Tailcone fairing finished!

I dimpled as many of the nutplate mount rivet holes as possible with the squeezer but had to get creative to get the two on each side that were too close to the skins.  Crude but it worked!

I then riveted all the nutplates on.  For the same 4 holes that were hard to dimple, I just installed a 3/32 blind rivet in those holes since I could not get the squeezer or a gun and bucking bar in there that close to the skins.  These are the same CCR blind  rivets that Van's calls out else where for nutplate mounting.

After that was all done, I reinstalled the fairing with the proper hardware and checked for any clearance issues between the fairing and the stabilator skins.  There were a couple places on the top and bottom where I made some tweaks to make the gaps consistent at various points along the stabilator travel.

I then just stood back and admired the work.  It turned out better than I expected and I am happy with how it all fits and looks.  I have seen some at Osh that were a real mess so I appreciate the time it takes to make these garbage fiberglass parts fit properly.

Its hard to show how nice and symmetrical everything is because of the camera distortion/parallax and the fact that the Iphone has 3 different lenses that it keeps swapping around after you frame the shot.

I really have no idea why they have you cut this hole out.  The arms do not contact the bottom of the fairing so I have no clue what the purpose for this is.

I purchased these stainless steel tags from Amazon and used a handheld laser etcher to engrave them with my N number.  They are the perfect size to put just above the center of each EFIS screen using some  thin double-sided foam mounting tape.  Will look much better than a Brady label.  I think I found the sweet spot for marking on polished stainless steel and the results are a high contrast dark black etching.