Before bolting on the exhaust for good I decide to fabricate the small grommet shield for the manifold pressure hose firewall passthrough. This small task will prove more complex than expected despite following Tony Bingelis' instructions.
First thing is to mark the stainless steel sheet using some steel tube.



Then I press a socket into the tube to create the shape.



This is the result, the sheet will then be flattened, cut and drilled.



Stainless steel is not that easy to work but I also have some space problems for the screws, so I had to try a few times before getting the result below.



This is how it looks once installed on the firewall. I will put some sealant before final installation.



This is the cabin side, the screws are barely visible and will be shortened.



I then begin to work on the exhaust. First all the parts come off, then the joint and the studs are covered with antiseize paste. The picture shows the muffler parts inside the exhaust tube.



This picture shows the joint with the three bolts and springs holding the flanges together.



Some bolts need some tools and creative thinking to get torqued. Here I have a socket (1/4" because bigger won't do), a universal joint, an extension and then the torque wrench.

Before installing the baffles for good, I finish the firewall pass-throughs. This is the right side.



I then begin the installation of all the baffle screws. Some are quite difficult to install, for example this one behind the oil filler neck. After some tries, I decided to remove the oil filler neck.



And here the screw is installed.
I will have to redo the safety wire.



Another small problem in the front with the installation of the grommet protecting the propeller governor line. Getting the line and the nut through goes not without some problems.



Then I have to remove and reinstall the oil cooler for one bolt on the left.
I also reinstall the lower connecting rods and torque all the bolts.

Before doing the final firewall forward install, the propeller has to come off. I also have to squeeze one last rivet on each gap filler. Having tried a few tricks, I had no luck with my pneumatic squeezer, maybe a manual squeezer would have worked. So I installed a Cherrymax rivet.

The panel gets more and more precise. I spent some time trying to figure the position of the various boxes and switches. This is the latest iteration. Nothing is definitive however.

As there are quite a lot of wires that have to go through the firewall, I install to passthroughs fabricated by a neighbour, thanks Didier. The assembly is done by soldering a big stainless steel washer to some stainless steel tubing. A second washer will be used to sandwich the firewall between the twi washers.



This is the cabin side once installed.



This is the cabin side. Once all the wirings are installed, the whole assembly will be covered with heatsleeve and fireresistant RTV.