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Matt Dralle's RV-8 Project
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Date: 5-29-2009
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Number of Hours: 4.00
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Manual Reference:
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Brief Description: Wheel Pants - First Try - Part 1
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As I mentioned a couple of blogs ago, I've been dreading the wheel pant installation as most of the time fiberglass work just plan sucks. Well, turns out this time around was no exception. The first thing I noticed about the fiberglass wheel pants was how poorly the front piece matched the back piece. Basically, they *didn't* match. On top of that, the general quality of the fiberglass was pretty sub-standard with hairline cracks all over the left and right sides of the both rear pieces. I spent the good part of a day cutting and filing and sanding the two halves to try to get a decent match. For the most part, they looked "okay" after all of that attention, but I was still less than satisfied.
Next, I started fitting them to the landing gear and over the wheels and brakes. The first thing I noticed was that the inside of the wheel pant rubbed on the brake caliper. Since the calipers can get very hot, rubbing on the fiberglass is just asking to start a fire. I just couldn't accept the fact that Van's would design a wheel pant that wouldn't fit over the brake caliper, and so I was convinced that I must just not be fitting the wheel pant over the wheel correctly somehow. I cut a little more, and filed a little more, and then cut a little more trying all different positions but I just couldn't get the wheel pant aligned correctly AND such that it didn't rub on the brake caliper. The holes for the tire and gear leg were now WAY too big at this point, so I thought, "well, that one is a write off...." I got the other wheel pant and started trying to fit that one. Same fricken problem. In the proper orientation and alignment, the brake caliper rubbed.
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First Set Of Wheel Pants - Fit & Finish Subpar
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First Set Of Wheel Pants - Fit & Finish Subpar
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First Set Of Wheel Pants - Fit & Finish Subpar
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Copyright © 2008-2024 Matt Dralle. All Rights Reserved.
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