Heat shielding in cowl.

avee8tor13 · #1 03-20-2010, 08:50 PM

Do I need to do any preparation to the lower cowling before installing the self adhesive heat shielding material vans sells?

Thanks All

painless · #2 03-20-2010, 09:05 PM

Thin some epoxy resin with acetone and brush a coat of this on the inside of the cowl. This will make the adhesive stick better, but more important it will act as a sealant and prevent oil penetration.

lostpilot28 · #3 03-20-2010, 10:08 PM

Jeff is right...I'd think anything to make it stick a little better. I didn't put anything on it and it just sticks "OK". Someday if it all falls off I'll clean it up, epoxy it a little and re-do it. I'm guessing that you don't need to do anything to prepare it (like I did), but it will give you peace of mind.

flion · #4 03-21-2010, 07:44 AM

It's a good idea to paint the entire cowl interior, especially where the honeycomb is. I scuffed the surface with scotchbrite pads and painted it with a thinned West Systems epoxy. When the epoxy had kicked but not fully set (neither sticky nor slippery to the touch), I wiped the area the shielding would go with acetone and applied the material. I doubt I could get it off now. As a last step, I ran a brush with epoxy around the edges of the shielding material to keep oil or fuel from seeping under. All done in less than a day, most of which was spent on other tasks while the epoxy cured.