Spent the day yesterday and tonight working on the cowling again, and I think I made some progress. I removed the hinge from the starboard aft section, filled the holes with bondo and then trimmed off another 1/2”. This seemed to most cure the issue I was having with the lower-center hinge not lining up. At the end of the day today I was able to get in hinge pins for both sides and the center-top and center bottom hinges. I was able to get the pins in, but they do not go in easy – hopefully the temperature changes overnight will allow the fiberglass to move around enough so the pins go in easier. Each day when I’m through and I put the pins in and they go in hard, the next day the pins seem to fit better. I still have to drill for the southco fasteners and for the bottom aft hinges, but those should be pretty easy.
The only things I don’t like is that the hole around the prop is not centered, it’s about a 1/4” too low and the gap between the cowling and the prop is not consistent. I’ll have to add some fiberglass material to build up the cowling to get a consistent gap to the prop. Also, since it is too low, the top of the cowling rests on top of a bolt on the engine - I’ll have to figure out a way to raise the cowling 1/4” or so.
The silk screeners are finally done with my panel so I’ll be able to pick that up tomorrow.
