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Hang Engine on Mount Early?

1001001

Well Known Member
Can anyone think of any advantages or disadvantages to hanging the engine on the mount early, like a year or two early? I want to put my engine up on a stand to do some work on it, and thought that it might be simpler to buy an engine mount or the whole FWF kit now and just hang the engine on the mount and bolt the mount to a wall or rolling stand.

I have seen some examples of homemade aircraft engine stands and I think it would just be simpler to hang the engine on a real mount.

Would doing this negatively affect the ability to bolt the mount to the fuselage due to any "settling" that might happen? Might it make mounting the cowl easier or harder?
 
I did that. Turned out that the engine mount paint I'd chosen chipped and marred pretty easily and I got tired of repairing it. So I removed the engine and re-did the mount.

Have to say that I would have needed to remove the engine anyway to install the landing gear of this little taildragger.

Dave
RV-3B, now on the canopy
 
I had read someplace, maybe here, that mounting the engine earlier rather than later is a good idea as the engine mount tends to settle/sag/bow a little bit over time. Fitting the cowl and other parts therefore becomes subject to the actual ending location of the engine.

No personal experience whether the engine moves all that much over time, maybe others can chime in.
 
The only issue you may consider with this plan is how to preserve the engine during the 1-2 years you intend to have it hanging on the mount. Of course if you already have the engine on hand, then you will need to preserve it anyway, so this probably won't impact your decision as to early mounting. (New engines purchased from Lycoming/Vans typically come sealed in plastic with preservative, so it's best to delay breaking that sealed bag for as long as possible.)
 
The only issue you may consider with this plan is how to preserve the engine during the 1-2 years you intend to have it hanging on the mount. Of course if you already have the engine on hand, then you will need to preserve it anyway, so this probably won't impact your decision as to early mounting. (New engines purchased from Lycoming/Vans typically come sealed in plastic with preservative, so it's best to delay breaking that sealed bag for as long as possible.)

Engine is already here and preserved.
 
I had read someplace, maybe here, that mounting the engine earlier rather than later is a good idea as the engine mount tends to settle/sag/bow a little bit over time. Fitting the cowl and other parts therefore becomes subject to the actual ending location of the engine.

I bolted the mount to the wall and hung the engine > 2 years before needed. It worked out well. I think I had to remove the engine from the mount in order to mount it to the firewall.
 
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