

d. Order the Sonex interior kit and have the seamstress put in a zipper along the back of the seat cushion. This allows you to remove and discard the worthless white foam and insert ³Temperfoam² 2 ply cushions.

e. Make a canopy ³stand off² to hold the canopy in the full open position so that wind will not blow it closed. We used a section of rigid aluminum tubing about the diameter of a pencil and by running it over a table saw ripped a slot the full length. Just slide this over the wire that prevents the canopy from opening too far and you have a stand-off that is light weight, and which works.

f. If you build a tri-gear you will need a tow bar as it is very difficult to move the plane around without one. I have seen Cessna 150 tow bars used successfully but this does require drilling a hole through the nose gear leg, inserting a bolt and nut and having a short piece of tubing on either side to keep the bolt centered and to provide horns for the Cessna tow bar to grab. We made a bolt on collar with the horns on it and a two piece tow bar which is small enough to keep in the cargo compartment bin.

g. Use stainless steel box strapping material for your fuel tank straps. We made two sets of the ones on the plans and could not get either set to fit. The banding or strapping material is much more flexible and easier to work with.

h. Clean the fuel tank before you install it. Be careful that you do not over tighten any of the fittings or they may spin in place and leak. If your tank is translucent, fill it with water one gallon at a time (while it is out of the airplane) and paint a black line on the aft side of the tank where you can lean over and read the level. I marked my tank with the 1 gallon line being ³O², and painted short lines for each gallon and numbers at 0, 5, 10 and 15 gallons.

i. You can fair or bend the top edge of the forward fuselage, under the sides of the windshield, by repeatedly rolling a hard wood dowel (or a rolling pin) over the area. The edge will slowly bend over to be flush with the curve of the windshield.

j. If you are worried about jackets or sleeping bags in the baggage area getting tangled in and jamming the elevator push rod or rudder cables, you can protect them by building a light weight housing to cover them out ofscrap .025 aluminum.

k. Reference the instrument panel: we made ours removable by using nut plates and I think this is a good idea. We did beef it up by adding braces. I don¹t think I would modify the panel to be vertical as then there would be parallax when viewing the instruments. With the tilted panel, as designed by Sonex, the instruments are at right angles to my eyes and easily viewed without any parallax.

l. If you want to do aerobatics, install a G-meter and locate it where you can easily zero it out. Unless you have a lot of experience, without the meter you won¹t be pulling the necessary 3 G¹s for most of the maneuvers.

m. If you are doing aerobatics I strongly recommend installing an engine safety cable like they do in aerobatic aircraft. You can run this f rom the airframe or engine mount to the engine. That way if your prop breaks and the violent unbalanced forces tear the engine from the engine mount, the engine will stay attached to the aircraft via the cable, the plane will remain within c.g. limits, and you will have a chance of landing rather than crashing.

n. Paint the canopy bows, trim and the trim at the front of the windshield, all flat black before you install the windshield. This looks a lot better than the raw aluminum. Once you install the windshield and see this, you may not want to remove the windshield just to paint the metal black.

o. To cut down on radio noise do not locally ground but use a central ground (see next item below). If you are installing strobes put the transformers out on the wind tips with the strobes rather than in the fuselage where you will have to run high-voltage wires a long distance.

p. Buy a copy of the ³AeroElectric Connection² by Bob Knuckles for great wiring and electrical system design information. His web site (www.aeroelectric.com) has an entire library of downloadable articles on a variety of subjects from soldering to firewall penetrations. He also runs workshops and speaks at Oshkosh each year.

q. Use a brass central grounding plate with tabs on both side of the firewall (B&C Specialty Products, 24-tab Firewall Ground Block Kit). On the engine side you only need 6 or so tabs, on the cockpit side you will need a couple of dozen if you are going to ground everything. Mount it near the battery so you can run the ground directly to it. Take care where you locate the grounding plate - if you have it too low the passenger's feet can kick it, if you mount it too high the fuel tank will interfere and you will not be able to attach the wires to the tabs.

