Brief Description: Started on air box-glassed the gaps in inlet ramps
Today we took the cowling off. The inlet ramps seemed to have been glassed into proper place. We had to fill some gaps in the junction of the cowling and the ramps so we mixed up some micro balloons and epoxy and tried to make good transitions from cowl to ramps. You can see this in Image #2. We will let this dry over night and do some sanding in the morning. We then began work on the air box. The directions were confusing, especially the lack of description of the air filter retaining clips. We looked at some RV sites on the web but they were using different parts. I called Van's and Gus told me how to make the clips from a piece of angle that was sent. We made 6 clips approximately 3/4" long. We took off the carburetor and exchanged the drain plug for a flush drain plug putting some fuel lube on the plug. I was concerned that this flush plug could not be safety wired as the original plug was. I think that the mount plate would hold it in even if it started to come out. I asked Keith, the A&P, who is our sometimes consultant, and he thought it would be OK with the lube. I clamped the filter container clips in place to see if they would push the filter into an oval shape. As seen in Image #1, they seem to be able to do their job. Tomorrow we will drill them and temporarily screw them in place on the mounting plate and then cut out a piece of the air filter so it will fit over the carb pump. We will then seal it with hi temp RTV. Keith has warned us to be sure that the RTV is smooth & cannot break off and get in the carb. Image #3 shows that one year ago today we were riveting on the left bottom skin. It looks from the image that it was colder than it is today. We didn't wear jackets today.
