[flybill7]

Couple of questions concerning fitting the upper & lower cowling on an RV-7.

The lower cowling has a lip-flange around the upper edge. I'm pretty sure this gets trimmed off but just want to make sure.

Also, around the spinner area, the upper cowl fits over the lower cowl lip flange; however, it fits horribly. I was wondering if anyone else had this problem and if so, what did you do about it.

Finally, I'm using camlocs along the horizontal as well as the firewall flange. Does anyone who used Camlocs on the horizontal have some images they could show of their backing strip installation?

Thanks in advance,

Bill

 

[vbpiper]

Cowl

Bill,
The lip on the sides of the cowl does indeed get trimmed off. At the front, on the outboard edge of the air intakes, the lip gets trimmed off, also. Directly behind the spinner, inboard to the air intake, it took some work to get a nice, smooth fit. I have been using a few layers of fibreglas cloth and epoxy, some flox and epoxy, and some microballoons mixed with epoxy, also. Sorry I do not have any pictures of mine, but there a a number of examples on this forum by people who are infinitely more talented than me who have posted pictures of both the front of the cowl and the camloc mounting.
FWIW, the camloc installation was pretty straightforward, not nearly as difficult as I had imagined. I used the Milspec fasteners (old style). Between the instructions provided and pictures on this forum, it turned out OK.
Try these links, maybe:
http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=9933&highlight=camloc+cowl
or www.jeffsrv-7A.com
A quick search for "camloc cowl" and/or "cowl fitting" should turn up many others.

Have fun!

 

[Rene Bubberman]

Hi Bill,

I did not have the camlocks but I think I used a method for fitting the cowl halves that worked pretty good on our plane and another RV-7.
Details on http://websites.expercraft.com/PHVII/index.php?q=log_entry&log_id=8194 and beyond.

Good luck and remember that it is far easier to remove material than to put it back!

 

[flybill7]

Fitting Cowls

Ward, thanks for the info. Most helpful. I'm using the Milspecs too. Yes, Jeff's RV-7A page is the best one I've seen for the camloc install. He went with hinges on the the horizontal side so I was hoping to get some pictures from someone who did the side with Camlocs.

Rene, your page was very helpful too. I like "The Tool" idea -- long plank with sandpaper attached.

I'm spending all day today on the cowl -- we'll see how it goes. The fit around the "nostrils" is horrible -- I'm sure I'll have to touch it up with glass and epoxy.

... Bill