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Front Seat belt bolts and canopy

I did not glass over, same as door screw heads. I did not build a velocity xl. Painted over most rivets and all screws without worrying with cosmetics. Saves time now and later, money and weight.
 
I filled mine with flox and put a couple layers of BID down and fared it in with micro. Note that before I did that, I ground a couple of flats on the heads to prevent spinning and embedded and filled them with flox before covering.
 
I glassed them

...but I ground a groove in the glass aligned with the screw slot and stuck a pull rivet shaft in the screw slot to keep it from turning.
 
Nope

Glad I didn't glass them over, pulled them off this week to return a stuck retraction mechanism to Hooker.

Dwight
 
I'm doing my canopy/doors at the moment and must admit to being in a bit of a quandry. Glassing over the seat belt fitting/front strut/door brackets seems great from the aesthetic point of view. However, I'm a bit worried about future access for servicing or replacement.

Having said that, I guess the only thing that might conceivably need replacing would be the door hinge bolt due to wear - but that is the ugliest bit!
 
Paul, I have seen several -10s with nothing but paint on the door hinges. They really don't look bad at all. I fabricated some covers out of .032 and threaded two holes in the hinge half for a 4/40 CS screw to hold them on. It still leaves easy removal.
As for the Seat belt attach point. I would not glass over it. Someday it might have to be removed and it would then be a major hassle.
I am regretting having fiber-glassed my HS and VS tips for that exact reason. If one gets damaged, then I am painting the whole surface.
Now on the other hand, if you are building a show plane, go for it!
 
I got my door hinges nickel plated and that removed the desire to fabric a cover plate and all the hassle of doing that. Now the screws are accessible for removal. That being said, all of the other canopy bolts/screws are being glassed in. IF there is ever a serious enough need to replace one, you can also use a tool like a rivet shaver or something and dig out your screw head.
 
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