Dr. Kamakaze,

Thanks for the reply. Those are all good suggestions. I know a few guys have gone to the JB Weld on the spray bar before they ever instal them on the airframe. We just see alot of the inlet nipples getting snapped off (50%) and completely sheering the spray bar / pressure fitting off at the carb the other 50% of the time. I can live with it backing out, at least the part is still intact and with a small zip tie, I can make a quick field fix and get back in the furball. With an amputation, I'm sitting on the sidelines or playing event timer. Never fun to watch combat once you've flown combat. We have also gone to removing the OE back plate, but rather than switching it out, we cut off the needle valve portion on a band saw, RTV gasket the OE backplate in place and use a washer under each screw head to re-install it to prevent leaks. As for the needle valve, we re-locate that by either zip tying it to the motor mount or a bracket on the fuse, or by going to a different remote needle valve all together (FP 60). Haven't heard of replacing the head screws by anyone in our club, but I could see the benfits if you have one that likes to loosen up on you. As for boring out the muffler, many have done mods to that, but we are all limited to 17,500 RPM, so once I'm getting that out of it, I'm happy and just look for ways to get down to weight minimums.

Another guy and I may try Regent's suggestion or a variation of it and see how it turns out. We'll probably have to wait until next season to see how it works because this weekend looks like it might just be our last combat weekend until next spring, but who knows... there is always Indian summer (maybe???) As for tomorrow, I'm venturing to the LHS later to pick up a pair of OS carb housings with the OE spray bar pre-installed. That will at least get me off the bench tomorrow.

Thanks again & Take care!
Grinder