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The opening for the oil cooler deviated a bit from the plans location. On my cowl, the opening needed to be about 1 inch higher to properly line up with the lower engine baffle. The plans say to make the cutout fit the location of the baffle, and that is exactly what you need to do. I used a paper template to ensure the cutout was symmetrical. Note, the old firewall forward instructions indicated a much larger opening in the cowl than necessary. The correct opening should be around 5-6 square inches.
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Somehow I went wrong while trimming. The cowling halves had enough of a gap in them that I needed to close them up bit. I decided to mix up some structural filler using flocked cotton fibers and epoxy. This would provide filler that was nearly as strong as the original fiberglass.
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The flox will be applied to a duct tape backing. The top surface of duct tape is slick and releases cleanly from the epoxy/flox. A second strip holds the first one in place.
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The epoxy I chose is West System Epoxy. It has good consistency and is easy to work with. West also sells epoxy and hardener pumps. This makes mixing in the proper ratio simple and very convenient.
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The epoxy is first mixed thoroughly, then the cotton fibers are folded in. Add a little at a time until the mixture is like cake frosting.
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When the flox is mixed properly, it won't run or sag when applied.
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The flox is then applied to the tape with a mixing stick and formed into a bead. I spent a little time shaping the bead to reduce the sanding time after it had cured.
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Even around curves the flox stays put and is very easy to work with.
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After curing for a couple of days, the tape is removed and the flox bead is rock-hard. These little edges and bits are pretty sharp too!
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The flox is then trimmed to match the profile needed. I used a combination of dremel tool bits and sanding blocks to shape and smooth the flox. As you can see, most of the flox is subsequently trimmed or sanded away.
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The hinges stop below the oil cooler cutout. So, for some added security the plans show a 1/4-turn Southco fastener holding the two halves together. I made up a 0.032" strip of aluminum, added a Southco receptacle, and glassed it into place.
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The other cowl half will have a hole drilled to match the receptacle. This should hold things together nicely.
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