different cowl lengths (inboard intake flange)

[Scott Will]

This is how my cowl is at the front end after I matched the halves. As you can see, the inboard intake flanges are different lengths. (especially the far side in the picture).

What's the correct length and how should I fix it? How do I graft on extra material if needed? Obviously it's not affecting how I fit the cowl and could be taken care of later. Just wanted to see what others have found.

Thanks!

 

[vlittle]

It looks fine... just cut down the longer flanges and you're good to go.

The cowlings don't fit well, and you'll need to do a fair amount of fiberglassing to get the inlets to mate properly and to make sure the spinner disc is coplanar.

Good luck


Vern Little

 

[RV7Guy]

Cowl stuff

Hey,

The first thing I did was take my trusty Dremel with the sanding drum and clean all of the edges that mate together. You will find by doing this the cowl halves will fit together much nicer requiring less fill on the outer intake area and in the spinner ring area.

Regarding the other mismatch Dremel off to match the other side.

 

[rv72004]

Knife edge the flange you want to lenghten ,tapering from edge in about 2 inches if possible. Then build up [using epoxy and e glass] lenghtening the overhang .A piece of waxed aluminium can be used as a backing to keep the new lenghtened edge in place. Do this build up from both sides.
When all is done. sand and trim as required.
I know ill get flack for this, but glass work is eazier and more fun than aluminium imho.

 

[Rene Bubberman]

Hi Scott,

The dimensions of these flanges depend on the dimensions of the front decks of your baffles and these dimensions depend on the type of air intake. If you have the snorkel type FAB you'll have to make room on the left front deck baffle for this thing first and than trim the inside flanges of the cowl until they match. If you have a vertical air intake you'll have more freedom. For trimming use a Dremel with a small cutting wheel and a block with sandpaper (Sandblaster from 3M saves you a LOT of time). See http://websites.expercraft.com/PHVII/index.php?q=log_entry&log_id=8267 and beyond how I did the whole fitting process.

Good luck!