I'm back at the point where I need to get the baffles fit to the cowl. I'm really not quite sure what order to do things in yet though. I thought I was ready to put the baffles back on so I can trim them to fit the top cowl. After putting them back on, I realized that may have been premature though. I can't really set the top cowl in place and get a good reference trim line on the baffles. I think what I might have to do is go back to fitting the bottom cowl, so then I can put it in place and prop up the top cowl 4" or so above it using blocks. That way I would be able to reach inside and scribe a line on the baffles referencing the top cowl. Essentially, what I'm trying to do is get a scribe line a known distance below the top cowl so I can then trim the baffles to be about 1/2" below the cowl (the flexible baffle material will take up that gap). So I think the baffles may have to come off again so I can revisit the lower cowl fit. Two steps forward, one back.
One thing I did get accomplished though - I've been waffling on whether I should paint the baffles. While they would look nice initially, I think they would probably get beat up pretty fast and look kind of ratty after a few years. The parts were already kind of scratched up just from test fittings, so I scuffed them using scotchbrite to see how they'd look if I left them bare. I think the scuffed aluminum looks fine. I'm just going to leave them as-is. If I were building a show plane that I planned on removing the cowling of all the time to show people finely polished engine screws, then maybe I'd feel different. But for a functional plane, the scuffed aluminum looks good.
