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Oil Door

wirejock

Well Known Member
I've become very careful about chopping holes lately. I ordered a hinge (OIL DOOR HINGE 4640, Part #: 12-04708) and Latch (CESSNA LATCH KM610-64, Part #: 06-00676). I'll wait to cut the hole and door till the parts arrive just in case.

Before I hack a hole for the oil door, I have a few questions...
The manual says cut along the scribe line on the cowl, except there is no scribe line. Thanks Vans. :mad:
There is a recess area on the cowl, but it's not clearly defined with a scribe line. I took some measurements and drew some lines where it looks correct
I assume the Oil Door rests in the recess so it's flush. If that's correct, the door will end up 5-5/8" square.
Leaving the 3/8" flange on the cowl means the hole will be 4-7/8".
The drawing isn't to scale so I have to guestimate on dimensions.
That's not a huge hole to reach in and do anything.
Do those dimensions sound close?
 
Larry,
I ran into the same issue. My solution was to make a template of the cutout in the cowling before making the cut and leaving sufficient room in each lower corner to put skybolt fasteners while leaving a reasonable margin in the recessed area to have the door close properly against the cowling and be flush. I also bonded a couple of lengths of 1/4 inch cord with two layers of glass on the underside of the door to reinforce the door and help prevent it from bending in the middle when in flight. I put a #6 screw and nut on one end of the hinge pin to keep the hinge pin in place. Much easier to make a new door than to glass up the cowling if making a mistake and needing corrective action.
KT
 
I've become very careful about chopping holes lately. I ordered a hinge (OIL DOOR HINGE 4640, Part #: 12-04708) and Latch (CESSNA LATCH KM610-64, Part #: 06-00676). I'll wait to cut the hole and door till the parts arrive just in case.

Before I hack a hole for the oil door, I have a few questions...
The manual says cut along the scribe line on the cowl, except there is no scribe line. Thanks Vans. :mad:
There is a recess area on the cowl, but it's not clearly defined with a scribe line. I took some measurements and drew some lines where it looks correct
I assume the Oil Door rests in the recess so it's flush. If that's correct, the door will end up 5-5/8" square.
Leaving the 3/8" flange on the cowl means the hole will be 4-7/8".
The drawing isn't to scale so I have to guestimate on dimensions.
That's not a huge hole to reach in and do anything.
Do those dimensions sound close?


Larry
I cut the oil door opening to 4 13/16 and the door is 5 1/2 square. There is room to cut the hole opening a little more if needed. The piece of the cowl removed to make the hole, I bonded to the backside of the oil door for rigidity. I then feathered around the door with a body filler, so the oil door was even with the contour of the cowl. I will email you a few pictures.
Ken
 
Choices dictate the plan.

Larry, I used a James cowl so the profile is a tiny bit different, but I used a flashlight stuck in the dipstick tube to locate my door. After fitting the cowl just located the center and worked from there. I used an aluminum (.063") door for stiffness but only because I did not think ahead. This means locating the spot where you want the door and then making a mold over that location with some method of perfect relocation for future events. You can then have a permemnant mold for comparing an aluminum door for fit, or to make a perfectly contoured carbon fiber door. My cowl is not a simple curve in my location so I had to use an english wheel to match the Al door perfectly, something I suspect you want. DanH has pointed out the advantage of a stiff door, which means thick fiberglass, aluminum, or carbon fiber. If one desires a single latch, then stiff is necessary.

Whether you desire to use an aluminum ring inside or plan ahead and use glass for the recess, having a door that blends perfectly with the cowl contour and closes with precision is probably desirable. Glass allows a little more latitude for adjustment (of the recess) than aluminum.
 
How I made mine, you can make it bigger or open outward etc. I found placing just the upper cowling on let me play with different size locations of the oil door. The Lantor Soric made for a nice stiff door, I can send you a piece if you like.
if you don’t need a cowl flap I think a spring loaded opening inward would be neat.

https://vansairforce.net/community/showthread.php?t=171987
 
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I did pretty much what Ken did, but I did not write down the dimensions. I am pretty sure I just eyeballed the sizes and used the recessed area as an artistic suggestion only :)

1. Cut the hole


2. Bend the door to match the cowl and figure out how the hinge fits. Used the scrap from the hole cut as "backing" to strengthen the door.


3. Fit the latch(es) - I went with two


4. Fill to get a well defined flange around door


5. Sand, rivet, and attach everything


Ended up working
 
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Suggestions

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. It helps so much. Looks like that one got skinned quite a few different ways. Very cool.
 
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