Days 119 and 120 - Attaching eye pivot / attaching shoulders to skirt

Now that the painted eyestalk pivot was dry, I wanted to mount it into place.  I cut out a couple of rounded pieces from some 3/4" MDF, using my dome former for the arc.  I quickly placed them on the rotation plate and put the dome overtop, noting that it wasn't a flush fit because of the inner indentation of the dome grooves.  I then drilled out the spot where they touched the mounts.

Another thing I noticed was that the mounts wound up right where the upper cowl bolts would be placed.  So, after making a couple marks through the holes and onto the mounts underneath, I later took a saw and flattened the MDF (not pictured) so that the bolts would be unobstructed.

Next was to try and determine just how much of the pivot I wanted to be outside the dome, and how high it should sit.  There doesn't seem to be much in the way of measurements out there telling me what it is, so I just looked at several reference photos, and eyeballed it.  One thing I noticed, though, was that the pivot axle's center point was going to be very close to the surface of the dome interior ... so my original idea of using my spare 1" pipe, in effect, wasn't going to let the pivot poke out of the dome that far.

I decided to plug the 1" hole I had previously drilled with some 1" wooden dowel, with new, smaller holes drilled in.  You can see it here, and I made marks on the dome where it lined up with the center of that dowel (the lower mark was the more accurate one).  Again, all eyeball measurements.

Now it was time to drill the pivot holes, both in the dowel and in the mounts.  Then I sat the mounts back on the rotation plate to check and see how far the pivot jutted out.

Satisfied with that, I carefully put on the dome, the dome cowl, and slid the eyestalk on, to give that a good visual inspection. Everything looks good!

Carefully disassembling the eyestalk and removing it, and the cowl and dome, I duct taped the mounts in place so that I could flip the plate over and drill countersunk wood screw holes.  I had to cut a hole in the rotation plate to make room for the pivot (and threaded rot that will stick out the back)—otherwise it would sit too high and scrape against the top of the dome's pivot hole.

The following day was beautiful and sunny, so I worked outside most of the day.  I mixed up some PVA-water and brushed a few coats onto the rotation plates and mounts.

While that was drying, I decided I would add extra reinforcement to the plate mounts inside the dome (Bondo being the only thing attaching them) and use fiberglass tape and resin to lock them into place.  So I set to work doing that, remembering to use less catalyst in the sun, and pretty soon had that finished.  And only then did I remember that without the fiberglass, everything sat flush and even, and now I just made it all bumpy (and raised the overall dome a couple millimeters).  So I'm going to need to address that somehow later, either by sanding it down a bit, or strategically using washers as spacers to re-level the dome.

I also whipped up a bit of Bondo glazing putty and repaired a few more chips on the dome cowl, which will get sanded back a bit later.

The final major thing I did that was to attach the shoulders to the skirt.  This was a little acrobatic, as I had to climb inside the skirt, lean over the side and grab the shoulder section, and gently lower myself into the skirt, and set the shoulders on top.  Then I had to lean over and grab my drill and bring it inside, being careful not to drill holes in myself as I did it.

I had to drill with the bit facing upward because that was the only angle I could use to assure a 90° hole in both sections of plywood.  I used another bit of dowel (pre-drilled) to make sure that my drilled holes were going to be square.  I did this in four places.

I used threaded inserts (similar but smaller than the ones used in the fender) on the top of the skirt after boring out those holes with a bigger drill bit, and then spade-head thumbscrews with washers for the shoulder.  Now the shoulders are securely attached to the skirt, and the skirt is attached to the fender!

Now I just need to attach the neck rings to the shoulder, and I'll have everything attachable.  Again, I'll draw inspiration from AdamSt's diary, as I can't think of any other way (besides rare-earth magnets?) to firmly attach them from the outside.

Not pictured: I've sanded everything down with 180 and 320 grit.  I think it's just about ready to prime, just need to build a paint booth (or, ideally, find a garage made for that purpose).