Mark 3 cowl cover leak

Agreed.
The foam gaskets cook down to mud in only a few years.
But the old plastic grommet itself will last for decades if left undisturbed and still gripping the steel panel.

Sealing these weak spots was among the essential tasks I did immediately after I bought the 25AE and before driving it anywhere.

I use the folded moist edge of some scrap rag as a soft saw to extract all the mud and old gasket, regardless of its condition.
Then I applied suitable degreaser and cleaned the area.

A bit of plastic cable-tie off-cut makes a handy tool for working silicone sealant deep into the void left by the gasket.

I did this in two passes.
First one makes sure the thin covering of silicone deep inside the crevice had time to set.
Second one is belt and braces covering all the approaches to the gasket and anchors it to the surrounding.

It’s not on display so neatness may be nice but it’s not required so long as coverage is complete.

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