The strips are simple dow insulation foam cut to 1/8"-ish thick then bonded to the inner cowling with double backed tape. Once those are in place the layup proceeds. A course of fg on the bias went down first then cf (also on the bias) then uni fg along the length of the foam stiffener forms. The foam is only there to form the cavity to create a composite hat section that will fight the flex on that compound curve of the cowling. The flex was causing the paint on the cowling to crack... Anyway stiffer than morning wood..... (not that I can relate any more) the other issue here is that lots of these builders use automotive paints... they aren't designed to flex. Anyway once the layup is completed a layer of peelply (dacron) and breather are layed over the top of the multiple layers of composite. Next a nylon bag material is installed and sealed. On this application it was tricky due to the inner cowl having oil residual, even after an acetone scrub down. We run an iv like line into paper towels(called a breather) folded up to provide a means of distribution of vacuum pressure(manifold) across the layup and to remove excess epoxy.
This bag didn't want to suck down.. it took my largest pump with a 1/4" tube into the manifold then turned on the suck. It collapsed the bag, which allowed me to chase leaks. I threw all my red knecked tricks at it. Ultimately gorilla tape and cheap dap Alex caulk into the voids... typically jamming caulk into a vacuum isn't the best option..... in this case the breaches are small enough that the caulk can stop them through forced capillary action.
At this point if your not like me you let the pump do it's thing with a switch controlled pump and vacuum reservoir.... in my case you go online and double check that your pump is rated for a continuous duty cycle and set it up outside the building in order to walk away and let it roll overnight..
Now... this is the stage I turn into a 7 year old on Christmas eve... I went back to shut the pump off this morning, the pump was still running and the bag looked good... no seized pump no leaky bag! The last Pic is of the corner pulled back, I'm stoked.
