Fitting gear leg fairings

[Jason]

I’m working on fine tuning the fit of the gear leg fairings. I’ve got a perfect fit tight up against the bottom of the cowl and fuselage with about a 1/4” gap down at the wheel pants. I’m planning on using some sort of rubber edge guard against the wheel pants to avoid scratches and rubbing. I’m wondering now if I also need an additional gap where the fairing meets the fuselage to allow for any flexing of the gear leg. If I hold the brakes and rock the airplane back-and-forth, I can see a decent amount of flexing in the gear leg. Once the fairing is locked in with the hinge pin, I’m concerned any flexing with the gear leg is gonna cause the fairing to get crushed or wrinkled. What are others doing on here where the fairings intersect the fuselage?
Jason Smith
Scratch building Sonex #460

[Bryan Cotton]

I'll be honest - the paint on my wheelpants is all chewed up. Lots of scratches on the floor from the pin coming out. But, the airplane still flies great. No idea how to keep the aesthetics perfect but it seems you are off to a good start. If I had one piece of advice, let the pins stick up through the floor and into the wheelpant more than you think they need to. If the gear shimmies, it can pull the pin out, and then it gets messy.

See thread:
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=7204&p=54483