Engine arrival!!
The engine arrived!! I was expecting all sort of wresting with a heavy crate, but it was a non-event. The driver just wheeled the crate into my garage with a pallet jack. It arrived without so much as a scratch. There was some water inside the plastic covering the engine. It’s a good thing they use it. The engine appeared dry.
A small tip for others getting a Mattituck engine: The top of the crate can be removed by unscrewing two bolts. I ended up tearing it apart piece by piece before I discovered that.
Several views of the engine.
There was also a small box of goodies, including a Lycoming engine manual. They provided the fuel line from the pump to the fuel servo, which was also in the Van’s firewall forward kit.
I spent quite a bit of time looking around the engine, indentifying ports, checking out the fuel servo, etc. I was surprised to see the alternator. I wasn’t aware that the engine came with one. It’s a Mitsubishi, but looks much larger than the Nippon Denso alternator I have from Vans. I’m wondering if it would fit inside the cowl. (Edit 12/1/05: Mahlon confirmed that the alternator was a mistake. He said if I can use it, to keep it with their compliments. Nice.)
Another thing I noticed is that with the oil filter adapter that Mattituck uses, one of the ports for the oil cooler is behind the oil filter. It looks like I’ll have to remove the oil filter and use a 45 degree fitting. Not a big deal.
There’s a port on the side of the fuel distribution spider that I’m not sure about. I didn’t think there would be a purge line, but I’m not sure what else it could be. (Edit 12/1/05: Mahlon said the port is for metered pressure, something I most likely will not need. I just need to plug it.)
I wish the P-mags had shown up in time for Mattituck to install them. It’s going to take me a while to figure out installing, wiring, and timing them. Plus I would feel much better knowing that the engine was run successfully with them installed.
The engine didn’t have dessicant plugs in it. I’m not sure if they’re needed. (Edit 12/1/05: Mahlon said these really aren’t needed for my engine. The cylinders won’t rust.)
These are all questions that I’ll ask Mahlon about.
I spent a little bit of time finishing up the battery box. I had forgotten to put on two nut plates. The engine mount was in the way of installing them. Instead of removing the engine mount (which is still just temporarily mounted anyway), I removed the battery box, installed the nut plates, and installing the box.