Very sorry about your loss. A dead rx battery almost got mine - after an hour of ground running I decided to take it up, and on taxi out to the runway the surfaces started getting really slow, by the time I cut the motor the batt was completely gone. Evidentally the hour of running the motor on the ground must have been torquing my tailwheel, because my batt would have lasted four times that long in the air.
I used Robarts super pin hinges in combination with CA hinges on mine, but I only have three short trimming flights on it, so I cannot attest to their reliability. However, they are very robust in design. I use 30min epoxy to prime the holes, and a light coat on the pins - you have to be very careful to keep the epoxy from pushing out and getting into the hinge. This is where 5 min epoxy will burn ya. And, you have to overbore the first 2mm or so of each pilot hole, so that the hinge will tuck in and allow the surfaces to mate flush.
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXET57&P=ML
Glad to hear you are rebuilding. I am frustrated with my fuji BT32-EI, but am hanging in there with it until an old guru at the club can look at it. I think my soft mounts are keeping it from idling steady (very long story short), among other things. I priced an electric conversion for the LiftMeister at about $600 for off-brand. But it would swing an 18x10 at about 6500rpm for 30 minutes plus, at an AUW lighter than my wet gasser weight. Not as strong as the Fuji, but no noise, oil, etc.
Dave