SunnyFlyer09

What is the BEST way to repair/restore a f/glass cowl. that say. has a big hole cut out for an engine, and you want to fill that area in like original?

In depth detail intructions are appreciated.

Charlie P.

Tape a piece of waxed paper on the outside and lay it on newspaper on top of an old towel. Press down to work as much of the original shape/curve into the towel as possible. On some cowls you can use manila cardboard outside of the waxed paper (or a piece from a cereal box) to form the proper curve. Cut a piece of fiberglass cloth larger than the hole and apply with polyester resin or epoxy from the inside. Then fill the gaps with Bondo and sand, sand, sand.

Edwin

My Feedback: (2)

I just did this on a H9 P-40 cowl. I laid three layers of 4 oz glass over the hole with thinned epoxy. Then reinforced cracked areas inside with more glass. Then used 1/32" ply over the mounting holes. Outside I used evercoat fiberglass bondo to fill in and smooth over that big hole my 4-stroke muffler used to hang out. Evercoat cures pretty fast for sanding, less than an hour. Just primered last night. I didnt go for a perfect finish, its just a arf. Just wanted good enough for a beater plane. The really nice thing about evercoat is it stays somewhat flexible on fiberglass. I use a 90deg extension now on the muffler along with a flex extension on the end of the muffler to reach out the bottom of the cowl. Same with my glow driver extension.
One of my current students is a retired body man that used evercoat extensively on repairing vet bodies.
Edwin

Steve Steinbring

Sunnyflier,

Here is a "HOW TO" on cowling repair I wrote for Epo-Grip Adhesives sometime ago. It explains how to make repairs to a cowling with large openings.

http://www.epogrip.com/pdf/epo_grip_cowling_repair.pdf

http://www.epogrip.com/hobby/


Steve

SunnyFlyer09

Wow, thanks to all of you !