Several years ago, Cubcrafters came out with a new engine for the EX2. It was a lightweight IO-360 for a Fixed Pitch Prop. The best part about it for me was the 2 large heat muffs, I wanted more cabin heat.

I had an intake valve wear uneven on my CC340 causing a leak. Since I had to take the engine off for repair, I figured I would see what the wait time was on a CC363I.

I called Pete at Cubcrafters and told him my situation. He said he would get back to me. A short time later he told me he had one in stock! Well, that is very tempting. I said let me come down and fly it before I make the final decision.

Gavin and I packed up the RV10 for a weekend touring trip along with fishing and camping in Idaho. We left early Saturday morning and headed for Greatfalls. Cleared customs then made our way over to Johnson Creek. We fished in the afternoon and did a hike up to the hot spring tub.

Next day we packed up and headed for breakfast at Smiley Creek. This airport is around 7100ft ASL. The runway was relatively smooth but had more rocks than I liked for the RV10. We had a great breakfast then made our way south to Nampa for fuel.

From Nampa we made our way west to Hood River. Circled Mt Hood to see they were still skiing and boarding on the hill (Next summer bucket list item for us) and then landed Hood River.

It was so hot out and we did a tour of the Museum and had a milkshake to cool down. Late afternoon we took off for Yakima. On departure we flew up next to Mt Adams then made our way to Yakima.

Landing in Yakima we tied the plane down and went to our hotel. Next day we got up and went to Cubcrafters. They had the EX2 363 ready to go and we jumped in and flew out to a local grass strip.

The biggest difference was how smooth it was. I was sold, Pete then got moving on the fire wall forward components.

We did our Eapis and customs and Filed our IFR flight plan to Penticton. IFR departures in mountainous areas are always fun.

We got to our cruise of 10,000ft and then got a re route and an altitude change to 12,000. Not long we were heading down the hill into Penticton breaking through a few clouds.

It was now afternoon and I decided to file IFR back to home. We made the departure out of Penticton and then made our way on the airways at 13,000ft in and out of clouds much of the way. I was a smooth flight and a great weekend trip.

July and August went by and the engine along with all the Firewall Forward components arrived. It was time to get to work.

First task was to modify the fire wall to suit all the changes. I needed to add the boost pump, new wiring, fuel lines, cabin heat and so on. It has two heat muffs so I need to make a new firewall hole for the other cabin heat. Once that was done, I could mount the engine. With the engine on, all the fuel and oil lines could get placed and the baffle work could start.

There was also some wiring behind the panel to be done for the G3x and a boost pump switch was to be added. I also changed the mixture cable to a vernier and there were some changes to make to the throttle control assembly. The last step was to fit the new cowling. It had to get cut to fit and all the holes needed to be match drill to the existing nut plates.

Once the cowl was finished all the baffles got final trim to make a nice gap. Seals got installed and the last of the engine wiring and sensors got completed. Prepped the cowling for paint and sprayed it. A few paragraphs for nearly 200hrs of work!

The engine got a new Sensenich ground adjustable prop. This was a great match for the airframe and engine. I set the prop to a relatively coarse pitch to help the break in of the new engine.

Once ready I did one start just to make sure it was all working and there were no leaks. I then cowled it up and waited for nice weather.

A beautiful morning arrived and I fired up the plane. Did all the checks and pushed the power in. I was in the air as quick as before and climbed out very fast with a smooth running engine. I could run a max of 77% power at 4500 ft to keep the prop just below red line. Cylinder temperature never got over 370.

I only have 12 hours on it as of the writing and it has been working perfectly with lots of cabin heat. I will be running mineral oil for 50 hours and keep running it hard for a really good break in. Oil consumption is already very low and the oil stays clean. I could not be happier with the change.