Jan 18 2004 - After completing the mounting plates for the cowl camlocs, I placed the top cowl in place just to see how things look. I'll start fitting later in the week.

Jan 21 2004 - I started fitting the cowl. Here the top and bottom are being fit up front. I cut the side flange off from the front to about 4" back. The flange is full length below that black line that is barely visible. I had to trim off a good amount from both the top and bottom sections. With the front edges at the curve matched up, the spinner ring has a step and will require some work getting even vertically.

The top is almost done being trimmed. I'll go to the rear just a bit more since a 1/8" spacer just barely fits in the gap.

The cowl-fuselage fit is coming along pretty well. I'll fit the entire cowl and then come back and get an even gap for the paint buildup.

The spinner ring is not quite parallel to the spinner. Along with the top/bottom cowl step at this location, I'll also have to clean this up. I did check the engine and airframe incidence to make sure the engine was not angled up - it is in fact angled just a little down.

After sanding a little more from the back edge, I'll start on the fasteners and then it's on to the bottom half fitting.

Jan 23 2004 - I finished fitting the top cowl and drilled the fastener holes. For now, I'll leave these at 1/8". As I drilled, I shimmed the cowl as necessary to get a flush fit as I was drilling. The final shimming will be done by adding strips of fiberglass to the cowl to build up the thickness.

After getting the top secured, I started in on the bottom half fitting. In this shot I just placed the cowl in position to check the fit and get a cut line on the bottom flange.

Here you can see how far back I cut the side flange when mating the top and bottom halves prior to ftting on the fuselage. Look at all those pinholes in the glare! Getting this thing smooth is going to take a little work.

The trimming and sanding are almost complete. All flanges have been trimmed and ann gaps are in pretty good shape. Before drilling the sides, I'm going to glass in the strips that will get the cowl flush.

<back home next>