Fiberglass Cowl, How to repair, make whole
 

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.

RE: Fiberglass Cowl, How to repair, make whole
 

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.

RE: Fiberglass Cowl, How to repair, make whole
 

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

RE: Fiberglass Cowl, How to repair, make whole
 

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

RE: Fiberglass Cowl, How to repair, make whole
 

Wow, thanks to all of you !