Hmm.... I might be convinced to go with the easier to use Push-on air connectors instead of the Nylo-seal...

See this thread on Van's Air Force.  I do have a complete set of push-ons that I purchased early on from SafeAir, so it's easy for me to make that switch.  Two key notes from the thread - The tubing should have straight and clean cuts (I have a tool for that) and you need to hear two clicks when pushing in the tube to the fitting.

SteinAir (who really recommends them over Nylo-seals) has a good selection of parts here.

Since the number of connections I have to make between the engine, panel and the rest of the plane is fairly large (and somewhat overwhelming) I figured I'd make a spreadsheet to organize the info (and relieve my stress... 😊).  I will also add this to my Avionics & Electrical Page.

It's a work in progress, but here's the first draft (I believe this will update automatically as I work on it).  If you'd like a copy for your project, let me know.  Am I missing anything?

1 hr. mostly sanding rivets...

Was going to do more on the lighting, but I determined that I definitely need to buy two hole saws (40mm and 55mm).  I was hoping to just grind them out to size, but it was a bridge too far to do it well.

I did determine which two lugs to use for my dimmer.  If you want dimmest all the way counterclockwise, then these two (the unbent ones) are the ones to use.

Looking at which Nylo-Seal part to use to connect to the panel, I believe this is the part.  Any objections?  I'd assume to use nylon tape around the threads.  I believe I have all the necessary "T's" and terminator parts to do what's necessary.

1.5 hr. on the lighting.

The bottom screws off easily.

Drilled and reamed the holes for 3.2mm rivets and the plate is riveted on.

Lots of cutting and digging to get the foam out...  I tried to test fit the lights and the holes they cut for my quick build....  Too small...  EDIT: Actually, those holes are probably not drilled but part of the mold creating the canopy.  They're just not final size.

Heard back from the factory regarding my questions about the lighting install (I emailed them).

The wider base of the red lights need to be permanently removed and 2 holes drilled into the remaining base to take the mounting plate.

The foam should be scooped out with a flat head screwdriver (which is what I started doing).

Pictures they sent show some details.  The first pic says the conduit ends there at the left rearward hole, but that's not what I saw - the conduit goes past there toward the front.  I guess when I remove the foam from the forward holes I'll see where the conduit actually ends.

Wiring diagram

1.5 hrs on the lighting.

Got my package with the lighting parts.

Unwrapped and tested all the lights.  A red front light.

And a white rear light.  The package came with a dimmer switch, but the manual makes no mention of it.  I assume that is to dim the pilot-side red light?

The manual says to cut these parts as so...  But....

Hmm, the part doesn't match the manual.  No holes on that upper surface.  I guess you just rivet the bottom to the ceiling?

I assume I need to dig out these holes (they're filled with foam)?

The wires get routed up this conduit, which I was able to push a wire up.  But, where does it go exactly?

If you look in the left rear hole it goes right past there.  But, then where does it go?  I couldn't get my boroscope into that hole to follow it.

Started to dig out one of the holes, but before continuing I want to hear from the factory as to how this is all supposed to work.  I could of course just brute force it and dig it all out and fish for wires, but I like to know what the factory does before brute forcing things...

1.5 hr moving the grounding block and sanding some rivet heads.

I decided to move the grounding block from the firewall to the sub-panel rib.  It'll just be way easier to plug the grounds into it in this location.  I also like that it's right next to the VPX box.
From here I'll run a thick wire (gauge is TBD) to a grounding bolt on the firewall.  Here I've drilled out the main bolt hole and added the rivnut for the center hole in the block.

Done.

.5 hr working indoors since it was still too cold in the garage to work.

Jean had told me to countersink the hole where the shoulder washer goes for the throttle cable, so I did that today.  He said that will allow it to still be able to rotate with the bolt tightened (I still think if you really tightened it down, it would not rotate).  Two of these to do.

All back together.  Not sure if you can see it here, but even if the nut is not tightened down and comes loose, it can't come off because it's blocked.

Just .5 hr today...  There's been a cold snap here, so it was a bit too cold for me to work long in the garage.  Should warm a bit over the next few days, so I should be able to get more time.

Mostly got the VPX installed.  It's a bit tricky to get to the back screws, so I need to get a short philip's head screw driver to make it easier.

1 hr misc.  I just vacuumed the cockpit interior since it had recently gathered quite a bit of debris.  I also sanded as many filled rivet heads as I could..

Not much time today (or tomorrow) as we're preparing for the Thanksgiving holiday here in the US.  So, if you happen to celebrate that, Happy Thanksgiving!  And if you don't, may peace, happiness and good blessings be with you!

