Re-attaching a firewall...Any hints?
 

I got a great deal on a Seagull extra 300s .60 at my LHS, because the firewall had been broken off during shipping. I have never had to re-attach a firewall before, so I was wondering if anyone had any special advice as to what steps I should take to be sure the repair will be strong. I dont have any way to post pics of it, but the break is pretty clean, the whole firewall and the triangle stock has been seperated from the fuselage, with zero damage to the fuse.
I thought I might epoxy back into place, then drill three holes on each side and use wooden toothpicks with epoxy as "dowels" to strengthen it. Either that or wood screws.
I plan on putting a .61 on it to begin with, with a possible upsize in the future, depending on how it flies.
Any hints and suggestions would be appreciated!
Thanks
Jason

RE: Re-attaching a firewall...Any hints?
 

Lucky man! I would suggest using round dowels instead of toothpicks. On that size of plane your firewall should be thick enough to take 1/8th size dowels. That would be much stronger I would think. Just be sure to drill straight and centered. Other than that, I'd say don't skimp on the epoxy. I you can, go around all four sides on the backside of the firewall with your triangle stock. Some planes just have it on either side. I say if it helps... add a little extra. Another thing I did on my Giant Stinger was (before drilling and glueing in those dowels) go across the front of the firewall with fiberglass. Extend the fiberglass around the sides of the fuse some. Not too much that the cowel won't cover it though. After that is set and finished to your satisfaction, then drill and epoxy in the dowels. Maybe this is a bit much, but I tend to overdo these types of things. I guess I'm just paranoid that way! :D

RE: Re-attaching a firewall...Any hints?
 

You might want to consider using small steel screws then applying thin CA to keep them in place. That's what I did on a rebuild. Use the screws AND expoxy.

cheers,

RE: Re-attaching a firewall...Any hints?
 

I would pin it..

Put the firewall back in with epoxy and then pin it with a few small dowels through the side and into the firewall to hold it..

RE: Re-attaching a firewall...Any hints?
 

Thanks for the responses!
I epoxied the firewall back in place yesterday evening and so far everything looks good. I happen to have some 1/8 dowel stock, so I'll be using that to put two dowels on each side.
Aaron, I cant add any triangle stock to the top and bottom because only the fuselage sides come out to where the firewall attaches, so I figure I will wrap a "band" of fiberglass around the fuse sides and across the top and bottom of the firewall.
From what I've been reading on the reviews of this plane, it builds a little tail heavy so I wont have to worry about that!
I appreciate the ideas
Jason

BTW, Tram, I like the picture...I don't think thats what they mean by "tube feeding" though:D