Here I deviated substantially from the instructions. I used 30-minute epoxy instead of the recommended medium CA. Can’t have the motor flying off without the airplane, can we? Also, there’s no way that the front of the fuselage can be held together adequately with rubber bands and masking tape. So, I used clamps to hold everything together while the epoxy cured. Oh, and some tape as well.

Meanwhile, my shopping trip to Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Ace Hardware revealed that no one had 10-24 blind nuts in stock. Now, I had to have something permanently installed on the back of the firewall to receive the bolts in the motor mounting “kit.” I had no idea that tee nuts in the size were so scarce.

Taking the bolts from the “kit,” I poked them through the spacers and firewall holes and threaded a washer and nut on each, snugging them up. I then broke out the JB Weld SteelStik, kneaded up a wad, rolled it into a narrow cylinder, and smushed it around each nut and washer and up against the back of the firewall. 20 minutes later, I had permanently affixed, perfectly aligned nuts into which to screw the mounting bolts.


Here's the firewall epoxied to the fuselage, held in place with clamps and masking tape.


JB Weld SteelStik metal reinforced epoxy putty.


Home-made "blind nuts" fabricated from ordinary nuts and washers packed with SteelStik epoxy putty.