>I am considering extending the cowling to allow the engine to be moved forward 2-3 inches and was wondering what the simplest way would be to extend the glass work to accommodate this with the least amount of effort? >Colin & Bev Rainey ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I extended my 0-200 cowl, that I purchased from Dan Diehl, two inches at the rear and approx two inches at the front to accomodate a five inch prop extention. My concern was mounting the cowl on this rear two inch extention. I was afraid the extention would be weak and a crack would soon appear at the seam. The route I took, and I don't know if it is the simplest or easiest, was to use aluminum strips. The were maybe 1/16" or so, I don't recall. I cut strips that were approx 1 1/2" X 6" and flox/glassed them to the original cowl at each attach point with the alum extending beyond the cowl equal to the extention I wanted. I actually mounted my cowl using these strips before filling in the extention with foam and glass. I later glassed some 1/4" foam strips on one side that were slightly larger than the void I had. After they cured I cut back the foam on the forward edge only so it would overlap the cowl and removed the foam in the area of the alum strips so it would fit flush. I glassed these in place with another layer of glass that tied the fill foam to the original cowl. When cured I sanded the inside of the foam flush and finished with a layer of glass. The front was extended by gluing foam to the cowl and shaping to the spinner. This resulted in giving me a nice looking shark nose. I also closed down the cowl inlet holes about one inch on each side in the process. The result of these efforts is that my cowl attach points are tied to the original cowl with metal with the fill adding strength. With my cowl firmly attached I could actually bounce the KR up and down using the air inlet holes until the wheels nearly come off the ground and there is zero movement in the cowl. I had decided that if I could rip it off I didn't want to be flying behind it. That of course was when I had the 0-200 removed. If you go that route make sure you put enough 1/8" holes in the alum plates for the flox to flow through and lay on the glass before the flox sets up. That will make for a really strong bond. If this doesn't make sense I might have a picture or two I could e-mail you direct. I'd have to check my photo album. Larry Flesner Carterville, Illinois 2004 Gathering host
