Time now to remove the cowl from the plug. I mounted an angle bracket to the back so it could be clamped in the vise.







I also rounded off the corners of a steel ruler so as not to pierce the cowl from the inside.







After quite a struggle I took a minute to cut out the front in hopes it would help release the cowl.







I also blew compressed air in around all the faces. The heat had boiled some of the residual sap in the wood of the plug, which bonded pretty well to the cowl... that didn't help. After a lot of effort and with a lot of force I got them separated at the cost of some skinned knuckles.


Here's the cowl off the plug.