28% Cap 232 Assembly Manual
Step 2.
Engine mounting
The first thing to do, before anything else goes in the fuselage, is to get the engine mounted and
aligned with the cowl. Here’s how I have done it. This is the hardest and most time consuming
step in building this plane. If you can do this everything else should be easy. Do this first before
you hinge the rudder.
Note that the firewall already has a proper amount of right thrust built in, do not use any other
offsets. When you shim the engine out from the firewall use shims of equal thickness on all 4
corners so that you do not introduce any other thrust angles.
With no cowl or hatch on the fuse find a place in your workshop
where you can stand the fuselage up on its tail so that the motor
mount is pointing at the ceiling. Secure the fuse so it stands like
that and won’t fall over. I wrap masking tape around it and tape
it to the side of the workbench.
Set the engine on it’s rear radial mount (assuming it has one) on
the motor mount firewall so the crankshaft is pointing up at the
ceiling. Some single cylinder engines will sit nicely on their mo-
tor mount plate on the firewall, others have too much weight in
the cylinder and will fall over. If yours falls you will need some
method of keeping the engine sitting on its mounting lugs with-
out falling over. In the photo at the right we are showing an en-
gine with its cylinder removed, we do not suggest this method
but it sure does make it easy.
A simpler solution to the problem is to put good quality double sided tape on the firewall ap-
proximately where the mounting lugs will sit. The sticky surface will hold the engine in place
and keep it from tipping over.
When using the Evolution 58 if you do not have standoffs already made you will need to cut 4
pieces of dowel 2 inches long out of 3/4” oak available at Home Depot. Use a sheet metal screw
to attach the dowels to the mount lugs to use during the alignment process.
Now mount the cowl using the supplied screws and washers. The hardware kit has rubber
backed bonded washers to keep the cowl screws from vibrating loose. If you are using a single
cylinder engine it may be necessary to cut out the cowling to clear the cylinder to mount the
cowl, but most singles will fit in the Cap cowl by just removing the spark plug. Cut a little bit at
a time rechecking clearance until the cowl will fit over and mount on the cowl.
