EA81 in SS7

[cranland]

I'm going to finish a SS7 with a Subaru ea81. Has anyone done this and any advise on the cowl? Not sure I should buy one from kitfox & modify it or try to fabricate on from scratch? I'm new at this.
Peter

[HighWing]

Peter,
I will take a stab at your cowl question. I had a couple of years working on a Lancair IV and have done a lot of one off fiberglass parts on my current Model IV project and can't imagine making a cowl from scatch vs. using the factory cowl as a foundation and modifying where necessary. There are some interesting techniques that will allow for a much easier project. Keep in mind that if you do a one off, there will be many square inches of rough surface that will need refining before paint. With a modified cowl, the inches needing finishing will be very much smaller and much easier to finish as you will be starting with something that at least already fits the fuselage. I dare say it will also be much lighter. When you get to that point or more focused on that part of the project, drop another note and I can get into more detail.
Lowell

[cranland]

Thank you for that info. Now next question. Which cowl that Kitfox sells would be the closest to fitting the Subaru? Anybody done this before?

[HighWing]

Been thinking about your last question. My first thought was the SS cowl as it is a smooth cowl and probably easier to modify than what I am used to. But that cowl is designed to accommodate the 912S and it covers an extended engine mount for W/B and it would be much too long for the heavier closer coupled EA-81. You might want to look at a cowl designed for a heavier engine like the O-200 which would be shorter overall. Keep in mind that my only experience with the larger airframes is finishing a Series V with the SS firewall forward. All of my previous experience is with a couple of Model IVs and the Lancair, but I have modified a couple of 582 cowls to fit around 912s.
Lowell

[desertfox1]

I agree with Lowell, building from scratch is a big job. I will
attach a pic of the start of the process on the Rotec cowl.
That's Bill Prokes with the big file working on the poured in
place foam. About 200 man hours later to get the first
finished parts. I would start with the factory boot cowl,
that gets you from the firewall back including the windscreen
fit. If you can provide some dimensions I will try and see
what cowls might be modified to work. I have narrowed,
widened and shortened cowls, not too big a job.

Good luck

Phil

[cranland]

Thanks Phil, I appreciate any info/help you can offer!
Peter