r. Two great sources for all your wiring and electrical needs are B&C Specialty Products (www.bandcspecialty.com) in Newton, Kansas, and SteinAir (www.steinair.com) in Farmington, Minn.

s. Reference concern for engine fires - Make sure you use fireproof penetrations in your firewall and if you are going to add cabin heat use a SS heater box. Seal up all small gaps around the corners of the firewall with high temperature RTV. I have no experience with the following products

- there is a liquid fire barrier called Contego ³The Fire Stops Here² which can be painted on the firewall or behind the instrument panel to provide a fire barrier. See info at www.aircraftextras.com/contego.htm. There are also a variety of firewall blankets which can be applied to the firewall and may also reduce noise. Spruce sells one called Fiberfrax. It's a flexible material that is about 1/ 8" thick made from ceramic fibers, it resists temps up to 2300 degrees and is easy to work with. JC Whitney sells a product with silver backing.

t. When riveting the wing spars, squeeze as many of the rivets as possible. We borrowed a large pneumatically operated rivet squeezer which fit around the spar cap on the outboard end of the spars and were able to squeeze about 50% of the rivets for the spar caps this way. A hand operated squeezer would also work. On the inboard end of the spars, where the spar cap gets wider, use a C-frame to reach the rivets. The advantage of this over using the bolt and hammer method is that the C-frame will always be perpendicular to the spar and the rivets will be set evenly, rather than getting bent off to one side or the other if the bolt is not held exactly vertical.

u. When dimpling use a C-frame as much as possible. You will find that after dimpling a hole it will end up being slightly larger. You can compensate for this by slightly under drilling the hole.

13. HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO BUILD A SONEX?
If you work 3 or 4 hours in the evenings, several days a week and all day on a Saturday or Sunday every week, I estimate it will take you about two years to complete (that is what it took us). However, quite a few builders have built the Sonex in one year and one builder completed one in six months. It all depends on how much experience you have and how many extras you add. When kit manufacturers quote a building time (e.g. 500 hours) it may be for only assembling the fuselage and not include the time for the firewall forward or the electrical system or the avionics. I think it is reasonable in 500 hours to build the entire Sonex fuselage , sitting on the gear with the windshield and canopy installed. This does not include the wiring or firewall forward time. I have one friend who built his beautiful Sonex in 600 hours. This was his first project, but he is very good with his hands.

14. HOW MUCH DOES A SONEX COST TO BUILD?
As little as $ 20,000 USD. My complete airplane cost $ 30,000 USD, but I have many extras on it. By ³complete² I mean including AeroVee engine, propeller, com. radio, transponder, audio control panel, wing leveler, GPS, EIS (Engine Instrument System), Dynon EFIS (Electronic Flight Instrument System), AOA (angle of attack indicator), ELT, strobes, landing light, reading light, aux. fuel system, etc.
As an comparison, a completed RV-6 or RV-8 will cost you $ 60,000 to $ 80,000 to build. Some cost over $ 100K.
A big decision building the Sonex will be whether to put in a 80 HP Aero Vee or a 120 HP Jabiru. The Aero Vee costs $ 6,495, while the Jabiru 3300 costs $ 18,400. This is almost $ 12,000 more than the AeroVee for a 50% increase in horsepower.
_________________________________________ AEROVEE ENGINE INFORMATION Disclaimer - I am not an engine mechanic, nor a VW expert. My only experience has been in assembling two AeroVee engines. Consider the source when deciding to use this information.

1. HOW LONG to BUILD an AEROVEE ENGINE?

I am sure that an experienced VW engine builder, with all the correct tools, could assemble the engine in a matter of several hours. If you have built an AeroVee before, you can assemble it in a day or certainly over a weekend, providing that you have everything your need. However, the first time novice will take longer. The factory publishes a figure of 12 hours. The time consuming part is not building the engine, but rather running out to get something you are missing (like a 3/8 drive deep 15 mm socket). Working just on the weekends it might take several weeks or longer to locate all the missing tools and assemble the engine. The actual time spent building the engine would be just a matter of hours - the Sonex estimated time of 12 hours is reasonable. Hopefully the ³Special Tool² information below will eliminate most of that time spent running around and, once you have gathered the tools, allow you to assemble your engine in 12 hours instead of taking two months.

