Surefly SIM Installation on O-360

[norcal64d]

Instead of posting this at the end of my "hard starting" multipage post, I thought I would make a new write up on the installation of my Surefly solid state magneto (SIM). My slicks at 750 hours on them and I had some pretty difficult starting. I had the LH slick gone through by Mountain Air at Rocky Mountain Metro and re-installed it on the plane. I kept the LH mag because I wanted to keep the impulse coupling for redundancy.

The kit from Surefly had a wiring harness and tubing for the variable timing, but no fittings of any kind to plum in. I ended up finding a 1/8" NPT to 1/8" Barb fitting that worked nicely. You will need to remove the drive gear from your old magento.

The power wire was simple to run under the floorboard using a welding rod with the wire tapped to it. The power wire is always hot but the magneto is switched on and off via the p-lead.



The SIM is actually larger than a Slick so I immediately ran into problems with this fitting used by one of the oil lines going to the oil cooler. It was so tightly stuck into the accessory housing that it rounded off with a snap on 30/60 wrench and brought the whole project to a stop. I tried a crescent wrench, knipex pliers, and ended up having to remove the vacuum pump and oil filter housing and had to replace their gaskets as well. The way I got the fitting out was tapping a crescent wrench on to it to get it tight and it came out.




Here is a picture with the hose rerouted below the oil filter instead of to the right side of it. I ordered a new fitting from Maule because they are close by and had one in stock, it's an AN 823-8.



With the hose re-routed the rest of the installation was fairly straight forward. I removed the jumper that grounds the right mag during start, it's a small copper jumper on the ignition switch p lead connection. The mag check on the SIM has a bit of a pop due to the start up time of the electronics but it isn't bad and the engine runs great. Much smoother, added 100-200 fpm to my climb rate in the pattern. I haven't been able to set up in cruise to test out performance, but that'll happen this weekend.




Overall I am happy with how the plane runs with the new mag and I am looking forward to seeing how it performs at high altitude.

[Duane]

Hi Norcal,
Although I know nothing about the Surefly mags, may I make one comment in respect to your pictures? I noticed you have bare ty-wraps around your engine mount. This is something we don't allow as they will actually cut into the steel over time. I would suggest some cork tape or other means of isolation between the ty-wraps and mount.

[DeltaRomeo]

"they will actually cut into the steel over time"

What about Grip Lock ties?

https://www.griplockties.com

If it wasn't for the ADSB mandate, our Maule would be sporting a SureFly sim as well. Just need to save my lunch money...

Thanks for the post!

[MauleWacko]

[Duane]

That's the first I've heard of the Griplock ties. Kind of like a flexible Adel clamp which are ok to use.

[Outback]

I was the victim of strap ties on the engine mount also. At my first REAL annual the IA insisted that we pull the mount and send it to Aerospace Welding. Painfull. I got used to using silicon tape when I worked for the Air Force. A few wraps of silicon tape on the mount and then secure the cables with either tie straps or string tie.

[riverbuggy]

At least all the critical hoses are firesleeved. I don,t see that too often on older aircraft.