3/17/2007
I bought a cheap brake from Harbor Freight a few months ago. Since most of the Vans parts are already formed I wasn't sure if I would ever find a use for it - until today. I used it extensively to bend baffles and making the retailing angles. It does a much nicer job than doing it any other way.
One of the builders at the local airport told me it took him a month to make his baffling. I laughed to myself thinking surely not me. Hah! I have since become more humble.
I fabricated, drilled and bent the angles that attach the floors to the front baffles. I ruined a couple of them but I had plenty of .40" to make more. I drilled and clecoed them to the floors and then drilled and attached the piece that binds them to the engine casing. Then I trimmed the right front baffle to the cowl. This took about 15 cowl install/remove cycles with trips to the band saw and ScotchBrite wheel in between. Overall the upper cowl has been on and off maybe 100 times since I started working on baffling.
I riveted the left side floor and front together along with attachment clips. I cut a hole in the left front baffle with a fly wheel cutter and then ProSealed the vent flange and screen to it (I was hoping I would get to ProSeal again!). I riveted this and the other right front parts together.
I started to attach the fabric to the baffling. The instructions do not say how wide the strips need to be so I decided to make mine 3" wide and cut them down later if needed. 1" of this overlaps the baffling. This was a long day.