We moved the fuselage onto the fuselage cart and I have been wrapping up a few remaining items before riveting the forward floors into place. One of those items was creating brackets to mount the SDS EFI dual fuel pump assembly.
I am using Aircraft Specialty hoses with fuel filters in the wing roots. I also plan to install the fuel pump post-filter forward of the firewall. The intent is to keep the filters out of the tunnel to simplify maintenance. The SDS EFI recirculates fuel so heating the fuel in the filter isn’t a concern.
The position of the pump is set primarily by the length of the supply hose from the fuel selector. The hose is designed to be attached to the fuel pump assembly with a 45 degree AN elbow.
I supported the pump assembly on wood blocks to determine the approximate position in the tunnel.
Instead of making a full shelf, I decided to make forward and aft supports. I cut 4 pieces of 063×3/4×3/4 angle that each would be long enough to span three rivets along the base of the tunnel.
I then fabricated cross members from scrap 063×1 1/4.
I clecoed the fuel pump assembly to the cross members and positioned it in the tunnel. After getting everything aligned, I match drilled the cross-members to the angle brackets.
I then drilled for nutplates and countersunk the nutplate rivet holes.
The parts were then prepped and primed.
After the primer cured, I riveted the parts together and riveted the nutplates.
Success. Everything fits neatly. I’ll need to add some adel clamps to secure the return fuel line to finish it up.
