Lindy
11/9/2008
Oh...brother. This morning started off decent enough...I 'glassed the carb heat top deck to the cone with a mix of epoxy and flox and three layers of 'glass, per plans.
I'll sand that down nice and smooth later.
Next I decided to go ahead and try fitting the cowl to the airplane. I say try because this cowl that I have is a second hand cowl, bought in an effort to save some money. As these things typically go, they are usually more work than they're worth, and you realize later that it would've been easier, and less work, to buy a new one. Also, this cowl has already been on an RV-7A being built, so the bottom cowl already has all the hinges in place (and has the nose gear cutout, which I'll need to 'glass back over). The top cowl has the top to bottom hinges in, but not the rear top to fuselage hinge. My thought process is to put the bottom cowl on, then use it to position the top cowl.
Also, since this is already cut to length, I don't need the prop/spinner/spacer to get this in position. I will probably need a custom length spacer for this cowl, in the neighborhood of an inch and a half or so, but that will be determined later.
So, things started out okay...I made the cutouts for the gear legs.
After several on and off's, I got the cutout the right shape, and it went on just fine. That's when the first problem showed up, but it's one that I knew about ahead of time. The alternator and starter interfere with the cowl.
You can see I marked lines where to cut holes in the cowl to make blisters later on. The cowl came off, and I cut the holes.
Those need to be opened up a little further, but they're close. Again, this was a known problem with this cowl, and I have no problem with this. BUT, the next problem isn't too far behind and was unexpeceted...the exhaust is too close to the cowl on both sides. The right side is closer, but is easier to deal with because only a small cutout and blister will be needed..
The left side has more clearance, but if I need to make a cutout for it, it's much longer, and will be somewhat unsightly.
This cowl is lookin' kinda mean...
Another problem that I already know I'm gonna have to deal with is clearance for the FAB. Since this cowl is shorter than it's supposed to be, AND it's for an O-320, the carb on the 360 sticks down too far...I think. I don't have the FAB in place yet, so I could be wrong on this, but I won't be surprised if I need more chopping there.
My thoughts quickly led to wanting to buy a new cowl, and put this one out there for sale REALLY cheap, but I may work with it a little more before I do anything.
I am going to call Will James on Monday to see if they have any ideas or would cut a deal with me for just a cowl with no rings or hardware...
3.0 hours