1. Began planning the cowling installation by reading the details about the process, including how I will install the Skybolt fasteners. (The Skybolt instructions are really terrible, and it makes me want to rewrite their manual for them…)
Fabricated a non-scratch marking tool so that I could mark a Sharpie line on the fuselage skin, exactly 2" aft of the firewall edge. This will help me make some measurements on the cowl to determine where to cut it off later. I made the tool from a plastic parts-drawer separator, a long AN426 rivet, and some duct tape, with a small hole drilled 2”away from the rivet where I could insert a fine-tip Sharpie marker. I marked the line all the way around the firewall.
2. Test-assembled the rear cockpit throttle quadrant. Made several hardware adjustments from the plans. (For instance, I used a nylon washer underneath the main bolt, and I used a shorter bolt than what Vans called out.) Painted the head of the main attachment bolt flat black to match all the other cockpit hardware.
3. With help from my friend Jim, I dimpled two rows of holes on the top skin -- the row along the top of the instrument panel, and the row on the avionics bulkhead forward of it. [ No photo yet.]