Top Cowl Screws Behind The Spinner

How to keep the Cessna 170 flying and airworthy.

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Richgj3
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Joined: Wed May 27, 2020 3:13 pm

Top Cowl Screws Behind The Spinner

Post by Richgj3 »

Is there a secret to getting these in and out on 170B? I’ve got a gear wrench with a #2 Phillips bit in it cut down to fit. It does work but I’m curious if there’s a more elegant solution.

I am reminded of the old saying: “There are three secrets to making consistency good landings in a Cub. Unfortunately nobody knows what they are.”

Rich
Rich Giannotti CFI-A. CFI-I SE.
1952 C170B
N2444D s/n 20596
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ghostflyer
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Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2008 3:06 am

Re: Top Cowl Screws Behind The Spinner

Post by ghostflyer »

Yes I understand your pain, in the end I used AN3 bolts of the appropriate length. I then used a box ratchet to do them up or remove them . I replaced all the anchor nuts also as mine were worn out .
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Richgj3
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Re: Top Cowl Screws Behind The Spinner

Post by Richgj3 »

I considered doing that. I wasn’t sure there was enough room behind the cowl. Good to know. Thanks.

Rich.
Rich Giannotti CFI-A. CFI-I SE.
1952 C170B
N2444D s/n 20596
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brian.olson
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Re: Top Cowl Screws Behind The Spinner

Post by brian.olson »

I bought the following offset drivers from Amazon a couple years ago specifically for those screws, and it makes it super easy to get them in and out. In fairness, I only us one of the Phillips drivers while the rest of them sit idle in my toolbox, but it has made the process painless and therefore I consider it an inexpensive solution.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078M ... UTF8&psc=1
Brian
1950 170A
N5762C s/n 19716
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Richgj3
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Re: Top Cowl Screws Behind The Spinner

Post by Richgj3 »

Brian
Thanks. Just ordered them.

Rich.
Rich Giannotti CFI-A. CFI-I SE.
1952 C170B
N2444D s/n 20596
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wabuchanan
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Joined: Sun Nov 02, 2014 2:51 am

Re: Top Cowl Screws Behind The Spinner

Post by wabuchanan »

That black dot in the spinner back plate is a hole. It lines up perfectly with the bottom two screws for the upper cowl. I just use a regular phillips head screwdriver, stick it through that hole and undue the bottom two by moving the prop and aligning the hole.

I always thought it was put there just for this reason.

The two screws above those are much easier to remove and sometimes use an L shaped offset piece just for those.
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1950 170A N5776C SN:19730
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Richgj3
Posts: 189
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Re: Top Cowl Screws Behind The Spinner

Post by Richgj3 »

Thank you!

Rich
Rich Giannotti CFI-A. CFI-I SE.
1952 C170B
N2444D s/n 20596
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