Daddy took a look at the cowling fit problem and confirmed I was on the right track by bending the flanges downward to let to cowling sit flat. Bent them over some more and the cowling fit back good again. Not as tight as the original trim fit but it fit acceptably. Used the cleco acceptors to fix the upper cowling in place. Taped them in the holes on the flanges, pushed the cowling into place, and then backdrilled through the cleco acceptor to position the hole exactly centered in the correct spot.
