Skybolt install question

[BlackRV7]

Since I am going to shoot paint on my top cowl and forward deck again this Sunday...and I totally dislike the hinge pin on the top cowl at the firewall, I am going to install skybolt fasteners this evening.

I do understand we need to scallop the fasteners strip on the firewall. Question, has anyone, or could one, simply cut 15...say two inch strips, one for each receptacle and rivet those on the firewall thereby doing away with the time consuming scalloping?

Drawbacks, bad idea, why reinvent the wheel comments welcome.

[pierre smith]

....Dana, as you know. So if you're gonna drill out the rivets that hold the hinge in place, yep, you can use several shorter sections.

Regards,

[DanH]

Dana, sounds good to me.

If I had it to do over again, I would not scallop the vertical sections on the sides of the firewall. There's a tendency for the rear corners of the cowl halves to slip in between the scallops if you don't manage to align things closely when you slide the cowl into place. Sooner or later I just might wind up missing some paint.

It's hard to bend .050"-.060" scallops for fit with the strip in place; the edge of the firewall flexes. Individual sections as you describe (assuming you had them clecoed in place) could be removed one at a time for adjustment. You could easily pound a little compound curve into them if required. Just lay them on a piece of soft wood (instead of a shot bag) and use a big face hammer.

[N131RV]

First time I did this, I did scallop in between the fasteners. What a PITA that was.

For the rebuild, used a solid strip, and fluted between fasteners to get a nice curve.

Just FYI,

[BlackRV7]

Thanks gang, I sure was not looking forward to scalloping. I do like these skybolt, as I have them on the bottom of my cowl. The initial fitting of the cowl, while drilling the #30 holes was a piece of cake.

No more drilling a canopy, no more hinge pins!!

[CNEJR]

I fluted that strip, along with using a metal shrinker on it. Came out good.

[Rick6a]

Originally Posted by BlackRV7

Since I am going to shoot paint on my top cowl and forward deck again this Sunday...and I totally dislike the hinge pin on the top cowl at the firewall, I am going to install skybolt fasteners this evening.

I do understand we need to scallop the fasteners strip on the firewall. Question, has anyone, or could one, simply cut 15...say two inch strips, one for each receptacle and rivet those on the firewall thereby doing away with the time consuming scalloping?

Drawbacks, bad idea, why reinvent the wheel comments welcome.

Actually, scalloping need not be time consuming. I found it to be a quick and easy process, actually. Using a band saw, I cut out a "V" shaped area between each fastener location in an effort to remove the majority of excess material possible using the band saw's relatively straight cuts. Then, I installed a rotary file in the drill press and adjusted the drill press so the rotary file fitted to it barely penetrated the surface of the table through the hole in its middle. Sort of like using a router.



With the strap now laying flat on the table, I simply "walked" it around the spinning rotary file to shape and finish each scallop. I did the whole 48" long strap that way in a matter of several minutes. I had no need to flute or cut up the .050 strap either as -8 builders might have to because the -8 series has a more severe cowl curvature to it than the -6 series. -8 series builders may well have to make up several strap segments for its cowl to fit properly. In my case, the one piece .050 strap I fabricated fit just fine with no fluting required either. Additional pictures here:
http://www.vansairforce.com/communit...527#post308527

[Greg Arehart]

I agree with Rick, and did similarly with the scalloping of a single piece. IMO, having a single piece of Al makes more sense and is actually less likely to be an issue with misalignment (I've had no problems so far). Making the small bends required was not an issue.

greg

[PaulR]

Just reading threads about cowl fitting and 1/4 turn fasteners and read this one with interest. I'm wondering if Dana or anyone tried the individual strips for the fasteners and if so how it worked. I'm seriously giving it consideration.

Thanks

[mike newall]

We took advice from Peter James in Australia and the process was quite quick.

Measure the distances between the camlocs, step drill for the radius of the scallop, straight lines to the edge, round off, bend down to fit the cowling, the end

Peter - can you post your photo please if you read this ?

Mike