Baffle seals

[RV7Guy]

Well, after about 30 hours of work I have the baffles (metal pieces) cut and fit to my satisfaction. I've made the cuts to get the top cowl to fit. After measuring I made my next cut and now have about 3/8" gap fairly consistently between the cowl and baffle.

When the baffle seal material is finally installed it appears the 3/8" clearance will create a very sharp bend in the material. I know the instructions call for 3/8-1/2" clearance.

From practical experience whaddya guys/gals recommend as a functional gap?

Darwin N. Barrie
Chandler AZ
"I've cut it twice and it's still too short."

[robertahegy]

My gap was about 3/8 to 1/2". Make sure the outside corners have a more generous clearance, since you will have some overlap there. Also I would give the outer edges a little more than 3/8". This will help keep your engine from beating up your cowl on startup.

You got that all done in only 30 hrs?? Bless you.

Roberta

[Ironflight]

I just finished up my baffle seals last weekend, so my traumas...I mean memories...are fresh!

One thing to remember is that the baffle seals don't bend from the top of the baffles, but from the rivet line (the seals go on the inside of the baffles),so the bend radius is not as tight as you might think. Roberta is right that you want to have enough clearance so that the engine doesn't bump the cowl, but I used the 3/8 (plus maybe just a touch more - erred on the plus side) inch all around, and am very satisified with the results.


Paul Due
- fitting Intersection fairings (from Bob Snedecker) tonight

[RV7Guy]

Thanks for the replies. I've got a pretty accurate 3/8" all the way around and I'll run with that.

Darwin N. Barrie
Chandler AZ