The Bristell has a shelf behind the firewall that could be used for mounting avionics but in reality it is too small so I’ve purchased some aluminium to make a couple of equipment trays.

The aluminium is quite flexible and although it will be supported on the shelf I was going to strengthen it with some aluminium angle riveted on to provide some stiffness. Ian suggested bending the edges to strengthen it instead.

Unfortunately the metal bender he has wasn’t quite up to the job so plan b came into operation. Clamping it to the edge of a table and using a nylon hammer to bend the edge to 45 degrees. The worked very well and save a little bit of weight too.

The shelf has a hole in it to run cable through it so I cut a similar how in the equipment tray.

Needed to work out the best layout to accommodate the plugs and cables that will connect to the units. Also the radio and transponder have quick release clips that need to be accessible got maintenance.

After positioning the equipment they are lightly clamped so I can mark the holes.

Using a centre punch to mark the hole a pilot hole is drilled first and then opened op to 6mm to accommodate a rivnut.

The 4mm thread rivnuts are installed.

Once installed I can protect from vibration with rubber grommets that conveniently fit over the rivnut.

The populated equipment trays ready for fitment when ready to be cabled.

They fit perfectly on the shelf and support bracket. Tomorrow I’ll put the retention system in.

Ian insisted on finishing the cowl fixings today despite having a lot of work on himself. Unfortunately I don’t have a rivet squeezer so he did the work for me which is very kind of him.

The oil cover also has quick release screws so these were done to however the cover is made from very thin material so extra care needs to be taken.

Once done the quick release screws are screwed flush before being set…

which is done by removing this pin…

… a final small turn is made after the pin is released which allows the locking tab to engage.

The final engine cowl now completed apart from needing a clean!

The 2″ SCAT supplied with the Bristell kit is too small. Ian came to the rescue again as he had a piece of 2 1/4″ SCAT which worked a treat. An adapter is required to ‘pad’ out the connector on the screen de-mister side but that can easily be made from fibre glass.