Cowl install-is this right?

[Gripdana]

The bottom of mine was nearly 1" . But I did the sides a little at a time.

[rizzz]

Looks like a much better fit now Dana, well done.

I think everyone of us who've gotten past the cowling installation must have had the same hesitation to keep cutting away material from the side & bottom, it just does not feel right.
I remember I was scared as well of cutting too much away and being left short. The cowl just did not look like it was made correctly. People also kept telling me "just keep trimming and everything will fall into place", and sure enough it did!

This is really one of those things where you have to blindly follow the instructions, no matter how counter intuitive they might seem to us mere mortals.

[eppre]

The bottom of mine aligns well and the side also it is the top that is high.

I have not cut any off the bottom.

It seems to me that you guys are saying to cut a little off the side and bottom and the top will come into place.

Is that correct?

[Gripdana]

I cut the bottom last. I just trimmed the side a little at a time. Do you have the Sonex instruction sheet? I followed the instructions step by step. Also check for interference at the landing gear if yours is a TD. Do you have any photos you can post? Here is the link to the instruction sheet incase you don't have it. http://www.sonexaircraft.com/documents/ ... lation.pdf

[Gripdana]

I got the hinges installed. Still needs some glass and filling. I ended up getting everything to fit considering the difficulty of this area. I did have to make a cut on the left side all the way through and remove some material along the relief cut at the firewall to get the left top to lay correctly. I know that I might have been able to get this to work by more trimming but I just wanted to get the thing fitted. That was the best solution in my opinion for my cowl. Once the glass and filling is done I think it will look pretty good. There are more photos on Flicker at https://www.flickr.com/photos/90889513@N04/
And My builders log has more information at http://websites.expercraft.com/gripdana/?q=home

[ScottM-Sonex1629]

Looks great Dana! I bet that's a relief to get this finished (at least with the fitting part).

[grevaly]

Hi Dana,
At this stage have you noticed any clearance issues with the top mounted oil cooler?
Are you going to install the lower cooling baffle for cooling of the oil pan?

[Gripdana]

No there are no issues with the oil cooler but it is very close. The bottom air filter has plenty of room also. I do not plan on doing anything on the bottom other than the air inlet. I did not see anything in photos of the Sonex Turbo. I am thinking of going turbo at some point next year.

[grevaly]

I guess I had read somewhere that some who had changed to the upper cooler maintained the lower baffle to aid in
cooling the bottom end.

[ScottM-Sonex1629]

Good evening all:

I want to tag onto, and keep this topic/thread going for general cowling install. Its a tricky process to say the least, and in my opinion, a huge departure from the past countless hundreds of hours of aluminum contruction. I've got a small learning curve and head start, since previously I spent the first half of 2010 finishing a fiberglass body (including paint) for a Factory Five '65 Cobra replica.

http://photobucket.com/albums/nn218/STL-Scott/FFR%206583-Build-Frame

I'm into my right side cowl fitment, and am at the point where I have to ask the others who have already done this, should I keep trimming a little more from the side/bottom, or call it good enough? the side is fitting well, but at the bottom you can see a sharp curve where the cowling drops down some, then curves up towards the nose.





The issue I am still seeing, is that the top edge still has about an 1/8" gap to the windscreen. My initial thought is to trim/sand a little more from the side and bottom, which would help bring the top rear edge back towards the windscreen.





Is this the correct approach?

Thanks