Continued to work on the baffles. Trimmed the front side pieces. Started to fit and build brackets for the left front. All this needs to be within a 1/2 inch of the cowl.
12/21/09 - 5.0 hours - Total Time 964.5
Continued to work on the baffles. This is very tedious work. Allot of taking on and off. All the baffles need to be within 1/2 inch of the cowl, and this means allot of modification. I bought the baffle kit from Van's for the o-320. It's pretty close, and beats making them by hand, but still requires allot of work.
12/25/09 - 2.5 hours - Total Time 967.0
Over the past couple days, I realized I needed to install the prop, and build the cowl prior to fitting the baffles. Not sure what I was thinking here, but I really need to have all that in place first. Shouldn't be an issue, as I will still have to trim down the baffles from where they are. The weather here has been awful today! 60 mph gusts with blowing snow.
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Rapid City, SD - Current Weather
As reported 6:52 p.m.
Winds: NNW 48 mph
Humidity: 81%
Pressure: 29.80 in
Dew point: 9ºF
Visibility: .50 miles
Fog
13ºF
Feels like -11ºF
12/26/09 - 4.0 hours - Total Time 971.0
Built the top cowl panel and installed hinges on each side for the cowl doors. Built channels for the intake support. Lots of measuring to make this right. It's one of those "building in space" projects. I just used the firewall and engine as 3D points. I will need to do some fiberglass to blend the intake into the airbox. Overall, everything is looking pretty good. I'm happy with the lines and functionality of the cowl so far. With the baffles off, you can see the details that go into getting them to fit tightly.
1/2/10 - 2.0 hours - Total Time 973.0
Worked on fitting the engine intake to the airbox. Started by cutting the intake in two and clamping it together at the width I needed. Then, I cut it again, and fiberglassed it back together. Then, I made a template that approximates the angle needed to line up the airbox and intake, and cut the airbox forward of the filter.
1/31/10 - 2.0 hours - Total Time 975.0
Spent some more time working on the intake cowl. Built a couple angle brackets, with a nut-plate to attach at the firewall flange. I have been trying to get the annual done on the 182, and that has taken all my time. Including a 500 hour inspection on the Bendix Mags.
2/6/10 and 2/14/10 - 3.5 hours - Total Time 978.5
Built some joggles into the brackets, so the transition to the cowl would be smooth. Modified the side braces for the same transition. Installed a couple mondnock plates for now. The whole thinking behind this, it having everything lay just right, and still have the ability to remove the cowl without drilling out any rivets.
2/16/10 - 1.5 hours - Total Time 980.0
Drilled and cleco'ed the top cowl cover to the nose bowl. This should pretty much lock it into place. Made a hole finder out of poster board, to locate the screw holes for the rear intake brackets. Cleco'ed the airbox together in a couple places, and started looking at what it will take to glass-in the intake to the airbox. Removed the intake and airbox in preparation to do the glass work. Also removed the L/H exhaust stacks. I will need to tweak these a little for some clearance.
2/28/10 - 2.0 hours - Total Time 982.0
Made a new block of foam and shaped it to contour to the airbox. I also used a little clay, to fillet the foam and intake. I then mixed up a batch of resin, and glassed in three layers. To make sure it all stays, I inflated a balloon in the middle of this mess. I guess we will see how this turns out tomorrow?
3/1/10 - 1.5 hours - Total Time 983.5
Removed the balloon, and cleaned up the intake. Mocked it up to see how it would fit with the airbox, and set some baffle seal in place. Looks like this should work pretty good? I will need to do a little more fiber glass work and some finishing, but this should make are clean and efficient transition from the cowl to the airbox.
