The center tunnel cover is used to hide fuel and electrical lines that are routed forward between the main spar and the firewall. At the forward most end, the cover bends upward and forms a baffle for the cabin heat.
The cabin heat flows through the cabin heat butterfly valve on the firewall and into the cabin through louvers on the center tunnel cover. The louvers are pre-cut by Van's (thankfully) but they must be bent outward to allow the air to pass through.
The cabin heat flows through the cabin heat butterfly valve on the firewall and into the cabin through louvers on the center tunnel cover. The louvers are pre-cut by Van's (thankfully) but they must be bent outward to allow the air to pass through.
I used some of the high temperature silicone to seal along the inside seam where the heat baffle separates the hot side from the center tunnel cover. I realize that this is mostly pointless exercise as the whole back side is not sealed against the firewall. I have read that in the standard installation, the cabin heat is iffy at best. And with my 4 pipe setup on the exhaust, I only get one heat muff instead of the usual two. By my calculation, that leaves me with iffy/2. So I would like to do everything possible to encourage any heated air that might be present to flow outwards toward the pilot and passenger and not back along the firewall or down through the center tunnel.
So it's mainly just a matter of cleaning up the edges and setting the nut plates. Then it is on to the auxiliary fuel pump cover. The aux fuel pump sits above and at the aft most end of the center tunnel. There are a few rivets to connect the sides to the top, but this is also a pretty rapid project.
Once all of the parts are assembled it looks a bit like a center console of an automobile.
One thing I've noticed about my dogs is that they can't seem to stay interested in aircraft construction.
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