Getting the Cowling Right

Yes. I haven't posted lately. But that didn't mean I wasn't out in the hanger working. Only that what I had to show for my all my efforts was pretty unexciting. Previously I was faced with the quandary of how to raise the lower edges of the cowling intakes so the rubber seals would fit underneath them properly. I decided to build up the upper side of the lower edges with flox, sand it smooth and contour, then grind away the underlying fiberglass to effectively raise the lower intake edges so the rubber seals would have room to fit correctly. I proceeded to do that and after a lot of sanding and filling achieved that goal. I had to create a variety of rounded small sanding blocks to match the contours of the intakes. I moved on to hand forming the metal strips that are bolted underneath the lower intakes lips that clamp the rubber seals in position. More flox was used to fill gaps under the metal retaining strips and then sanded to shape. I then proceeded to alter the top cowling so the outboard intake edges join up correctly with the lower cowling outboard intake edges. This involved yet more flox and lots more sanding to achieve the desired shape. I'm getting close to installing the rubber seals using the clamping strips and that will be the litmus test of all this work. I'm frankly sick of working on the cowling and baffling ready to move on to something more "fun."