No pictures of sanded rivet heads, but here's a picture of the mixture for Pumpkin Ice Cream.

And after turning in the ice cream maker for nearly an hour, here is the delicious result. :-D  Next thing for me to make is Pecan Pie - One of my favorite pies!

I did hear back from both Midwest Sky Sports and TAF USA concerning the sticks and the grips I use.  Neither of them bend the sticks with those grips, so I won't either.  I'll see how it sets up and feels once I have the front seats in and decide then whether I need to bend the sticks.

2.5 hrs. misc.

Despite the possibility of having to bend the sticks, I went ahead and installed the other grip.  You'll also notice I removed the dash.

This is approximately the center position of the stick.  Look right?

I filled a bunch more rivets today and sanded a few (wasn't in the mood to do lots of sanding today).

Crosby guarding the house. ;-)

Had breakfast today in Concord (next town over from mine) and saw that they were filming a new Netflix series on the streets.  I noticed that it was all crew and no actors: Turns out the new, as yet unnamed, series, will be about the apocalypse so they were filming empty streets... :-O

2.5 hrs. on the stick grip and filling rivets..

I need to drill the hole in the stick to accommodate the set screw.  10.5mm to the top of the hole and 15mm to the bottom.  So that means it's 12.75mm to the center.

Trying to measure using a ruler in the cockpit to a somewhat hard to see location wasn't going to work, so I just used a caliper set to 12.75mm.  With that I could make a small scratch where the hole needed to be.

And that's done...

The screw locks the grip to it's sleeve and the nut locks the stick to the screw.  With both of those tight it was rock solid.

Right after I did that one stick I got an email from a Sling 4 builder (who's done) in Australia which said I'd need to use a bent stick if I use these bent-forward grips....  Is that true?  Seems to me that the range of motion is the same no matter what the stick shape.  Grip all the way forward to just before the panel (should not touch, even with your hand!) and all the way back to your crotch.  This is wrong though if the pushrods can't be adjusted to that range positioning (though that seemed OK) or if your crotch gets in the way of the full back position (ouch!).  This is the full forward position...

...and this is the full rearward position.  Maybe this is a problem?  Since I can't get the seats in, I can't test it.  Does look weird...

Since I can't work on that, I'll think about other things...  Sling 4 builders, where did you route (or are planning to route) the brake line?  Down with the wiring (it's pretty tight)?  Above the flap motor?  I need to figure this out because I have to order stainless steel brake lines, so I need to measure the lengths needed.

Another, closer in, view.

Since I don't know that, I'll work on something else...  I have lots of rivets to fill, so I'll do some of that.  Not much thinking required...

Probably filled a few hundred rivets in 30 minutes...  Tomorrow I can sand them down.

1.5 hrs. in the cockpit.

I wanted to check how the side panel fits with the throttle assembly in place (probably should have had it in place while I was locating and fitting all this...).  But, it fits just fine.  One thing is clear though is that the side panels further up will need to be installed before the dash goes back in.  As I've mentioned before it's difficult to get up there with the dash in place.

Now to cut down the stick.  A bit agonizing because I didn't want to get this "wrong."  Held it in place based on what I've seen in other Sling cockpits and in consultation with Midwest Sky Sports who made the grips (they build Slings if you're not aware, so they know how they should fit).  The metric I understood was the center of your hand grip was just below the lip of the dash.  With that I determined that I needed to cut 105mm down from the top (your mileage will vary if you have different grips).

First I tried this...  Which was slow...  Then I realized I had a pipe cutter that might work just fine.

Much easier!

I did quickly realize that it could mar the stick so I put a couple of layers of painter's tape just below the cut.

Quickly cut and quickly checked!  Seems perfect.

Nice!

Since that was so easy I cut the other stick too.

Cut in less than 5 minutes.

I'll have to drill a hole in the front of the stick to accommodate the set screw.

Like!  Tomorrow the dash and throttle assembly are taken off and put aside for awhile...  I also learned (thanks Simon!) that the interior plastic panels (which fit under the dash on the side) should be done before the dash is put in permanently.  I'll update the Task List with that.

1 hr. on the dash to throttle assembly connection.

Holes drilled (drill bit no larger than the holes in the assembly of course).

You can't install a rivnut over the leather so it needs to come off where those go.  The leather doesn't come off easily, so cutting underneath is required.  Takes patience...

Leather off and M4 rivnuts installed after I reamed the holes with my M4-sized chucking reamer (actually started with smaller reamer bits to work my way up to the M4 bit because it's pretty big).

Well, that wasn't too hard. :-)