2. SPECIAL TOOLS required to build the AEROVEE?

My suggestion is that you NOT attempt to assemble your Aero Vee engine until you have gathered ALL of the following tools:
a. ENGINE STAND: Rent or borrow an engine stand that:
1. will fit the bolt pattern of the VW engine block (they make stands specifically for VWs);
2. is on wheels or rollers so you can move it around;
3. which allows you to rotate the engine to work on it;
4. allows you to attach the engine to the attachment fixture while out of the stand (e.g. on the floor so you don't have to hold it up in the air while bolting or unbolting the engine);
5. If you can find one with 4 legs, vs. the standard 3 legs, it will be more stable and less likely to fall over.

b. TORQUE WRENCH: Small torque wrench calibrated in inch pounds (60 to 600 in lbs, most likely it will be a 1/4 inch drive)

c. TORQUE WRENCH: Large torque wrench calibrated in foot lbs. (3/8 inch drive, 5 to 50 lbs for most of the work; 1/ 2 inch drive, 30-150 lbs for the two big nuts) We had to use a doubler to get enough torque (227 ft.-lbs.) to tighten the gland nut. You may choose to use a torque multiplier.

d. TORQUE MULTIPLIER: Torque Multiplier, or a doubler, or a breaker bar and pipe ³cheater² extension, will be necessary to obtain the required 227 ft.-lbs. of torque for the gland nut. Unless you purchase a special torque wrench from a VW parts house, you will most likely be using a wrench with a max. torque limit of 150 ft.-lbs. A Torque Multiplier can be borrowed or rented. Torque multipliers are multi-geared tools generally used with ratchets or ratcheting torque wrenches as the drive component. Input is multiplied through the gearing four or more times depending on the model used. Or if using a doubler set the torque wrench at 118 ft.-lbs and this will give you the required 227 ft.-lbs. Note - verify this with a knowledgeable mechanic as it is possible I am a little confused over the correct way to achieve the required 227 ft.-lbs.

e. BIG METRIC SOCKETS: Large 1/ 2 inch drive metric sockets for the prop hub nut (30 mm) and for the gland nut (36 mm). These are big sockets and will not be part of any socket kit.

f. METRIC & SAE SOCKET SETS: Metric socket set and SAE (fractional) socket set. At least a 3/8 inch drive set. A 1/4 inch drive set will also come in handy, but may not be necessary.

g. DEEP SOCKET SET: These are very handy in both 1/4 and 3/8 inch drives. If you don¹t want to buy two sets (metric and SAE) at a minimum you need the following two deep sockets:

h. 15 MM DEEP SOCKET: 3/ 8 inch drive 15 mm deep socket for torquing the heads.

i. 11/16 DEEP SOCKET: Deep socket to install and remove spark plugs.

j. SOCKET DRIVE ADAPTERS: Socket drive adapters so you can mix and match sockets with drives or torque wrenches: 1/ 2 to 3/ 8; 3/ 8 to 1/ 2; 1/4 to 3/ 8; 3/ 8 to 1/4

k. WOBBLE EXTENSION: 6 inch wobble drive extension (3/8 inch) for sockets, this is used when things don¹t exactly line up. You will also need regular extensions.

l. METRIC BOX END SET: Metric combination (box & open end) wrench set. If you can get the new ones with the ratcheting box ends, they are great. You will also need a SAE set.

m. DREMEL TOOL: Dremel tool w/ diamond cutting wheel to remove protrusion on bottom of engine block that interferes with the oil cooler installation. Dress the cut with a Vixen file

n. RTV: High temperature (red) RTV

o. ANTI SEIZE: Anti-seize lubricant to put on the spark plug & exhaust stud threads.

