Steve: I modified the cowl. I made a mold for the extra "chin" piece. I then made the part out of carbon fiber mesh and fiberglass and incorporated it into the existing cowl piece. I only added about 1/3 ounce to the original cowl weight so I felt good about that. Obviously, if you are familiar with the plane, you know right away the part was added. However, if you didn't know that, you would really have to look close to realize the part was added. I was very pleased with the final cosmetic appearance.

I really needed to run the engine inverted because of the header I wanted to use. I was a little worried that I would have cooling issues because air intake would be too big, so I felt it was better to enclose the entire engine so I could control airflow better. My guess is I probably would have been fine with the engine "hanging in the breeze" as you put it, but I decided to make the modification anyway.

John