Ram air inlet
Merry Christmas! I spent most of the day in the garage on Christmas eve working on forming the glass layup for the ram air inlet in the cowl. The airbox is not done yet, but is in its final shape. So I used the blue foam that Vans provides and tack glued it to the inlet inside the cowl. I used a hacksaw blade to shape it to fit inside. This is nothing more than an art project. Before I installed the cowl for exact shaping with the airbox, I did some rough cutout shaping. Then the cowl and airbox went on and I used the hacksaw blade to bring the foam into a perfect transition to the airbox. I used a small piece of sponge rubber from a seat cushion (same stuff I use during glass layups) to put a final “finish” on the foam instead of sandpaper. Then it all came back off and I did the glass layup. I tried the balloon trick as described in the instructions and that others have used. However, the glass layup was just too slippery and the balloon wanted to expand to one side or the other of the inlet restriction. When it did this, it messed up my beautifully laid glass. A big mess ensued and the balloon was abandoned. I simply relied on getting my glass layup as perfect as possible the old fashion way. It all worked out in the end. A side note here: This was Christmas eve evening, I was certain that I wanted to try the balloon trick, but none were to be had around the house. I played with a latex glove but couldn’t seem to get anywhere near the right shape out of it when blown up. Tanya volunteered to run up to the Walgreens for balloons after dinner. She did, returning with an assortment of seemingly perfect balloons. She gets the gold star for her assistance even though it didn’t work out.
This evening, I got back to the shop to check out my handiwork from yesterday (I did some more glass layups on the airbox as well). It all looked good. I was happy to find that the glass hadn’t fallen out of the air inlet while drying. I chipped out the foam and did some trimming. That is where we stand, ready for another layup for reinforcement on the inside of the inlet. I also made some revisions to my manifold pressure restrictor fitting which I noted in a previous entry.
