7ECA Fuel Shut Off Valve

Steve Pierce said:
Anybody seen this setup before? No logbook entry can be found.
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Agree with Steve on this. It looks like the valve I got for my 1967 7KCAB from Burl. It’s a ball valve and while pricey, works well - once you reconfigure the lines and connections to it.

I had to replace my valve as it was very difficult to turn and ultimately would not shut off completely. Not what you want if you ever have an in flight fire. I took my old one apart and determined it would be very difficult to lap the tapered surfaces on the male and female parts of the valve and get an effective seal. Gunk it up with enough fuel seal and it might leak less, but it still won’t fully shut the fuel off. In my case, the spindle on the valve fractured so it made the “fix it or toss it“ decision a lot easier.

Burl indicated there were no fewer than 9 different valve variations used on the Champs and Citabrias, if you order one you’ll need to include the dimensions and the distance between the holes on the mounting tabs. He’s fairly slow (2-3 weeks) if he doesn’t have the right valve in stock, and he only ships USPS so if you are thinking of changing it, order one in advance of your next annual etc, so you’ll have it on hand. And plan to have it arrive early so you can order the correct fittings if necessary.

The good news is the valves are well made, silky smooth and very easy to turn. He also includes a new universal joint for it that uses cotter keys instead of screws.

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You can also use the current valve from ACA, but in order to do that you’ll have to remove the existing tabs and weld new tabs on the tubing. That’s not bad if you have to stripped to recover, but not my idea of fun in an assembled aircraft with fuel and oil residue in the boot cowl, etc.
 
This set up is shown in Champion drawing 7-1102. Good for models 7EC thru 7GCBA. Note 3 also approves it for 7AC thru 7DC when modded with fuel tank kit #192. Steve's 6-28-21 photo shows the original valve having been replaced with a current production valve, p/n 11-0660.
 
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I have a ‘67 ECA and I’m wondering how to tell if the AD has been complied with… it notes champion service letter no 73 but I cannot find any such letter or drawings, so I’m not sure if I’m in compliance

Is also mentions p/n 19863
 
I’ve looked at a bunch of citabria pictures and determined the fuel valve attach was offset in later airplanes…. I’ve also seen that people with the later model offset version still used the aftermarket p/n… my question is since the AD was 1967 shoudnt planes manufacture after that date been designed to eliminate the need for the AD (hence the offset) or do you think it still applies since the AD didn’t list serial numbers
 

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The "design change" is to add the stop bracket.

What offset are you referring to? The fourth picture with the stop bracket is a 1965.
 
It is subtle but if you look at the 4th pic of the ‘65 it looks like the attach points come straight out (the steel tube above & below). And tell other pics appear to be angled pushing the valve to the left?

either way wouldn’t airplanes manufactured after the AD be exempt?
 
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