Bow Eye | Test Fit

It was time to test fit the bow eye assembly, with its new internal support pad.

First I glued the pad in place, using a temporary screw through the stem to hold it in position until cured.

The screw would almost certainly become embedded in the resin, and I would probably have to use the heat gun to heat it up and loosen the resin to get it out. It would be a real problem if the screw snapped, to put it mildly!

But ... using the heat gun directly on the stem would ruin the paintwork. So I made a removable spacer to hold the screw away from the stem, which when removed would allow me to heat the screw itself without damaging the paint.

This is what it looked like.

The spacer is in two halves held together with tape. Remove the tape and knock away the spacer to heat the screw head.

Here it is in place when installing the support pad.

It worked perfectly but the screw did not require heat - it came out easily!

Then I cut the legs of the bow eye to the right length, like this.

The bow eye was then fastened in place, seen here outside the stem.

The nuts were tightened using a daisy chained socket to reach down to the fitting, as shown in the build manual. Like this.

And here is the view inside the bow compartment.

I was concerned that this exercise might not go well, but it turned out OK.

Now I need to get some 3M 5200 adhesive sealant to fix the eye in permanently.

We're getting there!