It's time

It's time for the fuselage to go back to the airport. I can't work on the skylight because the garage roof is too low and I need to finish the wing root fairings so the wings need to be installed. Today I started by completing the eyebrows, I squeezed the 3/32 rivets but had to drive the 1/8's that hold the tabs. They came out nice.

A little touch up on the black paint and they will be ready to go. With the epoxy dry on the cowl repairs, I removed all the clamps and finished a few details on the lower cowl. I fitted the cabin/carb heat inlet duct.

Everything fits good here, I then installed the mounting pins I painted yesterday.

I'm pretty happy with how this turned out, there are a lot of repairs but they should not be too noticeable from the outside after painting. Here's a couple shots.

I spent the rest of the afternoon making a bracket to replace the left front cowl pin. I did not realize it at first but there is a substantial difference between the 85/90 case and the 65 case at the front tie bolts. This means that the brand new Univair fitting I bought will not fit. I decided to make my own fitting which required cutting and grinding some 4130. I got all the pieces made today but will wait until the flight engine is on to complete it. Here's a shot, it has to bend the other direction.

  The rest of the day was spent moving crap out of the way so I could get the fuselage out of the garage. I managed to get it all hooked up to the truck just before dark and will leave for the airport first thing in the morning. I used the same 4 point tie to the tailwheel fork I used to bring it home. Here's BC giving the rig a once over.

That's it for today, the engine stand will come home tomorrow and assembly will start on the engine. I will probably spend the rest of the week cleaning the hanger and the garage.