2/3/2007
I started on the cowl. I drilled the 6" hinges that go at the bottom of the lower cowl. I installed rivets in the holes next to the hinges.
I putting a roll of tape on top of the flywheel to get the correct alignment with the spinner. I set a 1/4" gap between the spinner back plate and the cowl. I set the vertical position of the front part of the cowl about 1/16" to low to allow the for settling of the engine. Vans recommends more and I might be stupid for not heeding this but the RV8 flyers I know of haven't had any settling. Maybe it takes time.
I put a bright light in the engine compartment and traced the outline of the firewall. I cut about 1/16" to the outside of the line and test fit it. It had 1/16" too much material of course. I made some scrap temporary holders that I clecoed to the firewall.
So far so good. Tomorrow I will install the top hinges.
