I just had a few minutes of plane time today. I riveted the left lower cowl side hinge to the firewall. The left side was quick and easy, but as is always the case, the right side had issues, so I didn't get it done. The hinge has to slide all of the way back against the firewall in order to have okay rivet edge distance. That was easy on the left side, but on the right side of the firewall, I had butted the fiberfrax insulation and stainless sheet right up against the firewall flange. That adds an extra 1/8" of material to the firewall and keeps the hinge from sliding back all of the way to the actual firewall. I hadn't given that a second thought when I was laying out the insulation. I figured making it fit nice and snug where I could was a good thing! Nope. I should have left 1/8-1/4" of space around the whole perimeter to leave room for the hinge. I'm going to have to pull the insulation away near the flange to make room for the hinge.
