joco1

i had a slight crash this afternoon and when i landed i stripped the holes on one side of my cowl now the holes are wallered out should or can i fill the holes with something and put them back in the original spot?

shd3920

Use micro balloons and 30-minute epoxy to fill in the holes, mixture of about 1 part epoxy mix to 3 parts micro balloons. Sand smooth.
Best to redrill new holes. Then touch up with matching paint.

WestCoastFlyer

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Or the old-fashioned way, cram toothpicks or toothpick slivers, or better yet slivers of a nice hardwood into the holes with plenty of glue, make sure it's tight, sand smooth, then drill a tiny pilot hole in the same spot.

outdoorhunting

I understand your post to say, the hole is enlarged on the "cowl",not the plane. I've had good luck using fiberglass resin. Clean the inside & outside of the hole to be repaired. Use alcohol on the outside of the cowl ( should be safe for all paints & decals). Use a piece of masking tape & cover the hole on the "outside of cowl' paying close attention that you really get it to stick firmly. I always will continually rub the tape & get it "warm", that will make it stick around edges of the hole. Then mix a small amount of resin paying attention to not mix it "hot" (too much hardener), lay the area to be filled flat & pour the resin into the hole making sure you get a little" overfill"this will give the resin more area to hold onto, you are pouring this on the inside area of the cowl.. After it's cured, carefully pull off the tape, if you're lucky,all you'll have to do is use a small washer to cover up the repair. At the worst, a little ( very little touch up.) Good luck

Prairie Mike

If the hole in your cowl is enlarged, try using cowl binders.
http://www.pspmfg.com/CowlBinders.html

outdoorhunting

Wow. I've never seen them before. That's the TICKET !!!!!!!

warbird72

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I would use ca and fiber glass behind the holes. Cut a piece or two a half inch or so bigger than the hole it self. After it sets up you can sand the spots smooth. I have also uesd pt40. I all works well. Ernie...

warbird72

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outdoorhunting has the right idea..

bigtim

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didn't see this posted, so I will add that I epoxy some CA hinge material behind the screw holes, it prevents the holes from opening up even afer a couple of years, my Hangar-9 Mustang cowl started to fail after just a few flights, it was weighed down a bit with Tony Howard exhausts,not alot but the cowl is like paper.

I glued the hinge material in place the cowl is still holding strong.

outdoorhunting

Excellent idea !!! That would stop a lot of the problem to begin with. 5* for that

warbird72

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Heck yea that is what in going to do the next time it happens to me..Great idea Big Tim...Thanks. Ernie......

bigtim

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I wish I could claim it as my own idea but I read it here on RCU a few years ago, it really does work well though.

warbird72

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I bet it does...- We will see soon enough. I have one craking out on my cap now. All I need is the time to pull the cowl off. I will let you know what I think. I love ca hinges so i'm sure I will love this idea

Erik Steinbring

Has anyone checked out Epo Grip's Model Matrix www.epogrip.com ? Just take a piece if masking tape cover the hole in the cowl and mix up their fiber reinforced material and fill the hole. Drill a new hole and you are finished. Seems they have taken the work out of repairing parts.

warbird72

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I think bigtim has the right idea. I used his theroy and it worked so good I fixed all of my holes even the ones thet wernt cracked. I don't think they will even bust out in a crash lol...Ernie.

Allfat

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My friend used the CA hinge method to repair a small helicopter canopy, worked really well.