The afternoon was spend tweaking the cowls. First I reposition the upper cowl, the gap with the spinner bulkhead is looking better.
The I reinstall the lower cowl, work is quite slow as I iterate to the final position by sanding only small amounts each time.



Then the cowl gets drilled on the bottom and the sides.



I still have to install the piano hinge that will connect the upper and lower cowl, but before I'll have to sand a gap between the two halves (approx. 3/32").

Before cutting the cowls, I begin by countersinking and scalloping the camlock support strips.



And the result after quite some time at the bench grinder.



Then I begin the lower cowl installation. The picture shows the first cut made yesterday on the lower cowl and it allows to insert the upper cowl.



Then the cutting goes in with first the lower parts and then the sides. Some tweaking to be done before I'm satisfied.



The picture shows a problem that appeared after the lower cowl was installed. The gap between the cowl and the spinner bulkhead is not constant and is at minimum.
The bulkhead is not really flat which is part of the problem but I might also slide the upper cowl slightly back before adjusting the lower cowl.

Some internet browsing brought some answers about what has to be done with the cowls. I'm not really sure hwo it will look in the end.
First I use a ruler to mark the upper cowl's position on the exterior faces of the lower cowl.



Then I sand the interior of the upper cowl where it meets the lower cowl. The quality of the fiberglass is not very good compared to the wheel fairings.



After a few tries, the hole behind the spinner is looking round. On the pictures some 1/16" are still to be sanded.



Around the spinner, I have some problems with the joints. This one is not straight.



And on this one I have a 1/4" gap. I'll leave it this way as the sides of the cowls are still overlapping. I'll wait till they are cut and see what can be done.



Then I cut the slot in the lower cowl. This slot will later prove to be too short as the dimensions in the plan are given for a finished cowl, but I still have to cut some length of.



Then I made the cut at the back of the upper cowl. I needed quite some time to get it right as the first cut was much too shy of the line, so a lot of sandinf was needed.
I also drilled the pilot holes for the camlocks. On the picture there is a small gap between the cowl and the skin, this is only 1/16" and is for paint.



And here is apicture with the spinner, the gap with the cowl is on the mark.

This sunday morning, some non noisy activity in the workshop : the drawing of some of the cuts on the cowl.
First the cut-out for the nose leg on the lower cowl.



Then I draw a line 2" back of the forward edge of the fuselage skins. This line will be used to draw the cutting line on the cowls.
I also reinstall the camlock support strips and mark the camlock positions.



The upper camlocks strips will be scalloped to be easier to bent a bit to conform to the upper cowl. This is one of the strips marked with the cut lines.



Then I install the upper cowl. Using a shim on the engine the height is adjusted so that the cowl is 1/8" lower than the rear spinner bulkhead to allow for some possible engine sagging.
The gap between the rear spinner bulkhead is 1/4" and maintained by using a wooden shim.



The cutting line is then drawn on the cowl by measuring 2" forward of the line on the fuselage. I will remain shy of this line when cutting so as not to be too short in the end.



Next step is trying to assemble the two cowl halves so as to get the forward hole looking round. Despite a few tries, nothing really worked. Vans information is scarce and on the Internet the tips are somewhat confusing. I will try to get more informations before going on.



Here is a picture with both cowl halves and the rear spinner bulkhead. Doesn't look round to me!!!!!

The camlock support brackets get deburred, and all the shims are now fabricated.