Lower Cowl Question

[taylorcraftbc65]

Tribe,
My lower cowl has had so many cracks patched, it looks like it has been through a war. The problem is that the plane is a 1940 BC-65 that was assembled from the parts of three or four partially wrecked airplanes.
The engine has an airrbox on it that has one of the square air filters on it, and 50% of the patchwork on the cowl is a result of trying to make it fit.
I'm not even sure the 1940 HAD an air fillter, or if it just had the box with the bare tube sticking out the bottom of the cowl.
I don't know how to see if any one even HAS the part I want, if I don't even know what it is that I am supposed to have. Brie

[astjp2]

Re: Lower Cowl Question

Well I installed a brand new lower cowl from the Factory, I had them not cut a single hole and I finished it myself. The Aircleaner was optional, some guys install a c-150 style but I had the orignal style and wound up putting on a bracket airfilter. If you want, I can send you a couple of pics if you IM me your email. Tim

[rcefird]

Re: Lower Cowl Question

Tim
I have a BC12-65 with the original intake and would love to see how you put in an air filter. I couldn't find contact info/ e-mail contact for you. How can I contact you? Would love to see some pictures.

Rcefird (Randy)

[astjp2]

Re: Lower Cowl Question

IM me with your email and i will send you some pics. Tim

[taylorcraftbc65]

Re: Lower Cowl Question

Randy,
My lower cowl around the filter looks BAD. If you want to see a photo, give me your E-mai address, and I'll sand you a few. I can't seem to be able to load photos on this site, but I have no problem e-mailing them to someone. Brie

[VictorBravo]

Re: Lower Cowl Question

Brie, you can send your cowl to Tim Wood at STL metal arts and he can probably restore it to like new condition. He welds them, bends them, rivets them, etc. Sounds like you need a real old school tin basher and I think that's him.

You need the filter out there in the dust, so don't be tempted to go back to the original.

If there is anyone out that way (maybe in ELP) that does hotrod fabrication and has the "English Wheel" tool, you can make up your own repalcement cowl on the cheap... here's how:

(this method substitutes your time and cleverness for most of the money, so you will be investing shop time and possibly getting some shop help from people at your airport)

Make up a flat-wrap lower cowl (no double curve) that matches your existing fastener holes on the nose bowl and firewall. I think .032" thick aluminum will do. My GUESS is that the factory used 3003 series aluminum, or something like that... not even 2024. Maybe forum member Winston L. knows the actual aluminum type. If it were me, 6061 T-6 would be the choice for corrosion resistance and lower cost.

Make up your "blank" and then transfer the locations of the fasteners to the blank, then drill the holes, then check that the holes line up with the existing fasteners in the firewall and nose bowl (and top cowl if you have the Dzus buttons on the top cowl). This will take the most time of the whole project.

Before you do anything else, make up a jig from scrap wood that your new lower cowl flat-wrapped blank fits on, and has HOLES where the fasteners go. This jig should match the airplane's firewall and nose bowl perfectly. You need to be able to put bolts or screws or pins through the holes in your blank and into this jig, which puts the cowl in the exact position it will be in on the airplane later.

Then measure how much of a "bulge" or 3D curve there is in your OLD original cowl. Run strings from the front edges to the rear edges, and then measure how far below the strings the cowl sags down.

Now take all this stuff (and the jig) to the hotrod / English Wheel shop and tell the guy you need him to put the slight curve in the piece, so it still fits on your jig. The amount of English Wheel work to do this is very very minor compared to what they do on choppers and hotrods. Should cost you $50 cash-no-receipt and a six-pack or something like that. Maybe a half-hour of their time is a good guess.

If you put a higher value on your time I suspect you can order one from the factory for $500-1000 but in your case since you are relatively close I'd insist on going there in person with the cash.

[Dick Huish]

Re: Lower Cowl Question

The wrap was made from what is today known as 3003-H14 which is half hard. It's easy to work with. If you wheel it much you'll have to aneal is so that doesn't harden and ceack. Dick

[Winston L.]

Re: Lower Cowl Question

The material for the lower cowling is .040 3003-o at the last revision of the part. I beleive that Mr. Huish is correct about the material originally used though. The best way to fabricate the part is the old way where the edges are folded over to improve the strength and stiffness. It is also supposed to have a compound curve like your old one (if it is original).

Winston

[taylorcraftbc65]

Re: Lower Cowl Question

Thanks for the replies guys. My cowl has a compound curve. I would LOVE to save the grand, and would FURTHER love to learn to use an English wheel, but have no idea who in the El Paso area would or could teach me.
The biggest problem that I have is that I dont know what the cowl SHOULD look llike. Even if pure stock was without an air filter, that's NOT going to happen on my bird. Mine has this huge hole that was cut out below the bottom of the air filter. The cowl REALLY looks bad. There are several hot rod clubs in the area, and perhaps one of them can make me a new cowl.
I'll give that a shot guys. I'll also keep you all abreast of the progress. Brie

[whake]

Re: Lower Cowl Question

Take a look at the pictures in the gallery under my name..I did a lot of work around the Bracket air filter

[taylorcraftbc65]

Re: Lower Cowl Question

How do I find the Gallery?

[Dick Huish]

Re: Lower Cowl Question

Gallery.Taylorcraft.org

[N96337]

Re: Lower Cowl Question

Brie, you might take a trip over to www.metalmeet.com and see if anyone is in your area that posts there...the whole site is about metalshaping and is a great bunch of helpful people!!
JH

[taylorcraftbc65]

Re: Lower Cowl Question

Hey JH,
I registered with the metal workers group, now I just have to wait till they E-mail me back. Brie

[N96337]

Re: Lower Cowl Question

You'll find more talent and information (along with people that enjoy sharing it!!) than anywhere else in the world!! Great bunch of people. You can go in and search the forums and find lots of info and pictures!
JH