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Removing bottom cowl without scratching leg fairings or worse?

G

Gonzo24

Well Known Member
Getting ready to get the -7 painted and still have not mastered removing, installing the bottom cowl without scratching up the leg fairings or spinner area with the bottom cowl?

I have the janekom upper intersection fairings and have removed about as much gear leg fairing as possible to still keep things covered. The spinner to cowl gap is 3/16 ~ 1/4. Side of bottom cowl is piano hinge with screws in bottom and front facing sump with rubber connect to intake (good clearance in this area.)

Anyway, I expected the -7 to be easier than the old 7A but it is turning out to be the other way round.

Any ideas how to improve clearances and ease of removal / paint protection down the road?

thanks...
 
After carefully removing theb upper gear leg fairings, I cover the leg fairings, top of the spinner, fuselage sides, and top skin with paintervs tape.
 
I use tiny spring clamps to clamp a thin rag between the spinner and the front of the cowl. This keeps the spinner from rubbing against the front of the cowl during installation and removal. I've also increased the size of the gear leg cut-outs in the lower cowl plus cut back the gear leg fairings as far as possible.

The way I remove the cowl, the aft and bottom edges don't scrape against anything, but if they did, I'd get more spring clamps and a couple more rags and clamp the rags to the cowl so the rags would be a buffer between the cowl and whatever it was rubbing against.
 
Masking tape works pretty good. If I have some around, I'll sometimes use thin cardboard like from a shoebox or equivalent thin cardboard.
 
Great Topic

I am taking mine on/off several time a week now in the FWF phase. I have been wondering the same. I have Skybolts and they are like a hand full of treble hooks.

I made a lower cowl cradle that fit into the normal cradle post of my floor jack. This helps with the alignment, but it still has the scratching potential. Some fiberglass rods and velcro were incorporated to spread the top, and it rocks just enough to allow some wiggle for positioning. I still have not mastered the process.

Do you guys mount this solo by hand using the flipped turtle stance? All hands and feet on cowl?

Oh - I made a tail stand to level the plane for vertical entry with the jack.
 
I too have SkyBolt fasteners and remove & install it by hand.

The fasteners are great because you can hook the bottom cowl on and then move around and turn in one fastener on each side.

One thing of note, I have a taildragger so I don't have to worry the nose wheel and I'm not sure which is easier, tail dragger vs. nose wheel.
 
I don't have any RV'ers by me so I have to do this myself as well. RV-7 with hinges. I use a cardboard box that a Van's or Spruce order of supplies came in. Probably some cases of oil. It is a foot and a half or 2 feet big and sits about 2 inches below the bottom cowl. It is great for resting the cowl on when I am getting it in position for reinstall, and acts as a net in case I drop the cowl when I remove it. I'm not sure how it would be with a nose-gear plane as someone mentioned.

As far as scratches, I too use blue masking tape and use several layers in spots I am worried about, just in case I gouge it with a corner of the cowl or hinge.

My first oil change after I bought the plane took me 7.5 hours. I'm under half of that 3 changes later. :eek:
 
I had a couple of those tubes you use in a golf bag to seperate the clubs (from 20 years ago) thin plastic that I split lengthwise and just tape them on the front of the gear fairing with three or four strips of electrical tape. I have leading edge protection tape on the fairings but those hinge edges will mess that up real quick. When reinstalling the bottom cowl I've used some pieces of slit tubing (3/16" I.D. maybe) over the hinge on the cowl itself. I used it when I repainted the cowl to mask the hinges (worked great) and it works good for reinstalling the bottom cowl too.
Between the cowl and spinner I just put a piece of cardboard with a "U" shaped cutout and slide it up from the bottom. Tape in place.
 
good ideas

Thanks for the feedback. I will try the blue tape and keep relieving smaller areas around the nose bowl of the cowl to miss the spinner when the cowl is tilted down and forward.

I can see the issue with the "Treble hooks" with my top cowl rear line. I have camlocks there and I understand all too well also.
 
At spinner gap I use those thin plastic cutting "boards" with a cut out that allows it to fit around the hub area of the prop. One with a U shape on the top and another on the bottom protects the spinner and cowl from damage during removal. With a good cutout, they hold themselves in place, or the two "halves" can be taped together.

Continually giving the paint an adhesion test with masking tape is not a technique that I am attracted to.

On the lower gear leg I place the net like material that is used to line the drawers and shelves in RVs, camper type. It has enough friction to keep it in place on the nose gear leg and provides protection down there.

Interesting topic for me as I have new cowl and engine and am just ready to prime them. I have tried for an easy to remove cowl.

In my opinion, an easy top remove cowl is a big safety factor as the engine WILL get inspected more thoroughly more often.

I learned these techniques on the RV6A that I owned for a short time, it had very nice paint.

Randall in Sedona
 
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