p. THREAD LOCK: Both Permatex and Loctite make this product. You need both medium and high strength. Some times people will refer to this as needing Red and Blue, but this is confusing and incorrect, as all the Loctite grades come in red tubes and the Permatex comes in blue tubes. Loctite is available as: 222 - low strength for small metal fasteners; 242 - medium strength threadlocker; 271 - high strength threadlocker; 272 - high temperature & high strength & requires heat and hand tools for removal.

q. GASKET FORMING SEALER: Gasket forming sealer - Ultra Blue or Permatex Aviation Form-A-Gasket No. 3 (referred to by Sonex in some locations as 3H). Although the silicone type is quite handy, do not use it on the case halves as it is so thick the proper bearing crush may not occur.

r. PROP HUB SETTING TOOL: Tool to drive home prop hub - the video shows using a piece of wood, but we found that a thick piece of aluminum with the center bored out would drive the heated hub onto the chilled crank evenly all the way around when struck with a sledge hammer.

s. FLY WHEEL LOCK: Tool to hold flywheel to prevent it from rotating when tightening the gland nut. EMPI manufactures a specifically made VW flywheel lock for $ 6.50.

t. DIAL CALIPERS: Dial or digital calipers to measure deck height & spacer stacks to set the compression ratio. Remember in addition to setting the compression ratio, to aim for equal deck heights on the two adjacent cylinders (use a straight edge to verify) so the head can be put on securely.

u. RING GAP FILER: Piston Ring End Gap Filer to open the gap on the piston rings (if needed) while keeping the ends parallel. Don¹t risk damaging a set of rings by doing this job with a hand file. This tool costs about $ 110 and is expensive for only one use, so you may choose to take the compression rings (bring all the pistons) to an engine shop and have them grind the ring ends to get the proper gap. This will take several days and delay your engine assembly, unless you have checked the gap prior to starting the assembly. I have built two AeroVee engines and am batting 50% - one set needed the gaps filed and the other set did not.

v. PISTON RING COMPRESSOR: Piston ring compressor - the best type to use is called a Compressor Band and looks like a tuna can split down one side with two tabs that are squeezed together with vise grips. The ones made specifically for VWs (88-94 mm) cost $ 3.95 and work very well. The ones from Spruce require a special $ 29 tool to squeeze the band together.

w. FEELER GAGE SET: Feeler gage to determine end play at the fly wheel when assembling the engine, and to adjust the valves and gap the spark plugs

x. PLUG GAP ADJUSTING TOOL: Feeler gage set and gap adjusting tool to gap the spark plugs to .018 top plugs & .032 bottom plugs. The reason for the gap difference is there are two different ignition systems.

y. DIAL INDICATOR: Dial indicator with attaching clamp or magnetic base, to measure end play after you have inserted the shims at the flywheel.

z. VW BLOCK CAM SHAFT PLUG: Correct end plug for the camshaft case hole. There are two types of cases each with a different opening and there are two different types of plugs. Of course, we got the incorrect type. The entire perimeter of the plug should be coated with aviation cement put in the case.

x. VW GASKET SETS: VW gasket sets only have one metal seal for the oil pressure relief ports. You need two (one for the oil control valve plug and one for the oil pressure relief valve plug).
z. HEX HEAD CAP SCREW: 5/16-18X 2 inch hex head cap screw, 5/16X18 nut, and 5/16 washer. Used with a 5/8 inch socket to install the prop drive lugs in the hub.

aa. PVC PIPE: PVC pipe 1/ 2 diameter, cut into 16 sections. Lengths are approximately: 8 @ at 4 inches and 8 @ at 6 inches. Cut the PVC to the actual correct length as you assemble the engine. Use these to hold the cylinders on the block (as you rotate it to work on the other side) before the heads are put on. Drop the PVC pipe section over the studs and put the stud nuts on to hold the cylinders firmly in place.

bb. SNAP RING PLIERS: Snap ring Installation Pliers with the CORRECT tool snout or nose, to open the retaining ring.

cc. IMPACT WRENCH: 1/ 2 inch, electric or pneumatic, to drive on prop hub nut.
dd. FENCE COOLING AIR BAFFLE SYSTEM: p/n SNX-P30-10. Order this optional aluminum kit as it is far superior to the standard air baffle system called out in the plans.

