Cowling Fabrication

This section contains several of the differenct areas in and around the cowling, basically the fuselage firewall forward. I've tried to break out different projects and keep pictures together.
This page captures construction of several pieces; the fuselage top covers, and the cowling.
Pictures of the cowl fabrication

Cowling parts, firewall forward...

March 2021Started planning and fabricating the metal pieces of the cowling, from firewall forward. I began by designing and making attachment points, around the firewall. I used a little thicker alluminum and made pieces I could attach the fire wall with AN3 bolts. On these I installed Dzus fittings. I think these Dzus fittings will give the best security while allowing the easiest removal and reinstall.Hours: 2.0

Cowling Samples, main parts (Firewall forward)

When it came time to construct the cowling for the firewall forward, I drew inspiration from the pictures to the right.
I then began to form the cowling from four major pieces, the top and top-front riveted together. Then the bottom and bottom-front riveted together. The pictures on the right are not all in the correct order (too hard to upload in correct sequence), but you get the picture. Top - Practicing on the english wheel for fairly aggressive bowl bends. The top part was straight forward and only took about an hour to make, a little longer to drill accurate holes for the z-fasteners. Once that was done, I hit the english wheel for the top front piece and worked it until I had a piece I thought would work, and riveted it together. The front fits half way over the prop shaft, similar to the J-3 cub design. I cut the sides down a bit, in anticipation of the eyebrows, but they will be cut down more later. I made several different versions of the upper cowl piece. I left pictures here, to show the differences, but settled on the more conventional openings on each side. With that complete, I formed the bottom cowling piece and drilled holes for those z-fasteners. I'm now working on the hardest piece, the lower front, which incorporates the carb intake, fits around the prop shaft, and has tricky bends on the bottom corners before riveting. Hours: 12
A few picks of the cowling braces I welded for the from. I changed the design a little bit, and simply welded a rod in the front. The are not the same, because the cylinders are off set (so don't just make two the exact same. Hours: 2

Making the Eyebrows

Again, because the cylinders are offset, the eyebrows had to be two different sizes/shapes. But I tried to make the match as close as possible. Also, pictures may be slightly out of order, there were a lot and they do not load onto the computer in numerical order. Hours: 10

Carb intake

Fabricating the cowling carburator intake