I put the baffles back on so I could work on fitting the inlet baffles to the cowl. The silicone rocker cover gaskets I replaced the cork ones with a while back are a little thicker and stick out further from the rocker covers, so the baffles wouldn't slide down over them. I sanded a little off of the stuck portions. Next up was making a vertical bend in the cylinder 1 and 2 (most forward) baffles so that they would line up with the cowl inlet. Ultimately, there will be baffle material (rubber) that spans all of the transitions.
This will be hard to explain all of the steps! I had to ponder the fit and directions for a loooong time as well as look through other build logs to figure it out. The directions try to be step by step, but in their detail they forget to give you the big picture.
I trimmed the side and bottom baffles so they would fit within the cowl. They come about an inch too long. For now they are still trimmed a little long. Once I have the shape and the rest of the fit right, I'll trim them to match the cowl inlet edges. I also had to trim the bottom inlet baffle angle so it would match up to the angle I put into the side baffles.
The bottom baffles have to be bent to make them match the angle of the cowl inlets. You can see in the picture above how the flat baffle only touches the cowl near the center line. I drew a line from that point back to the point where the side baffle has the bend in it. That was my bend line for the bottom baffle.
This left side inlet baffle requires a support near the engine block. I made an aluminum plate to screw to the engine and cut it at an angle to match the angle of the baffle. I forgot to get a picture, but I then riveted on a piece of aluminum angle to the plate, then riveted the angle to the baffle.
