Here's the throttle shaft spacer that Don at Airflow Performance sent me. Don contacted me a while back and mentioned that he liked how I documented my AFP FM-300, control cable, alternate air duct, etc. installation, and he commented that everything looked great. He did notice in the photos, though, that I didn't install a throttle shaft spacer. This is recommended if you relocate the throttle control arm to the other side of the shaft. Whatever side the arm is on, that side is secured implicitly by virtue of the nut holding the arm on the shaft. On the opposite side, however, there's nothing providing 100% positive retention on the throttle linkage. In my opinion it's extremely unlikely that anything would move in this area, since there's a retainer screw on the linkage -- but it is a possibility. Thanks Don, for noticing this, and thanks for sending the spacer! (See below for the details on installing it.)
Time for an oil change and a few little maintenance items. As usual, I flew to warm up the oil (I don't recall exactly, but I think I turned the world upside down several times on that flight...might have done a loop or two...might have done some brief inverted stuff, too...but who knows...I may be imagining this). As soon as I landed I pulled the cowl, elevated the tail on my trusty adjustable stool, and drained the oil.
Here's that throttle shaft I was talking about. As you can see, the spacer goes over the shaft above the throttle linkage, and the nut on top will provide an absolute measure of retention. It's not pictured installed here, but you get the point.
This time around doing the oil change, I pulled the oil suction screen to see if any gunk (metallic? I hope not...) was in there. This is installed toward the bottom on the aft side of the case. You just loosen up the plug and pull the screen right out. Pictured here is the crushed copper AN900 crush washer, and on the right is a fresh one.
Spruce sells these AN900 crush washers, in case you need 'em. They don't call 'em "crush washers" for nothing. You can see crushed vs. fresh.
I've been getting a very slight seepage of oil out of the base of the oil filler neck. Not a huge amount, but at over 200mph, a tiny amount leaves plenty of evidence. Just oily dusty gunk around the area. I looked through the Lycoming direct drive parts catalog and noticed that there's supposed to be a gasket on there. Doh! It didn't come with the engine, so I missed that completely. This sucker costs about a buck, and Spruce does carry it (I forget the Lycoming part # offhand).
Ah...that's better. You can see some remnants of the oil gunk I was talking about. Generally speaking, this engine is still incredibly clean. But it's starting to show signs of age in form of dust and dirt and grime here and there. I try to wipe it down thorougly at every oil change -- to keep it clean but also to make sure any leaks show up clearly if they develop. The most time the engine is gonna have on it between "gunk inspections" is about 25 hours.
I would like us to have a moment of silence...
You may have noticed a bit clearer photos today than usual. Well, the duct tape special piece of shit camera is officially retired. I have stepped into the 21st century and have purchased a new Canon PowerShot A75 digital camera. This old Fujifilm DX-10 has seen its last days as the honorary camera of RVProject.com. It has DEFINITELY served me well. It took over 5500 photos that were used on this site, let alone the ones I scrapped (there were lots, trust me). I think I bought it in 1997. For the $219 or whatever I paid for it back then, this thing has earned its keep.
My new camera isn't top of the line by any stretch, but it's a step above this old thing. It has a 3x optical zoom and a 10x digital zoom, which will come in really handy for all the formation stuff I've been doing lately. Optical zoom kicks butt when you're trying to get good formation shots, as I've come to find out.