Yesterday I spent some time 'adjusting' the hinge pins and induction rings to get an easier fit with the upper cowl and fuse. Today's task was to build up the upper cowl spinner ring to blend equally with the prop spinner. I used a 24" straight edge to mark how far back from the fron edge I would need to build up in order to make a smooth transition with the upper cowl and to not have a 'bump' arond the spinner ring. It turns out that about 12" rear is the 'disappearing point'. I built that area up using several applications of filler, i built it up beyond what was necessary in order to avoid any depressions or low spots. When I measured the amount necessary with the cowl on the airplane I needed about 1/8". after the filler cured, I began to sand and fair it into the right contour. I was able to get 90% of the sanding done with the cowl on the bench as i got close to the 1/8" I remounted to cowl on the plane, applied some duct tape to the spinner to protect it, and then used some 100 grit wrapped arond some 12" blocking pads, and sanded it flush with the spinner itself. I'll need to add a small radius to the edge when the cowl is removed. I still have an issue with the lower cowl, the outside of the cowl ring is mostly Ok, but I've got to provide more distance between the spinner and the bottom cowl than presently exists. To do that I'll need to ad several lay-ups of fiberglass to the inside of the bottom cowl and then sand the front of the cowl prop ring back about 1/16-3-32 ".
