A couple of days ago I ordered the tubing to make the engine mount. The tubing kit I had ordered from ACS had included a length of 1/2" * 0.049 which would have been OK for an O-200 mount but the plans call for 1/2" * 0.058" for an O-235. Today I fabricated the skin for the left hand door. First a sheet of 0.025" 6160-T6 aluminium sheet was cut to approximate size to cover the complete door frame. Then this was slotted to fit over the two hinges. Next, the outline of all of the tubing was drawn onto the sheet. The sheet was then removed and holes laid out for the #4 screws that secure the skin to the door frame. The skin was then replaced on the frame and holes match drilled with a 2.3mm drill through the skin and the frame - a total of 37 in all. The 2.3mm holes in the frame were then tapped out to take #4 screws and the holes in the sheet opened up to allow the screws to pass through. I've found some really neat 1/4" long pan head #4 screws that take a 1/16" allen key to tighten them. The front edges of the door skin were then folded at
right angles to butt against the forward door post and the remaining edges trimmed to give about 1/2" overlap at the rear and bottom and 1/4" at the top where the door has to open under the wing. The door skin was then temporarily screwed into place on the door frame and the door hung on the fuselage. The gap along the front of the door from the bottom up to the the window was just right to allow a strip of door seal rubber to completely close it. The gap above the bottom of the window started OK but then widened unacceptably towards the top. This was corrected by notching the front bottom edge of the above door panel by about 3/16" and then pivoting the top of the side window angles rearward from their bottom fastening and re-drilling through the side window - this closed the gap perfectly but will mean I need to replace the left side window as it now has slotted and/or duplicated holes in the rear edge. The final job today was to cut out for the window. The line of the bottom of the front side window was carried across to the door and a couple of holes drilled to locate its position on the inside. The opening was drawn by using the spacing from these holes to the door frame cross member all the way round the frame. 1/4" holes were drilled at the four corners and a 1mm thick stainless steel cutting blade in the angle grinder used to cut out round the hole. The angle grinder works superbly cutting aluminium sheet creating a straight clean edge that just needs a quick file to clean up.
A couple of days ago I ordered the tubing to make the engine mount. The tubing kit I had ordered from ACS had included a length of 1/2" * 0.049 which would have been OK for an O-200 mount but the plans call for 1/2" * 0.058" for an O-235. Today I fabricated the skin for the left hand door. First a sheet of 0.025" 6160-T6 aluminium sheet was cut to approximate size to cover the complete door frame. Then this was slotted to fit over the two hinges. Next, the outline of all of the tubing was drawn onto the sheet. The sheet was then removed and holes laid out for the #4 screws that secure the skin to the door frame. The skin was then replaced on the frame and holes match drilled with a 2.3mm drill through the skin and the frame - a total of 37 in all. The 2.3mm holes in the frame were then tapped out to take #4 screws and the holes in the sheet opened up to allow the screws to pass through. I've found some really neat 1/4" long pan head #4 screws that take a 1/16" allen key to tighten them. The front edges of the door skin were then folded at 
right angles to butt against the forward door post and the remaining edges trimmed to give about 1/2" overlap at the rear and bottom and 1/4" at the top where the door has to open under the wing. The door skin was then temporarily screwed into place on the door frame and the door hung on the fuselage. The gap along the front of the door from the bottom up to the the window was just right to allow a strip of door seal rubber to completely close it. The gap above the bottom of the window started OK but then widened unacceptably towards the top. This was corrected by notching the front bottom edge of the above door panel by about 3/16" and then pivoting the top of the side window angles rearward from their bottom fastening and re-drilling through the side window - this closed the gap perfectly but will mean I need to replace the left side window as it now has slotted and/or duplicated holes in the rear edge. The final job today was to cut out for the window. The line of the bottom of the front side window was carried across to the door and a couple of holes drilled to locate its position on the inside. The opening was drawn by using the spacing from these holes to the door frame cross member all the way round the frame. 1/4" holes were drilled at the four corners and a 1mm thick stainless steel cutting blade in the angle grinder used to cut out round the hole. The angle grinder works superbly cutting aluminium sheet creating a straight clean edge that just needs a quick file to clean up.
