Brantel

Brantel

Well Known Member
Those that have fitted the new Pepto Pink cowl, please offer some help.

The plans and the instructions are clearly very behind what is now being provided with the finish kits.

The new cowl does not have any molded in flange along the sides of the bottom cowl like the older ones did. This presents a problem as you have no idea where to start trimming it to fit the top.

The top edges along the sides and the inlets seem to be really close to the centerline of the crank out of the box so I do not think it would be wise to cut any off of the top side or inlets.

That leaves me with trying to fit the bottom to the top.

I went as far as getting the top rear edge trimmed to within 1/8" of where I will want it to fit to the firewall. I was then going to get the fronts fitted together before trying to fit the bottom.

This is where it all goes to pot.

Seems the bottom is molded thick top to bottom. In the past you had a flange molded in to give you an idea where to start trimming. Mine has no flange. Even the outside areas of the inlet are way to thick and extend well past the centerline of the crank opening.

I took a straight edge and placed it into the molded in flange where the round parts overlap in the crank opening and extended that line out to the outside edges of the inlet openings on the bottom half. I have cut almost to this line and just angled the cut to leave the meat on the sides at this point. I do not want to cut too much off in this area yet.

It is my understanding that you want the bottom sides to overlap the top sides until you can get it fitted well enough to determine where to cut the sides of the bottom.

I cannot get this to happen right now due to the interfearances of the outboard edges of the inlet holes.

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I just finished mine and I have to say, now that I just finished my canopy this weekend. The cowl is tops for a piece of... to do. I was just horified at the whole ordeal. so I called vans with pics, they told me that 3/4 off the bottom is about normal, from the air inlets all around the side. so I measured 3/4 all around and started cutting. Try fitting the two together in the center, you have to take the grinding wheel and make it fit in the center, one of my areas got so thin that I had to fill in some backing to thicken it up.

I was putting my finger nail over the whole thing this weekend and I have to say, the surface is really a piece of S... It's going to take a bunch of filler to fix this thing. The prop spinner is smooth compared to this thing.

I want, need to get this thing flying, my kitfox took a dump about a month ago. Talk about bad things in the Rotax arena. Try the previous owner not doing the rocker arms. Now I get to, except now the replacement parts are much more expensive, and there are non in the US. Try bushing at 40dollars, there is 8, rocker arms at 287dollars, there are 8, and 4 pins at 40 dollars, there are 4. Do the math, that's a bunch.

So I may just put some Ecofill over this cowl and move on. I don't want the pink thing, even thow DR likes the color. I think I'll pass.

Good luck, most of what I did was just make it fit and finally it made it, I don't know how, but it did. Don't get me wrong, that canopy bits as well, but at least I have an open and closing canopy now.
 
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