Began fitting the lower Cowling.
I cut the slot the nose gear will fit in.
Lifted it into place and held it with a strap and a bungie cord. This worked great beacuse the bugie cord held it tight and I could adjust the tension
using the strap.
I marked the aft edge and trimmed to fit the firewall as well as drilled for each camloc.
This is the initial fit of the outboard nose.
After trimming the left aft side of the cowling as well as the bottom to get a better fit, it actually allowed the nose to line up much better.
Only using 3 camlocs on the bottom on each side.
Now was time to install the hinge material on each side. I ended up installing the incorrect hinge material here. However it turned out to be
a good mistake. I talked to others about this and they said I was better off using the larger material because the smaller tends to break
off ears from vibration. It also made the sides much more rigid and was easier to drill and rivet.
Shown here is where I notched for the pin.
I drilled the hinge material with 1" spacing. Note: I drilled the first 2 holes in the upper hinge material.
Then clamped, drilled cleoced all the way down the side of the lower cowling.
I was having so much fun I didn't take a lot of pictures. After drilling all of the lower holes I fitted the upper cowling and using the first 2
holes I had drilled above. I was able to use my angle drill and drill from the inside out through the cowling. This allowed me to cleco them,
mark the remaining holes on the upper cowling and then drill the remaining holes from the outside through the fiberglass and through the
hinge material. After I had drilled all the holes I removed both cowlings and I then countersunk the fiberglass. I mixed up a small
amount of JB Weld, sanded both hinge material and fiberglass, smeared a thin coat on the hinge material and riveted all the hinge material into place.
Using the Vans Alternator and mounting kit I have plenty of clearance between the cowling and alternator.
Oh and check out that belt alignment!! ;o)
