Painting the inside of RV-7 cowl ?

Any thought on treating the inside of the honycomb cowl on the RV 7 ? anyone have issues with grease, oil or fuel being absorbed ? Or is it a non issue and just move on.

Yes, untreated, the inside of the cowl will absorb fluids. The minimum i would recomend is filling the surface with a coating of resin. The usual drill is to use up the leftover resin from other fiberglass work since you can do it a section at a time. I went the whole way with mine, filled the surface with resin then sanded, primed, and painted the inside of the cowl with the same Jet Glo that I used on the outside of the airplane. The result is a cowl that is super easy to keep clean and looks sharp 6 years later.

John Clark ATP, CFI
FAAST Team Representative
EAA Flight Advisor
RV8 N18U "Sunshine"
KSBA

Listen to John....you'll love a finished and painted interior cowl. Use a two-part mixed paint so it will withstand solvent and other chemicals. White is best.

Pianting inside of cowl

I plan on doing the same in white, the question I have what did you guys use to protect the bottom cowl from the heat of exhaust pipes?

Aussieflyer
RV6A - building at PMP
[email protected]

I used the adhesive backed foil that Vans sells, just in the areas where the heat was turning the cowl brown. Be sure to paint it, or at least coat it with epoxy resin first, otherwise it probably won't stick.

http://vansaircraft.com/cgi-bin/cat...158-426&browse=engines&product=cowl_protector

Lionclaw said:

I used the adhesive backed foil that Vans sells, just in the areas where the heat was turning the cowl brown.

Click to expand...

Yep, and if you sandwich some 1/16" fiberfrax felt under the aluminum foil the glass doesn't warm much at all. Try 4" wide felt strips running parallel to the pipes, with 3" of so of foil overlap on all sides.