Matt's RV-8 Project



Matt Dralle's RV-8 Project
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Date:  4-5-2015
Number of Hours:  1.00
Manual Reference:  
Brief Description:  All New Metal Windshield Bezel Yet Again - Part 03

Saturday morning, I started working on a new bezel template. This time it would be a little wider so that it would completely cover the bezel on the sliding part of the canopy. And of course, I would have to make double sure that the thing was screwed on straight this time! But how to match the screw hole pattern so that the new bezel didn't pooch out between the screws or worse? It is an exacting process that has an added effected on error if you don't get the holes drilled in exactly the right place. Hum, then I thought about just laying the old bezel flat on top of the new bezel and drilling through the #8 dimples with a #19 drill bit, of course, taping the whole thing well to avoid any movement. Drilling though the dimples really made it easy to get the holes drilled exactly where they should be. I rough cut out the new bezel with a Dremel cutoff wheel, filed off the rough edges a little, and used some pan head screws to trial fit. I was shocked! The fit over the top though the 13 screws over the roll bar was nearly perfect! Just a little filing here and there on a couple of the screws and it was perfect! I fit the left and right sides down over the fuselage and got the curves bent and the screws into the fuselage located and drilled. All great. So, I thought I'd better dimple those #8 screw holes before I went any further because they had to fit down into the #8 countersinks in the Plexi. But, here, tragedy befell this project once again. I was using the pneumatic squeezer with a foot pedal and did about half the holes. I was aligning the next hole and just as I was pushing the pedal the metal jumped off the dimple nub and POKE I put a nice new hole and dimple in the middle of my new bezel! Unbelievable... That was enough for one day. Will this ever end?

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