Installed Canopy Guide Blocks

I installed some canopy guide blocks I purchased from Buller Enterprises.  These will guide the canopy latches into the holes to help the canopy close squarely.

I also took the hard lines back off and added some caps.  I applied the parking brake and re-pressurized it.  This should tell me whether the leak is inside the parking brake or at the flare fitting.

Tried to Fix Brake Leak

I’ve had a tiny brake fluid leak on the output side of the parking brake valve.  It’s not much, but it has to be fixed.  I removed the hard lines from the parking brake down to the fittings that pass through the firewall, drained the excess fluid, and cleaned up the flares to see if I could make them seal properly.  I reassembled everything, filled and bled the brakes and unfortunately, the leak persisted.

Sanded Filler Around Hinge Pin Covers

I sanded down the filler until I could just see the edges of the covers, then popped them out and cleaned up the edges.  They’re still sharp for now, but I’ll round them over before sealing the surface and priming.  You can also see a little divot of missing filler just to the left of the cutout.  This is because I didn’t apply filler over the joint between the upper and lower cowl halves because it would just glue the halves together and fracture anyway when I popped them apart.

I sanded down and cleaned the inside of the upper cowl, then applied a thin coat of epoxy with microlight to fill in the unevenness inside the cowl due to the honeycomb core.

Filled Gaps in Recess

I laid up some additional glass near the front of the hinge pin covers where the gaps I pointed out yesterday were located.  I’ll trim and sand this back tomorrow after it cures.

I need to get started wrapping up the cabin area, so I got started by cleaning up the roll bar.  I haven’t touched this in more than two years, but I left some masking tape along the top edge.  Old tape is a real pain in the ass to remove.  It took me about an hour to remove all the tape and residue.

Separated Cowl Halves and Trimmed Hinge Pin Cover Recesses

I drilled through the holes with a #27 drill bit, then popped the covers out.  These are not the final covers, but slightly oversize covers used for forming the recesses.  The actual covers are smaller for paint clearance, highly polished and have the text “RV-7” engraved in them.  I still need to apply a little more filler around the edges to create a perfect fit.

After cutting the cowl halves apart, I installed nut plates and then cut a recess to allow the hinge pin to be inserted.  I may do an additional layup to fill in the gap at the front, but otherwise I’m happy with how these turned out.

Fit Hinge Pin Covers

I cut the openings in the sides of the cowl for the hinge pin covers and then taped them in place.  I taped a piece of scrap aluminum over the opening to help position the cover.

Next, I laid up about 1/8″ thick of fiberglass over the inside of the cover, tying the top and bottom cowl halves together.  The back and sides of the cover are waxed to prevent the epoxy from sticking.  I’ll cut the cowl halves apart after this cures.