FF. ENGINE OIL DRAIN VALVE: Purchase one to replace the oil drain plug that comes with the kit. See below for additional information. We used Fumoto #F-106.

ff. OIL TEMPERATURE SENDER (VDO): Order this from Sonex. You need it to replace the oil temperature sender that is part of the oil drain plug you are discarding for the engine oil drain valve. See below for additional information.

3. SOME AEROVEE BUILDING HINTS:
a. FENCE COOLING AIR BAFFLE SYSTEM: Spend the extra money and buy the optional Fence type cooling air baffle system (p/n SNX-P30-10). Our experience is the CHT temperatures were reduced 50 to 75 degrees using the fence type to replace the original design with which we had high CHT problems.

b. OIL DRAIN PLUG: You will be changing the oil a lot - at 1 hour, 5 hrs., 10 hrs., 25, 50, 75...... Our AeroVee came with an oil drain plug. The oil cooler had to be dropped every time we wanted to get at the drain plug. Spend the $ 25 and buy an engine oil drain valve (see information below) and replace the plug with this valve. Caution: the oil cooler will interfere with this new valve, so you must mount your oil cooler slightly further back than the plans call for (see below for additional information).

c. OIL TEMPERATURE SENDER: Order the AeroConversions Oil Temperature Sender (VDO) and have it ready to install. It installs on the case and is superior to the temperature sender in the oil drain plug that comes with the AeroVee kit. Since you will be replacing this oil drain plug with the Quick Operation Oil Drain Valve (see below) you need another way to get the oil temperature information.

d. ENGINE OIL DRAIN VALVE: Get an engine oil drain valve for the bottom of the AeroVee engine to replace the plug that comes with the AeroVee kit. Without it you will have to drop the oil cooler every time you change the oil. Qwik Valve or Quick Oil Drain Valve (formerly known as Fumoto) oil drain valves only cost about $ 22. We used a Fumoto #F-106 engine oil drain valve w/ 14mm threads. Important: When you build the oil cooler mounting plate do NOT cut out the hole for the oil cooler in the location called for in the plans - it will interfere with the drain valve. Move the oil cooler back about an inch from the location called for in the plans. Be sure you measure this before you cut metal. On some engine blocks you will have to cut off a protrusion on the bottom of the engine block so it won¹t interfere with the oil cooler installation. A diamond cutting wheel on a Dremel tool works fine; then dress it off with the Vixen file.

e. INSTALLING CASE STUDS: The instructions call for inserting them and rotating the threads by hand. This is fine, but look them over carefully when you are completed to make sure one stud isn¹t sticking up higher than the others, perhaps because of a bur on one thread. I have had this happen and we had one stud interfering with the rocker arm assembly as it stuck up 3/ 8 inch too high.

f. CRANK INSTALLATION: Use extreme caution when dropping the crankshaft assembly into the case half. Make sure the bearings are lined up and fully seated. If there is ANY doubt, lift the assembly out and inspect. The best way of checking this is to rotate the crankshaft slowly while closely watching #2 main bearing. If the crank is fully seated, the bearing¹s edge will scrape white grease off its journal. If the crank is not fully seated, no grease will rub off. Keep wiggling the main bearings until they are fully seated. This is important! I had the unfortunate situation where the bearing was not lined up where it should have been and when we tightened the case nuts we crushed the bearing. In order to install a new bearing we had to press off the shrink fitted prop hub. You do not want to have this happen!

g. OIL PRESSURE RELIEF VALVE: Make sure you install both the oil pressure relief valve (longer spring) piston (has a large groove around the piston) and the oil control valve (shorter spring) piston (smooth sided piston) with the the flat end to the oil pressure and the open end to the spring.

h. CAM SHAFT CASE PLUG: There are two types of cases each with a different opening and there are two different types of case plugs. Using the incorrect plug will result in a massive oil leak and having to disassemble the engine.

