Oil door hinge
I decided to get the camlocs through the Milspec group buy. I personally don’t like the looks of the camlocs, but they’ll be much easier for installing and removing the cowl. I bought the firewall only kit with the straight slots. The hinge works great on the horizontal seam. I’ll have to drill out the rivets I set for the hinges and put in attachment strips. That’s not a big deal since I messed up the side hinges anyway. I’ll also fill the rivet holes I drilled in the cowl, which will be easy. From what I’ve read, I’ll want to reinforce the cowl along the edge anyway to prevent puckering between the camlocs.
I went on to something different while I wait for the camlocs to arrive. I fabricated a concealed oil door hinge. I thought it might be a little tricky, but it was trivial. It took less than an hour. I’ll write up some details with pictures when it’s all done. So far I bent a piece of .032 sheet into just the right shape and riveted it to a short chunk of left over hinge material. I also ordered a torsion spring from McMaster-Carr. They have about a thousand springs to choose from, but I think I found one that will work well for holding the oil door open.
