If I were ever to do another ARF (really bad taste in my mouth after the first), I would probably strip the covering and reglue every joint. I would also replace the fuel tank with a know good one.

Your replacement of hardware is a must. I also pulled the blind nuts for the wing mount and drilled and tapped for 1/4-20 so I could use nylon wing bolts. I also installed blind nuts for engine and front langing gear mounts. The wood screws were going to stick into the fuel tank.

As it turned out, that didn't stop the fuel tank from splitting at the bung hole. Build in a good tank to start with. When repairing the damage from the ruptured tank, I found that the adhesive used for glueing the plane together isn't very strong. It took me about 15 seconds to pull the fuselage floor off to get into the tank area, and there was no loss of wood on either side of the joints. I just stuck an Xacto blade in and cut it open about like cutting the plastic seal out of a bucket of cottage cheese. I scrapped as much glue off the wood as I could, but I'm afraid that the stuff isn't well glued now with CA as there was a residual of old glue.

This experience with my first ARF will cause it to be my last. I would rather scratch build or start from a good kit. At least you know how it is going together.

Don