Upper Engine Cowling, Part 4

Another upper cowl task was the installation of an oil access door.  The first order of business was to spec the location of the door, which I did with pencil marks and a long, 90 degree square ruler.  Measure 3 times, check twice, cut once.  Also shown in this photo is the original Van's oil access door hinge which I eventually discarded as I could not make it work to my satisfaction.

Below is the picture of the resulting cut in the cowl.  It appears to be a carbon fiber looking door, but you are seeing through to the workbench which is covered with my protective cloth (which is a non-slip rug pad).

Time to prepare the cowl to act as a mold for the access door, so I inserted the fiberglass blank that I cut out from the cowl and duct taped it into place (outside and inside) and then coated with a generous amount of automotive paste wax.

Laid up 5 layers of glass (about 1-2 too many) over the cowl mold.

Applied a final layer of peel ply to kill off as many of the pin holes as possible.

Dry and ready to peel off.

Next was the process of creating a backing plate that would also accommodate the latches for the access door.  Thin sheet 6061-T6 aluminum was used for this.

   Once cleco'd into place the hinge and door were fitted into place.

More cleco's and final fit of the door assembly.

Finally, the latch fittings were sized and riveted into place.

It works nicely and gives sufficient access to the oil tank dipstick and other engine compartment necessities.

Last shot...