Time: 20 Hours
So over the last month I have been slowly working on the engine cowl surface’s starting with the insides first. I had already started the inside prep earlier so it was a good place to continue. The process was to sand the surface smooth but not break through the epoxy. Once it was smooth and all the ridges knocked down I applied a layer of epoxy on the entire surface using old hotel key card to squeegee the epoxy into the holes. This allows you to remove any excess epoxy which makes future sanding much easier. I would then let the epoxy cure overnight so I could repeat this process. I did this a total of four times on the inside surface for both the top and bottom halves. It’s time consuming since you have to let the epoxy cure and then the sanding, I have learned to hate sanding! I filled in some of the larger imperfections on the inner surface but not getting too crazy as it’s just the inside. The idea for me is to get the inner surface acceptable to paint to keep oil, grease and any other contaminant to be easily identifiable and cleanable. Also most of the inner surface will eventually be covered with an aluminum foil type material that radiates heat from the exhaust system and protects the fiberglass. There are various brands of this heat shield and I have not decided on which one yet. Once the insides were good enough I moved on to the exterior surfaces. The process is the same and just as the inside except I added an additional step. This was to use UV Smooth Prime to fill in all the tiny pin holes. This primer is like paint with drywall mud mixed in. You really have to mix it well. It’s so thick I decided to buy a paint can shaker from Harbor Freight Tools to handle this. As of today they cowl halves are 90% done and I’m just finishing up some small imperfections that are left. Here are a few pics of the process but not much to show while sanding.