Finish Kit

Top and Bottom Cowl mated to Fuselage ( 3 hrs )

Drilled aft holes on Top Cowl, then match drilled into hinges after re-installing onto Fuse.  42 holes filled with clecos per Steps 1-8 at Sect 45-10.  Started 45-1; mounting Bottom Cowl.   Marked aft edges for trimming (less than 1/8") using tool Carl & Rafael showed in their build log.  Stopped early to go flying prior planning meeting at airport for annual Father's Day breakfast/fly-in.

snapped pic inside/under cowl - checking
 locations of holes in hinge.

added Bottom Cowl.  Sawhorse good height to defy gravity.
Horiz line is shadow where Top finished edge
overlaps untrimmed Bottom Cowl,

After checking alignment &, taping in place, I
 marked aft edge of Bottom Cowl for trimming

Finish Kit

Top Cowl fit up ( 4 hrs )

Completed Sect 45-08 Steps 6-15 leveling and centering Top Cowl.  Several iterations to check and recheck alignment.  Used AN3 (3/16") bolts to maintain spinner gap helped.   Measuring vertical height for left front and right front corners above level reference worked to insure lateral alignment.  Trimmed Aft edge ~1/8 inch - then sanded smooth.  Several more iterations of sanding allowed me to ease into perfect fit along Forward Top Skin.   Last, marked holes for attaching Top Cowl to hinges per Sect 45-09, Steps 1-8.

trimmed aft edge to fit

marked for drilling for rivets

Finish Kit

Cowling Top to Bottom fitting  ( 3 hrs )

Completed fitting Cowl halves to each other.  Whew...lots of iterations filing small amounts - but result is great fit!  (Sect 45-07,  Steps 1-7).   After drilling 2 holes for clecos at each side of spinner, proceeded to make alignment tool and mount to Top Cowl per Steps 1-5 at Sect 45-08.

 

alignment tool added.  

3/16" gap set up

washer added at front compensates for expected
 sag of engine over 1st 100 hrs

Finish Kit

Cowling clean up, Cowl Pins, Oil Door revision ( 4 hrs )

Trimmed aft edges of both Top and Bottom Cowls per Steps 11 & 12 at 45-05.  Cleaned up mating surfaces per 45-06 Steps 1-4.  Started 45-07, aligning Top to Bottom along mating surfaces, holding with clamps.   After couple iterations, getting close....    Received new Cowl Pin Covers from Aerosport Products.  Will replace external tabs & screw in Vans design with these flush mount beauties !  Also received from Aircraft Spruce the large AN526A(soft)6-7 rivets.  These 3/16" dia rivets will fill the 1/4" holes pre punched in Oil Door for Quarter Turn fasteners - also external.  I'm using the KM610-64 latch that mounts flush (used on Cessnas, and many other RV builders).  Pricey, but like the flush,  easy open design.  I bought mine at Aircraft Spruce (others were lower cost, but charged much more for shipping).  So I practised filling a couple 1/4" holes in same thickness alum today.  C'sink almost flush topside, then slightly C'sink bottom to insure rivet retention.

Until I got to this point, was concerned about how the top and bottom would
be aligned. But Vans has good instructions and procedure.

Looking good!  Cowl Pin Covers with Left and Right templates

Revising Oil Door to fill two 1/4" holes in corners.  Plan to
mount Cessna style KM610-64 latch instead.

Trial filling of 1/4" holes with large "soft" 3/16" dia rivets. 
Will be able to get smooth top surface

3/16" rivets easily expands to fill 1/4" holes. Shallow C'sink on
bottom, so not sure if grind smooth, or leave some for strength.

Finish Kit

Trimming Cowling ( 5 hrs )

Trimmed top and bottom Cowls per Sect 45-05, Steps 1-9.   A friend building a RV-4, Rick Olson and his dad, Dean gave me a great tip to use diamond coated cutting wheels to cut fiberglass using my dremel.   Wow ! they're terrific - fast & easy with a thin kerf - yet very tough.   Less than $10 for a set on Amazon Prime.  Lots of sanding with w/ 100 grit and files to finish edges.   Next up is cutting aft edges - then begin placement on Fuse.

diamond coated cutoff wheels work great!

bottom fwd edges trimmed 

 

inside view Oil Door opening

external view Oil Door opening

progress trimming top and bottom.  Aft edges next...

Finish Kit

Cowling cont'd  ( 4 hrs )

Per Sect 45-04,  Steps 1-8, formed hinges & pins to conform to curved top of Firewall.  Beveled eyelets in curved areas for clearance.  Fluted hinges to align with Firewall - per Fig 2.  Installed all  4 hinges to Firewall.  Started fiberglass work on Cowls by marking scribe lines with fine point marker.

top hinges installed

after fluting to align with top surface

marking scribe lines...getting ready for 1st cuts

 

just mocked up, not positioned relative to spinner....yet

Finish Kit

Cowling started ( 2 hrs )

Started Sect 45, Cowling (back to Finish Kit) w/ Sect 45-02 Steps 1-4 & 45-03 Steps 1-4 for Cowl Attach Piano Hinges and Pins.  These are along top and sides of Firewall.   Then Sect 45-03 Steps 5 & 6 for Attach Hinges to join top to bottom Cowling.   Lots of time insuring substituting correct diameter (0.120" SS Pins), and measuring several times before cutting.