Al,
Thanks for the narrative ... very helpful.
The "Hepburn Speed Cowl Mod" is one of several "dominos" now lined up and
waiting to topple on the way to weight off wheels/water.
Your Elite sure looks great on the water ... an inspiration for sure!! Once
I get 612e flying again on the gear, still have the floats to finish - one
is ready to rivet bottom skins ... the other just has the bulkheads ready to
mate with the top deck. So I'll be bucking rivets this winter ... next
spring is my target to be where you are now.
Cheers, Bob 612e
-----Original Message-----
From:
mike.davis@dcsol.com [mailto:
mike.davis@dcsol.com]On Behalf Of
Alan Hepburn
Sent: Monday, August 15, 2005 5:47 AM
To:
rebel-builders@dcsol.com
Subject: Re: Elite Cowl Upload
Bob:
I must admit that I had a fiberglass shop do the work, as I wanted it done
during the couple of weeks that my engine was out. He didn't realise what
size of a job he was getting into, and we wound up compromising on the price
in my favour. He put 38 hours into it, and there are still a few areas I
will have to rework. He started by spraying the expanding insulation foam
onto the top of the cowl and sanding it down to shape. You have to go all
the way back to about 9" anhead of the rear edge of the cowl for the top
sheet of glass. The foam, of course, is not resin-proof, so it has to be
protected. Not sure what he used. I know you can use aluminum foil tape or
white glue.
Once he had the first layer on, he filled the hollows with filler, then
apllied additional layers. He used a little paint roller for the resin,
which seemed to work very well.
After that come the tricky bit. You cut out the lips at the front of the
cowl, and everything goes weak and floppy. Because of the new line, the lips
join the ring behind the spinner much higher up, so the old gap where the
lip joined this ring has to be bridged. But don't make the glass too thick,
otherwise the ring gear will rub on the inside (that was one fix I had to
make - ground out the excess with a belt sander. You'll want to have a jig
to hold the cowl in its original shape before you cut out the lips. Then I
assume he used the same technique to form the new lips (I was at Oshkosh
that week).
In my case, he cut the lips off right down to where it joins the old cowl.
If I were doing it, Id keep the existing lip down there for about 2", as he
was left having to eyeball that and got it wrong. I will have to trim that
area and try again. But that can wait until I'm ready for painting.
When it's done, if you used the Vans baffles, all the baffling in the area
behind the spinner doesn't fit any more. (I don't believe the Murphy plan
has any baffling in this area. Anyway, I just left it out as I wanted to
see how well the modification worked. The good news is that it seems to
work well enough that there's no need for this complicated piece of
metalwork, so I plan to just leave it out for good.
Hope that helps. I can supply pics from different angles if that would
help, but you wind up just having to eyeball things to keep both sides
symmetrical, though templates might help.
Regards, Al
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Andrews" <
robert@montanasky.us>
To: <
rebel-builders@dcsol.com>
Sent: Friday, August 12, 2005 7:49 AM
Subject: RE: Elite Cowl Upload
Al,
I downloaded the picture of the modified Elite cowl ... and think its what
the speed cowl needs. Can you share any information on making this mod to
an existing speed cowl? ... like how many layers of cloth, was foam used
at
all, how the new shape sections feed into the existing top cowl sections.
I've only limited fiberglass experience from repairing the hull on my old
Coot after several gear failures, and any guidance is most appreciated ...
thanks.
Bob 612e
-----Original Message-----
From:
mike.davis@dcsol.com [mailto:
mike.davis@dcsol.com]On Behalf Of
WALTER KLATT
Sent: Monday, August 08, 2005 8:56 PM
To:
rebel-builders@dcsol.com
Subject: Re: Elite Cowl Upload
Yes, looks like yours are even slightly larger than mine, so that should
do
it for sure. I find that once I get over 5000 feet, with the cooler air up
there and the richer mixture, the CHT temps start cooling down further.
Also, as your engine breaks in, it will run cooler.
It's a real pleasure now to climb out in hot weather fully loaded down,
and
-----------------------------------------------------------------
List archives located at:
https://www.dcsol.com/login
username "rebel" password "builder"
Subscription services located at:
https://www.dcsol.com/public/code/html-subscribe.htm
List administrator:
mike.davis@dcsol.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
List archives located at:
https://mail.dcsol.com/login
username "rebel" password "builder"
Unsubscribe:
rebel-builders-unsubscribe@dcsol.com
List administrator:
mike.davis@dcsol.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------