Last night I made test strips to approximate the length of the lower panel brackets. Today I drilled holes at the proper length to make sure I had the necessary 2.5 inch gap between the fuselage bottom and the back of the lower panel. Once that was correct, I transfered the hole pattern to two brackets made of .060" aluminum with a slight bend at the bottom. During installation, I controlled the final gap by adjusting the forward and aft placement of the Adel clamps. Next I drilled and clecoed the top and bottom panels to the nosebowl to firm up the installation. Finally I marked and trimmed the excess aluminum from the fuselage top and side skins to a length of 70mm ahead of the firewall.
Lower panel brackets made of .060" 6061-T6
Extra fuselage skin marked for removal 70mm ahead of firewall