11.1.6 Oil Access Door

This entry is part 9 of 17 in the series 11 - Fairings

I finally finished the finishing on the upper cowling. Until it’s in shiny white primer, I won’t know how good it is, but it feels like it has the right lines.

Now it’s time to cut the oil door. The manual has you draw a 6 inch diameter circle and flatten one edge and put a hinge on it. Then a screw is used to hold it closed. I picked up a hidden hinge and recessed push button latch from the RV guys. So the first thing is to determine the location of where the door will go. To do that I installed the upper cowling and reached up inside and marked the inside of the cowling where the oil filler cap is. Then I removed the cowling and drew out the shape of the door. I decided to go with a “D” shaped door.

Since black marker doesn’t show up on carbon, I used masking tape for the layout.

I then cut all the straight lines. Here’s the top view with only the curved parts left.

Then position the hinge and drill the holes before cutting away the door.

I don’t have a blade narrow enough to cut the curves near the hinge so I drilled a series of small holes.

To keep it from binding while making the final cuts, duct tape will hold it in position.

An oil filler access door.

To make sure it’s in the correct location, I installed the cowling to verified the position.

Then I covered the bottom of the door and made a flange with 4xBID. Once it was cured, I trimed away the excess leaving a flange (or lip) that the door would rest against.

Next I positioned and drilled for the recessed latch. Here’s everything held together with cleco’s.

I’m a bit concerned about the clearance with the J-hinge. It’s REALLY close.

But I’ll wait and see how much movement the engine has before I make the call on that. Best case is I have enough room. Next best is I could trim part of the hinge. Worst case is having to come up with a different hinge.

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