Installing & Removing Horizontal/B-Model Lower Cowl

[Spaceman]

Hi folks,

I started working on my cowling today and I have a question for anyone with a B-model or horizontal split cowl on a legacy plane.

I cut a notch for each gear leg and then got the whole lower cowl roughly fit without much trouble. However, I am curious how you'd remove and replace the lower cowl with the propeller on.

You need to lower either the front of the back of the cowl first to get the front of it around the prop hub. You can't lower the aft side because the gear legs block the cowl as they get wider below the floor of the plane. You can't lower the front because the prop blocks the cowl from moving forward, and you have to pivot it forward and down to get the front end past the prop hub... if that makes any sense.

The only way I could get the lower cowl initially installed was to remove the prop hub spacer, get the cowl in position, and reinstall the spacer. I'd think you'd want to be able to remove the cowl without having to touch the prop, so how is this supposed to work?

Here's a picture of where I'm at. Side note, so far I'm pleased with how close the B-model cowl fit out of the box. I'm only about two hours in and it's in the ballpark already. I was mentally prepared for a pretty huge project!

Photo: https://photos.app.goo.gl/XHHPmNRwwsZczjEM8

Thanks!