hinge pins

[Papa Charley]

need help with upper cowling hinge pins, having trouble making a curve....HELP

[JonJay]

Are you using the undersized pin?

[Papa Charley]

is there a under size pin please tell me what size... how did i miss that?

[JonJay]

Going off of memory, but I believe the hinge is .125. You throw that pin our and replace it with an .090. Double check those numbers.

Or, you can take your larger pin, chuck it up in drill motor and while running the drill, taper the pin on a fixed disk or belt sander. Mark the pin where the bend starts and start the taper a bit ahead of that down to the end. That makes for a tighter fit over the top and reduces the "pillowing" you get due to air pressure in the cowling. Works very well.

[Papa Charley]

Thank you, i will double check your numbers and give that a try.

[johnf1]

Gentlepersons: I used .125 SS pins I ground points on. Have been in service since 1986....lost two eyes before adding screws to cheeks. Otherwise, perfect service. Seen lots of .090/.063 pins...thought lots of slop but know of no outright structural failures. John N95JF

[pat]

and carefully bevel between each hinge eye around the curve. In between each eye will be a small V shape. The V should open toward the inside of the curve which helps guide the pin smoothly around the radius. Wont take much.