Here I am back again.
The cowl tool is working out just fine but this 2-day job is dragging; I haven't been working on the airplane. I got the cowl assembled and back on and found that the aft edge of the lower cowl needed trimming. I spent much of today doing that: mark where needed, remove, trim, install, repeat. But getting fairly close.
I've been using a bungee across the top of the engine mounts and down to two clips on the lower cowl to help support it while doing the removal/reinstallation. Here's a very poor photo, showing the bungee, the fitting and the ignition leads which are presently unconnected.
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Here's a shot of the left-hand fitting:
View attachment 58713
On a different topic, my mentor called today with some comments about the exhaust hanger. The Vetterman exhaust came with the standard hose and tube arrangement, and the instructions said to attach it to this bar (the blue bar between the exhaust pipes). We discussed different approaches. Since I'd like to prevent vertical motion of the exhaust at this point, I'll have to build something with that in mind. It's still somewhat off in the future. I'll decide then if I want to connect it to the airframe of the engine; both appear possible, although hoses might get in the way.
View attachment 58714
Dave