BillL
Well Known Member
My Skybolts have been installed around the firewall. I will give a separate shot-out for Debra Bowers at Skybolt for her help. I had to respace the SB's along the sides to make the split line SB's line up with a single one on the firewall. I just was not going to be satisfied unless I did. I have been using the Skyloc tabs and they worked on OK on the firewall. With others coaching, including DanH, the split line was not going to work with the jagged pattern of the tabs so a single line was chosen to avoid catching a painted cowl in between “teeth".
I got fasteners on the nose prepared by using a fiberglass overlay in the notch between the cooling air inlet and the spinner. A learning experience, but a good one. I learned to use several layers of PVA as a proper mold release!
OK, now to the sides. This is where the vacillation occurred. I quickly ordered a 2” strip of .063 from Van’s to form the rails and hold the SB’s. .050” would have worked, but Van’s did not have that only .063 and they are a lot cheaper than the alternative sources. Suddenly it occurred to me that the straight strip was not going to work because of the compound curves toward the nose. So, I prepared 3” strips of 8.9oz for the process and sandblasted the inside of the cowl to etch the surface for adhesion. (a story in itself) I was still drawn to the metal, but feared the process and failure to achieve the result. Well, I got over that and after all, I had the metal and it was going to waste anyway. Out came the body hammers, one good one and others kinda junk, but I polished the faces, tightened the handles, and found some 5/16 rubber belting to use for a backing plate. I experimented with some shorter, thinner pieces and they came out ok as compound curves. I went to lowes and got a contour gage and marked the SB stations so the curve matching could begin. Pounding and checking worked pretty well and after about 30 min I had a check. Oops . . . the length needs to curve too!?!?! OK, after sleeping on it I had an idea, I took the back rivet plate and the rivet gun with a mushroom set and used 100 psi to run up and down the strip until it bowed ¼ end to end against the width. - - Perfect! Following are some pictures of the finished piece and of the process steps.
Thanks to DanH for the fiberglass advice, I hope he is not disappointed in the metal part.
Nose bridge done, using 4-40 screws to hold until nut plates are installed, edges are tight to ensure correct alignment.
Fiberglass all ready for split line, but am I?
The hammering did not take to much. Many blows with controlled force. The snap-on hammer worked as a planisher pretty well.
Crummy photo, but the curve is clear.
Using the rivet gun to compress and stretch the side and curve the piece. Working both sides prevented added curve 90 deg to this.
And finally installed with clecos. Nice fit all along, using the count our gage helped ensure a match before even fitting it.
I got fasteners on the nose prepared by using a fiberglass overlay in the notch between the cooling air inlet and the spinner. A learning experience, but a good one. I learned to use several layers of PVA as a proper mold release!
OK, now to the sides. This is where the vacillation occurred. I quickly ordered a 2” strip of .063 from Van’s to form the rails and hold the SB’s. .050” would have worked, but Van’s did not have that only .063 and they are a lot cheaper than the alternative sources. Suddenly it occurred to me that the straight strip was not going to work because of the compound curves toward the nose. So, I prepared 3” strips of 8.9oz for the process and sandblasted the inside of the cowl to etch the surface for adhesion. (a story in itself) I was still drawn to the metal, but feared the process and failure to achieve the result. Well, I got over that and after all, I had the metal and it was going to waste anyway. Out came the body hammers, one good one and others kinda junk, but I polished the faces, tightened the handles, and found some 5/16 rubber belting to use for a backing plate. I experimented with some shorter, thinner pieces and they came out ok as compound curves. I went to lowes and got a contour gage and marked the SB stations so the curve matching could begin. Pounding and checking worked pretty well and after about 30 min I had a check. Oops . . . the length needs to curve too!?!?! OK, after sleeping on it I had an idea, I took the back rivet plate and the rivet gun with a mushroom set and used 100 psi to run up and down the strip until it bowed ¼ end to end against the width. - - Perfect! Following are some pictures of the finished piece and of the process steps.
Thanks to DanH for the fiberglass advice, I hope he is not disappointed in the metal part.
Nose bridge done, using 4-40 screws to hold until nut plates are installed, edges are tight to ensure correct alignment.
Fiberglass all ready for split line, but am I?
The hammering did not take to much. Many blows with controlled force. The snap-on hammer worked as a planisher pretty well.
Crummy photo, but the curve is clear.
Using the rivet gun to compress and stretch the side and curve the piece. Working both sides prevented added curve 90 deg to this.
And finally installed with clecos. Nice fit all along, using the count our gage helped ensure a match before even fitting it.
Last edited: