C172 cowl fastener conversion

[n12365]

I have a 1974 Cessna 172 with the original Southco cowl fasteners. They are a pain to use and I am considering converting over to another fastener. Does anyone have any experience doing this? Specifically, I am looking at the Skybolt SK40S5S fastener that is part of their SK203C172P4 kit.

Ryan

 

[Dan Thomas]

I have a 1974 Cessna 172 with the original Southco cowl fasteners. They are a pain to use and I am considering converting over to another fastener. Does anyone have any experience doing this? Specifically, I am looking at the Skybolt SK40S5S fastener that is part of their SK203C172P4 kit.

Ryan

No no no no no. Skybolts are a pain. We have a 172 with them and I wish I could go back to the Southcos but the holes in the cowl have been drilled out to fit the larger Skybolt. The Southco is alright if the worn bits are replaced. The Skybolt has had at least three iterations of the firewall shockmount and it's still no good. The metal sockets came out of the second version and the aluminum sockets galled and spun and fell out of the first version, and all versions have thin baseplates that crack and fall apart. The aluminum stud bushings in the cowl itself move around and enlarge their holes in the aluminum and then you have to buy large-diameter bushings. More money. After that I guess it's a new cowl.

Dan

 

[Tom-D]

I'd simply replace the worn or lost southco, and their anchors. many times the anchors are worn and destroy the stud.

And I've seen aircraft converted to standard AN hardware. by changing to different anchors and placing a anchor nut in the rubber cowl mounts.