[rotorwrench]

The flange for the cowl lacing looks to be close to most 1928/29 metal body cowl lower quarters but there has been work on them and the upper cowl or gas tank. It looks like flush head rivets along a line that originally had a smooth finish just dehind the flange. The smaller flush head rivets were to attach the lacing flange to the lower firewall. The front of the tank looks like it's been worked on too. The lank lacing flange usually has the wire on lacing but otherwise the flange looks relatively normal.

It's not unusual to find any number of repairs on those lower cowl quarters. Some I've seen were reflective of a diy guy that had limited skill or tool resources at hand. I've seen much worse repair attempts.