i. TORQUE WRENCH CONVERSIONS: Converting foot lbs, to inch lbs, and vice versa: (You will run into this problem when assembling an AeroVee engine if you have the incorrect scale on your torque wrench.) 1 ft.-lb. = 12 in.-lbs. Divide the torque in inch-pounds by 12 to get torque in foot-pounds. Multiply the torque in foot-pounds by 12 to get torque in inch-pounds.

j. PISTON RINGS: When installing the piston rings make sure the correct rings are in the correct grooves. Each package of rings (there are three different types) is labeled with the location where they are to be installed.

k. TIGHTENING GLAND NUT: Make sure you have purchased the flywheel lock at a VW parts house - it is cheap. More than likely you will not have a large enough torque wrench to do this job. You can use a doubler or a breaker bar and pipe ³cheater² extension so you have 2 ft of leverage on the nut. If you use an extension be sure to keep the two at right angles so the torque will be the same.

l. DECK HEIGHT & COMPRESSION RATIO: Remember that, when adding shims to adjust the deck height, in addition to aiming for a specific compression ratio you must also aim for equal cylinder heights on the two adjacent cylinders (use a straight edge to verify) so the head can be put on squarely. This is a compromise situation and level cylinder height has the higher priority. it's more important to have the adjacent cylinders at the same height than to have the compression ratio exact.

m. ADJUSTING VALVES: With the VW engine when a valve on one cylinder is fully open, the corresponding valve in the opposing cylinder is fully closed. For example, when #1¹s exhaust valve is fully open, #3¹s exhaust valve is fully closed and is ready to be adjusted. You need to have the propeller installed in order to rotate the engine with the spark plugs installed. As you rotate the engine watch the rocker arms and you can see when one rocker-arm tip is is at the bottom of its travel and pushing the valve stem completely down. This valve is fully open, and the opposing cylinder¹s corresponding valve is fully closed and you can now set its clearance.

n. INSTALLING SPARK PLUGS: It is easiest to install the spark plugs, and the CHT sensor ring terminals (if used) prior to attaching the inlet air manifold. You can only do this one time when assembling the engine. Later, once the inlet air manifolds are installed, you will have to struggle to remove and replace the plugs and CHT sensor ring terminals.

o. COPPER NUTS ON EXHAUST STUDS: Use anti-seize on the studs. Attaching or removing the copper nuts from the studs for the rear exhaust pipes is time consuming as a socket will not fit in the small space between the exhaust port and the exhaust pipe. Also there is not enough room to fully swing a box end wrench, so you must rotate the nut 1/ 6 turn at a time (6 adjustments to get one rotation). They make combination open/ box end wrenches that have a built in ratcheting mechanism which may make this job much easier.

p. ATTACHING EXHAUST PIPES: When attaching the exhaust pipes there is a lot of play available before the aluminum gaskets get crushed. Gravity will cause the pipes to hang down, which will later on interfere with the exhaust openings on the bottom of your engine cowling. Hold the ends of the pipes up while tightening them to the exhaust ports to prevent this problem. If they still interfere with the cowling opening, stick a piece of broom stick into the pipe and bend it up until it clears.

ENGINE ASSEMBLY LUBRICANT: We have successfully assembled two AeroVee engines following the AeroVee instructions and using the provided Moly Cam Assembly Lubricant on the valve lifters and white Lithium Grease to coat everything else. However, I have been told by engine shops that using grease is NOT good practice as the grease can plug some of the small oil galleys and passages and may not dissolve in the oil but float around like cottage cheese. We have not had this problem, but it does seem to be reasonable. I know that people have successfully built engines using STP, Lubriplate

No. 105, Red Line Synthetic Assembly Lube, Torco Cam Lube, Bardhal¹s No Smoke, Royal Purple¹s Max-Tuff Assembly Lube, and even a 50/50 mixture of STP and Marvels Mystery Oil, etc. You may want to do some research on this and look for an assembly lubricant that will eventually dissolve into the oil. I do not want to recommend a product to use to replace the white grease. While doing some research on this subject, I did find the following information ³on-line².(I suggest that you use caution with it, as everyone has an opinion on this and is an expert! Some of this information may be completely incorrect):

WHAT IS BEST ASSEMBLY LUBE FOR ENGINE REBUILD? ³.... An Engine builder from VW in Wolfsberg years ago showed me what He called "assembly lube" it was a 50/50 mixture of Marvels Mystery Oil and STP oil treatment. You get an old style oil can....the one that has a spout and thumb trigger.......and you mix them in there and squirt a healthy amount on surfaces that may rust and especially surfaces that have parts that contact each other...²

³.... I always use Lubri-Plate from NAPA with no problems...

