O.K. started fitting the cowl and reading the manual it refers to scribe lines on the lower cowl and the oil door on the upper cowl, these scribe lines do not exist. The question is for the oil door cut out, the manual and drawings simply say to cut out for the oil door on the scribe line. Does anyone have a picture of their oil door open so I can get close? Thanks Matt
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scribe lines
- Thread starter mattsmith
- Start date
Casey Stewart
Well Known Member
Google Images
I just tested the water with google image search results. Just search "RV-8". If that doesnt give a good a good picture, get more specific and add things like "oil door" or something like that after "RV-8." I havent built an 8 so i have no personal experience. Im sure someone can jump on here with something a bit better soon enough.
I just tested the water with google image search results. Just search "RV-8". If that doesnt give a good a good picture, get more specific and add things like "oil door" or something like that after "RV-8." I havent built an 8 so i have no personal experience. Im sure someone can jump on here with something a bit better soon enough.
cfiidon
Well Known Member
Look very closely
When I did mine I never saw any scribe lines on the upper cowl, but if you look closely at the oil door fiberglass part, hold it in the correct light (back lit maybe), you should see some faint scribe lines.
Cut close to these, smooth it, make it look like you want, get it nice and square. Position it in the recess on the upper cowl. Mark it. Now cut INSIDE these lines the appropriate amount. Think ahead as to how to want to latch the door shut (1/4 turn, camloc push latch, etc) so you can leave the appropriate amount of fiberglass on the cowl.
After I did all that, I taped the door edges and filled in all around it with an epoxy glass mixture. Sand smooth....
Also, the door flexes quite a bit. You may want to create a "rib" on the inside to stiffen it. Search the posts you should find others that have done it. Sorry, but I have no pics to offer.
Don
When I did mine I never saw any scribe lines on the upper cowl, but if you look closely at the oil door fiberglass part, hold it in the correct light (back lit maybe), you should see some faint scribe lines.
Cut close to these, smooth it, make it look like you want, get it nice and square. Position it in the recess on the upper cowl. Mark it. Now cut INSIDE these lines the appropriate amount. Think ahead as to how to want to latch the door shut (1/4 turn, camloc push latch, etc) so you can leave the appropriate amount of fiberglass on the cowl.
After I did all that, I taped the door edges and filled in all around it with an epoxy glass mixture. Sand smooth....
Also, the door flexes quite a bit. You may want to create a "rib" on the inside to stiffen it. Search the posts you should find others that have done it. Sorry, but I have no pics to offer.
Don
Rick6a
Well Known Member
Matt,
This might sound glaringly obvious, but why don't you just lay the oil door atop the upper cowl, position it to your liking, then scribe (or ink) a line around it?
That's exactly what I did:
http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=39463
Rick, what you did in the link you sent is exactly what I want to do with my oil door. The reason I don?t want to mark the oil door and cut it at that line is the door would have nothing tosit on. The drawings show a unusual shape of the opening for the cam locks with no dimensions to go by. what I have done is traced the door with pencil, then moved that mark in 3/8" and cut that so there is a 3/8" return all the way around for the door to sit on. I think this should work with the hidden hinge? Thank you for the link it help alot.
Rick6a
Well Known Member
Matt, do not concern yourself with the door "having nothing to sit on." Make the cut. You want the door to sit nice and smooth and flush with the cowl. What the door ultimately sits upon is the layup of cloth you will add later to the inside of the cowl.
I suggest you learn from my rookie mistake about the cutout itself. The one I did on my friends' cowl works well enough and he is happy with it but I know I could improve it, cosmetically speaking. If I had that oil door project as a do over, I would have more evenly radiussed and shaped all four corners of the oil door before laying out the scribe line. Another words, craft the door as best you can, then use the final shape of the door as the basis for your cutout.
As for the Hartwell's....they were provided to me so I really can't say where to buy them except of course, Aircraft Spruce. There, you'll likely buy "surplus" as opposed to new ones.
Matt, like Rick said, forget scribe lines. You're on the right track....gather some ideas, work it out in your mind, then build what you want to have.
I've never seen cowling instructions for an 8, but the ones provided me with my 7 were obviously out of date, applying to some previous version of the cowl. In the case of my pink 7 cowl, there was a molded-in recess for the oil door, but no scribe marks along the horizontal split line (despite being referenced in the plans). In the end I did the cowl fitment my way, but followed the advice of others on the door- among other things, using the cut-out piece of the upper cowl as a stiffener for the door provided in the kit.
Somewhere in one of his many helpful posts, Dan Horton described how to fair in an edge while leaving enough clearance for paint, movement, etc, to avoid chipping. Followed that advice too (though mine is far from being ready to paint).
I got a bag of used Hartwell latches off ebay for about 10 bucks. One thing to watch for is that they are not all created equal. Because they are designed to be recessed, they are available in different offsets (distance from the visible surface you see to the mounting flange). Each part has a part number stamped on it in a font almost too small to resolve with my middle aged eyes. I did though, and discovered I had several varieties in the bag I bought. Fortunately two of them wound up being of appropriate offset for my oil door.
Mine didn't turn out anywhere near as attractively as the ones done by the really talented guys on this forum, but for a glass newbie I'm ok with it. The next one will be better...
Somewhere in one of his many helpful posts, Dan Horton described how to fair in an edge while leaving enough clearance for paint, movement, etc, to avoid chipping. Followed that advice too (though mine is far from being ready to paint).
I got a bag of used Hartwell latches off ebay for about 10 bucks. One thing to watch for is that they are not all created equal. Because they are designed to be recessed, they are available in different offsets (distance from the visible surface you see to the mounting flange). Each part has a part number stamped on it in a font almost too small to resolve with my middle aged eyes. I did though, and discovered I had several varieties in the bag I bought. Fortunately two of them wound up being of appropriate offset for my oil door.
Mine didn't turn out anywhere near as attractively as the ones done by the really talented guys on this forum, but for a glass newbie I'm ok with it. The next one will be better...
