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Hi Alan, I am there. When I mentioned this a while back I was told that the fibreglass one was the way to go. They are not prone to cracking from vibration like the aluminum one is. The only reason I have not gone that route is because of the clearance between the back of the spinner and the aluminum nose cowl I have now. There is not room for a fiberglass cowling, and I have new engine mounts. Any more patches and I will have to rework the C of G. Pete -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2002 8:14 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [COUPERS-TECH] I have a hole in my nose. ----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]---- And it is bigger than my finger... My 415 C model aluminum nosebowl has been breaking apart. First the small smile cracks developed down at the lower edges where the bowl attaches to the lower side rails. I fixed that. Then a crack developed between the propeller hole and the right cylinder intake hole. I did an elaborate fix on that by adding a ring shaped doubler behind it and two strips on the outside to cover the crack on one side and covering nothing but there to match on the other side. The spinner covers all the rivets. Now I find a spider shaped crack right between the two lower air intake holes. It seems like any flat surface on the bowl is subject to vibration caused by the prop wash and flexes constantly. It ends up breaking. The easy fix for this hole is to make a cabin air intake out of it by adding one of those rings for attaching an air duct. I can sure use one in TX almost all year round. The only problems are that it would be on the opposite side of where the normal vent air hole option is. Also it might be illegal. Other options are: 1) Add a patch and a bunch of rivets. (It would end up looking like one of those new jeeps) 2) Patch it from behind and use filler and paint the nosebowl. Right now it is polished. 3) Spend $500 that I don't have and get a new one. 4) Spend $300 and get an ugly fiberglass one and paint it. Yuk! Anybody been there? suggestions? Alan. ========================================================================== ==== To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm ========================== To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm
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