March 5, 2010 HOME

   

 

No, the wheel pants are not done, but today I worked on marking the rivet points on the cowl horizontal hinge.  I have talked my husband into helping me, so I had him make the spacing a little closer than the call-out because I don't trust rivets in fiberglass.

 

 

The first drilled hinge half is clecoed to the edge line of the cowl and set so the hinges won't be seen through any gap.

 

 

The second half of the hinge is attached (with the hinge wire) to the drilled hinge half and the cowl is placed in position watching the fit closely.  Drilling the second hinge half is a bit tricky, but once you get a couple of holes and clecos in the right place you can lay out the hole positions in the usual manner.

 

 

With the right side hinge installed, the fit of the cowl is checked and locked in place with aluminum strips that are drilled and clecoed.  Drilling through the cowl is no problem as the holes are easy to repair before painting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once again the angle of the cowl is checked and secured with aluminum strips and wood shims.  Some folks have recommended setting the cowl a little low to allow for future sag in the motor mount bushings.  I'm going with right on and if sag happens, I'll fix that rather than adjust for the possibility now.

When everything is in place, I see that the fit is not what I thought it was.  Here the cowl is touching the skin which would mean paint chipping if not fixed.

I marked the distance to remove with tape and will take the material off using a bondo board with 40 grit paper.

So, the day is at an end and things have gone well.  Why not take a moment to find a problem?  yeah, I can't figure out how I am going to get that quick drain oil fitting into the sump with the exhaust pipe in the way....

 

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