³.... STP hasn¹t failed me yet...

³.... Torco assembly lube is the best one that I have used. I got mine in a high performance VW store. The company is located on the west coast in Santa Fe Springs,Ca. 12 oz bottle $12.99...

³.... I don't like to use a lot of moly based assembly lube in a new engine, I usually use Bardahl's No Smoke, it's like 1000 weight oil. It's very sticky, and it's just oil, not moly disulfide...

³.... I use GM Goodwrench EOS; you can buy it at any GM dealer for about $ 4.50 a bottle; it is what GM recommendS for assembly of an engine. Very good stuff, Very thick, sticks to every thing...

³.... I no longer use moly everywhere. My engine seizure was attributed to the use of molybdenum assembly lube that "coked" on the piston/wrist pin surfaces, a blackish glaze ...²

CAM LOBES: Grease/assembly lube should not be used on the lifter bores (or cam lobes)--use STP. This is advice from others "in the know". was offered a personal "statistic" that on 97% of the camshafts he'd encountered during engine disassembly that had flat-worn cam lobes, grease/moly was originally used as an assembly lubricant. STP mixes nicely with the oil, protects and sticks to the parts for the time you need it and won't plug up small oil passages as grease might.

ENGINE ASSEMBLY: Use good quality engine oil (20-50 or 30 weight) to coat all bearing surfaces, as well as the surfaces of moving parts they contact. Use an oil treatment (e.g.: STP) for camshaft lobes and the heads of the lifters, and engine oil for the sides of the lifters. We prefer TORCO CAM LUBE, and supply it will all our camshafts. In your oil pump, lube the gears up with STP or a HEAVY oil. This assures a good oil pump prime (it's very thick; make sure the brand you use is the SAME as the oil you plan on running, so they are compatible).

RED LINE SYNTHETIC ASSEMBLY LUBE: is designed to be used a lubricant to apply to potential wear surfaces before assembly in order to prevent metal contact upon startup before adequate lubrication is supplied. Provides three times greater film strength than conventional black Molybdenum Disulfide greases and will not clog oil filters. This product clings to all surfaces and is an excellent rust inhibitor, allowing the storage of parts for years. A thin film of protection is all that is required on mating parts. Red Line Assembly Lube will mix with our motor oil and can be used on all lubricated parts such as cams, followers, pistons, and bearings, and bolt threads. Use only a small amount on bearing and piston surfaces - too much can make it difficult to turn over the engine. Red Line Assembly Lube is an excellent corrosion inhibitor and can be used on machined surfaces to provide long-term corrosion protection. Do not use on exhaust bolts or other high temperature bolts which require an anti-seize. 4 oz tin $ 6.19

MOLY ASSEMBLY LUBE: Applied to all bearing surfaces, cam and cam followers during assembly, this high grade moly lube insures proper lubrication upon initial engine start up and run in. 2 oz tube Price: $ 7.99

JOE GIBBS PERFORMANCE ASSEMBLY GREASE: Used by Joe Gibbs Racing during the assembly of every NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch Series engine, this unique formula completely dissolves in oil. 1 lb. can $ 17.75

LUBRIPLATE No. 105 ENGINE ASSEMBLY GREASE: Lubriplate No. 105 motor assembly grease is a white soft bodied grease designed to provide a smooth anti-wear, anti-seize coating to the internal parts of the engine, this gives instant lubrication during the initial start up before oil has had a chance to circulate. Prevents damage to newly machined engine parts from rust, scuffing, scoring and friction.