It started with the cowling. This things is way off, ugh. Even the top (without sanding the air inlets) will need a good 1/2 to 3/4 inch of fairing to make the cowling line up with the spinner. And the sides seams, yep that is going to be a ton of work too. Moving on…
With a call to Stein and some troubleshooting I was able to resolve my CAN bus issue and the panel is now working (still need headphone jacks to test the radio). Whew, that is a big relief.
Worked on the cabin top, all the edges are sanded and it fits like a glove. Got one of the doors cleco’d (front/back) and it looks good too. Still a shit ton of sanding and filling but drilling all the holes is up next.
My neighbor Lee helped again, this time with his hydraulic press which we used to bend the control sticks to eliminate interference between the panel and the control grips. This one stressed me out but after packing them with sand and bending we got them perfect with no kinks on the sticks. Whew. Yes, it did take about six squeezes in the press to get them right – which meant removing the sand, test fitting, and then repacking with sand, but totally worth it for the results.
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