Engine Cowling Continues

Today I continued to work on the engine cowling.  I used Gorilla tape to hold the lower cowling in place.  I then laid the upper cowling in place to see if it fit better.  It does not look like I will have to sand off any additional material under the lower cowling tabs.  I did need to make some adjustment to the front of the upper cowling to get it to fit the lip of the lower cowling.  I also sanded a 12” section of the forward portion of the lower cowling, on both sides, to improve the way the top cowling fit.  I then drilled the top hole in the lower cowling hinges at the firewall and installed clecoes.  I then set the upper cowling back in place.  I used some Gorilla tape to hold it in place.  I am happy with the fit.  With this final sanding and fitting effort the lower cowling now clears the nose gear leg.   Tomorrow I will finish cutting and installing the various hinges.  I will then mark the hole patterns on the hinges and begin drilling for the rivets.

Fire Wall Stiffener and Engine Cowling

Today I worked on several different projects. I worked on the firewall stiffener.  I clecoed the stiffener angle and the spacer piece to each other.  I then match drilled the #40 holes into the stiffener angle.  I removed the clecos and cut the spacer into sections by removing the unneeded material.  I then used the microstop to prep the spacers to be riveted to the stiffener. I riveted the pieces together. 

I then started to remove the gascolator bowl.  I had to loosen a machine screw the firewall.  After removing 3-of the 4-screws holding the gascolator bowl in place I determined it was not necessary.  I replaced the screws and installed safety wire.  I then drilled out the rivet in the firewall below the gascolator.  I clecoed the end of the stiffener angle to the firewall below the gascolator.  I moved it into place diagonally on the firewall.  I drilled the upper most hole into the firewall.

I then drilled and clecoed the stiffener to the firewall, starting at the center of the stiffener.  I installed a cleco in  every other hole to hold the stiffener in place.  After drilling all of the holes I removed the stiffener and deburred the firewall.  I then clecoed the stiffener back in place on the firewall and installed the rivets.  I then began to consider the installation of the side skin stiffeners on the left and right side of the fuselage.  After removing the sidewall upholstery and considering the potential benefits I decided not to install these stiffeners at this point in the build.  I can always install them at a later date if I determine they would be of benefit

I then started to work on the cowling hinges and hinge pins.  I cut both sets of side hinges .  I then cut the left and right side hinge pins.  I prepared all of the required hinge pins by bending the ends and cutting them to length.  I also ground the ends of the pins and curved them to follow the profile of the respective hinges.

Next I turned my attention to the engine cowling.  I marked the upper cowling for the holes to be drilled on each side of the propeller opening.  I clamped the sections together and drilled the inner most holes on each side of the opening.  I  clecoed the sections together.  I also clamped the rear edges together and checked the fit.

After installing the 4” hinges on each side of the fuselage engine shelf I clamped the lower cowling in place.

The lower cowl seems to fit pretty well.  I am a little concerned about the way it fits at the lower curve of the fuselage.  I am going to experiment with lowering it 1/16^th of an inch on each side to see if it follows the curve a little better.  If it does I will sand the 1/16^th of an inch from the bottom of the tab on the lower cowling.  I am planning to use some Gorilla tape to hole it in place.  I can then lay the upper cowling in place and see if it fits.  If all goes well I will begin fitting and drilling the hinges.

I clamped one of the side hinges to the lower cowling.  I then laid the upper cowling in place to see how it looks.  It looks pretty good to me.

Continue Trimming Engine Cowlings

Today I continued to trim the fiberglass engine cowlings.  Having previously completed the trimming on the lower cowling I turned my attention to the upper cowling.  I began by sanding the edges of the lower cowling to the scribe lines.  

I used a section of 1x4 with 80 grit sandpaper glued to one side.  I also used a 4” dia. Section of PVC pipe with sandpaper glued around it.  Using these sanding blocks the work went well.  After completing the sanding on the lower section I used the Dremel tool to trim the upper section.  I then sanded the edges and clamped the upper section to the lower section to check the fit.  The sections seem to line up and fit well.  Tomorrow I will take them back to the hangar at the airport.

Start Trimming Engine Cowling

This afternoon I started to trim the fiberglass engine cowling.  I used a dremel tool to trim the engine upper and lower cowling sections to the scribe lines.  I set up a work space in the garage because I am not sure how much cutting and sanding I am allowed to do in the hangar.  I trimmed the lower cowling first.  I also cut out the section in the bottom of the lower cowling for the nose gear leg. I will need to sand all of the edges to the scribe lines including the cut out for the nose fear leg.

Glare Shield and Canopy Supports

This afternoon I removed the clamps from the glare shield and installed the pulled rivets in each end.  The glare shield is now installed.  I also final drilled the canopy supports to 3/8” diameter for the new bushings.  I also set up a computer work station in the hangar.  No internet connection, but at least access to a computer to see the plans or make notes.  I also took the cowling home to begin trimming to the scribe lines.