The builder's manual has you fiddling with sandpaper on a stick and the like to straighten the flanged half of a wheelpant seam. Very tedious. Try this instead.
First the nose section half of the seam; no flange so it is easy. Set it on a flat surface, hold a pencil flat to the surface to draw a line around it, then trim back to the line with a big 60 grit rasp block. Tape a sheet of 120 to the table top to finish lap the edge dead straight.
Now remove the dust and get some vinyl tape about 3/4" wide. Run a strip around the seam edge with half the width of the tape on the outside surface, then fold the tape over so it wraps around the edge. You now have a no-stick edge.
Scuff the gloss off the flange face on the rear wheelpant half. Fasten the halves together with clecos in the future nutplate locations. Mix your favorite epoxy, then add one part flox, one part cabosil, and one part microballoons as necessary to form a thick paste. Paint a little pure epoxy into the open seam, then wipe in the paste to fill the seam entirely, plus a little.
When cured, use a vixen file to cut the filler flush to the surface, remove the clecos, and pop the halves apart. Just a few minutes with some 80 grit on a stick will tidy up the new seam edge. The result is a tight, straight seam.
First the nose section half of the seam; no flange so it is easy. Set it on a flat surface, hold a pencil flat to the surface to draw a line around it, then trim back to the line with a big 60 grit rasp block. Tape a sheet of 120 to the table top to finish lap the edge dead straight.
Now remove the dust and get some vinyl tape about 3/4" wide. Run a strip around the seam edge with half the width of the tape on the outside surface, then fold the tape over so it wraps around the edge. You now have a no-stick edge.
Scuff the gloss off the flange face on the rear wheelpant half. Fasten the halves together with clecos in the future nutplate locations. Mix your favorite epoxy, then add one part flox, one part cabosil, and one part microballoons as necessary to form a thick paste. Paint a little pure epoxy into the open seam, then wipe in the paste to fill the seam entirely, plus a little.
When cured, use a vixen file to cut the filler flush to the surface, remove the clecos, and pop the halves apart. Just a few minutes with some 80 grit on a stick will tidy up the new seam edge. The result is a tight, straight seam.