The same procedure was used for the passenger's side of the cowling. Here
is that side all fitted and clecoed in place:
Along the hinge line, you have to leave a slight gap so the door will open
without interference with the top cowl piece. Here is the hinge line:
Now, I'll take it all apart, drill and install all the Camlocks and platenuts,
and will rivet the hinges in place.
I started with the hinges. These were riveted using flush #3 rivets
as shown here:
The cowl doors will need to be propper open with a rod when open. To
accomplish this, a 15" long angle was riveted lengthwise inside the cowl
door about 6" above the bottom edge (where it meets the bottom cowl). A
hole is drilled in the angle and the rod used to prop open the door is attached
to the angle. To hold the rod in securely when its not being used,
a clip was made and riveted inside the cowl door. Here are a couple
of pictures of how the clip was made:
Here are the parts assembled:
The 1/4" tube will simply slide into the clip and the tendsion will hold
it in place to keep it from vibrating around.
Here is the angle and the clip clecoed in place inside the left cowl door:
I had to order some 1/4" tube and it hasn't arrived yet so I just slipped
a short piece in for now to show how the clip works. I'll update the
above photo when I finish making the rod and have it installed on the angle.
The prop-up rod will attach to the angle through a hole. When
the cowl door is propped open, the rod will be pivoted down and attach to
a hole in the baffle on the engine.
I have decided to use Southco 1/4 turn Fasteners (like Camlock) to secure the engine cowl doors. They have winged, slotted or phillips varieties to choose from. I chose the Phillips because I figured I have less chance of slipping with the screw driver than with the slotted ones.
The receiver for the Southco fasteners is just like a floating nutplate but sized to take the southco stud. I installed the receivers along the inside of the engine cowl side channel (4 ea), inside the firewall flange, (2 on each side) and inside the nose bowl flange (2 on each side) using the same technique as for platenuts.
Here are all of the parts and tool needed for installing the Southco Fasteners
in the cowl door:
The Stud is the business part of the fastener and after it enters the reciever and gets a 1/4 clcockwise turn it's locked in place holding the cowl door shut.
The Spring goes between the stud and the wear washer. It pops the stud up letting you know that it's not fastened.
The Sealing Washer goes just under the head of the stud.
The Wear Washer goes between the stud/spring and the cowl door skin.
The Retainer keeps the stud from falling out when the cowl door is open.
The Retainer Tool is used to push the retainer onto the stud after it's inserted into the cowl door.
The cowl door must have a 1/4" hole drilled for each stud. I suggest an even bigger hole (3/8") at each reciever location or the stud tends to get caught on the skin there.
Here are a couple of the studs installed and holding the engine cowl door
in the closed position:
Engine Cowl
Completed: July 27, 2007
Total Time: 48 hours
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