When to Install Fuselage Cover

I have not riveted my front fuselage cover in place. I have been avoiding it. I like to see that open cockpit space.

However, the engine has arrived and I have not yet fitted the cowl.

To fit the cowl, you need those hinge style cowl attachments riveted in place along the top and to do that you need to rivet the fuselage cover in place.

Sooooo.. here is the question.

Can I attach the engine, exhaust, plumbing, wiring, and baffles and THEN fit the cowl???

I didnt do it myself, but I know another builder who cleco'd in his upper forward fuselage (instrument panel area) and was then able to put the hinges on with clecos as well and fit the cowl.

As for hanging the engine, etc before the cowl, absolutely. In fact, the engine has to be installed to be able to fit the cowl.

There may be a few people who do not like the idea of hanging the engine without the upper forward fuselage riveted on, concern of structural integrity. But a lot of people do it this way.

CharlieWaffles said:

I didnt do it myself, but I know another builder who cleco'd in his upper forward fuselage (instrument panel area) and was then able to put the hinges on with clecos as well and fit the cowl.

As for hanging the engine, etc before the cowl, absolutely. In fact, the engine has to be installed to be able to fit the cowl.

There may be a few people who do not like the idea of hanging the engine without the upper forward fuselage riveted on, concern of structural integrity. But a lot of people do it this way.

Click to expand...

That's what I did. I just cleco'd the upper fuselage assembly until I was ready to finish the windows.

If you study the plans you will see that
Hanging the engine without the upper forward fuse assembly should make no difference whether it is on or off. The engine hangs from the main horizontal upper and lower fuse channels.
Riveting on the top is only supporting the upper firewall. You are riveting
it to the same upper channel that the engine mount is bolted to. It gives no support at all for the weight of the engine.

Geoff

Can I attach the engine, exhaust, plumbing, wiring, and baffles and THEN fit the cowl???

Click to expand...

What CharlieWaffles said, "you cannot fit the cowl without the engine in place."
To get the correct alignment on the upper end of the firewall simply cleco the forward fuselage skin in place, you can rivet it later.
You will need to fit the cowl before final trimming the upper baffles for proper distance.
One word of caution when proceeding with installation details in the cockpit area instrument panel forward area.
Although it seems easy install things from the top down, please remember
that you may need to access things for service after the airplane is finished
you'll no longer have easy access to the forward bay of the fuselage.
Riveting the top and being forced to deal with access from the cockpit only will keep you from hiding stuff in impossible to reach places.

Aerosport1 said:

If you study the plans you will see that
Hanging the engine without the upper forward fuse assembly should make no difference whether it is on or off. The engine hangs from the main horizontal upper and lower fuse channels.
Riveting on the top is only supporting the upper firewall. You are riveting
it to the same upper channel that the engine mount is bolted to. It gives no support at all for the weight of the engine.

Geoff

Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more....which is why I also did it this way. One of the very last things I did was the upper fwd fuse and the windshield. Worked beautifully and it was never a concern of structural integrity for the reasons Geoff mentioned. Ernst also makes a good point regarding access from below for future maintenance tasks.

Intermediate 'keeper' rivets

Right or wrong, I put in extra holes through the hinge and firewall flange but not the top skin. They are between every second pair of original holes. I used these extra holes to rivet the hinge permanently to the firewall flange but the top skin is still removable and all of the rivet holes along its forward edge are still vacant until I am ready to rivet it permanently in place.

The top skin is in place most of the time and clecoed all over. However I can remove the front row of clecos without releasing the hinge - useful when removing/replacing the top cowl frequently.