I know I planned on painting today, but that is not what happened. Last year I did a lot of fitting on the new windshield, but my fear of commitment prevented me from drilling the final mounting holes. With the boot cowling fitted in final position, I installed the windshield and clamped it into final position. I drilled the pilot holes using my 1/8 plexiglass drill. I will drill these holes final size after removing the windshield. There is still some final trimming to be done but the windshield is pretty much complete. Here it is all clamped into position.
I also made a pattern for the small triangular window just aft of the windshield in this photo, and for the skylight above the front seat passenger. I will try to make these parts tomorrow and that will complete the windows. I had an interference problem with the vertical sliding window, but managed to get that fixed today.
With all this work complete, it was time to get the boot cowl ready for paint. Everything had to come apart for the 1000 time ! I still think I will leave the firewall with it's galvanize finish so I had to clean up the rust stains from when Coastal Aviation let her sit outside. My Harbor Freight soda blaster made quick work of this with out hurting the galvanize finish.
Before,
and after,
After this I sanded the outside surface with 280 and then 320 wet . The Coastal boys had ground on it pretty hard when they attempted to fill the extra holes with JB weld. After that I scrubbed the entire cowl with Stits 310 cleaner and then etched it with phosphoric acid wash. It is all ready to paint tomorrow and Vanessa Murdock has promised me a beautiful day. Here it is all washed and ready.
I finished this at 4:45 and I was wet and starting to get cold so I bagged it for today. I plan to paint and make the last two windows tomorrow. Till then so long.
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