Plans: 1. Fab the lower cowl bowl. Status: I mounted the lower cowl to the fuselage with the addition of securing the trailing edge to the lower engine cover. The holes lined up perfectly. I also drilled the holes for the plate nuts on the lower engine cover. The nuts are back ordered but I was able to make this small progress in the meantime. 2. Fab a brace for the exhaust bend. Status. 25% complete. I decided the bracket I made yesterday was not the best approach. So today I am trying something slightly different. In this case the brace will be attached to the bend with a clamp as opposed to welding. This will make maintenance a little easier. 3. Mount the muffler to the bend. Status: Complete. To exhaust ben slipped over the muffler loosely. I cut some slots in it and squeezed it tightly to the muffler with a hose clamp. This has greatly improved the rigidity of the set-up.
I ran the engine for a few seconds today to circulate the oil a bit. For this case the muffler was installed. It started easily but did stall when I throttled it up. Perhaps it was simply cold and needs to warm up a bit. Without the prop I have been limiting the run time. The prop, by the way, is very late now.