Although it is possible to do as you suggest the epoxy is not a
thermoplastic material but a thermosetting one, which in even more technical
terms is a cross linked polymer - heating to soften the cured epoxy will
break some of these cross links and significantly degrade the epoxy's
properties. In short, don't do it.
I too have had the problem with getting the spar pins fitting properly and
have removed the bushings by drilling. I have yet to replace the bushings
(even in SoCal the "winter" temperature is too low for fast curing) but have
trial-fitted the wings and inserted the spar pins through (obviously
oversize) holes in the seat back and through the spars, so I am confident
that bonding the seat back bushings in place with the wings fitted will
(finally) get things lined up correctly.
As mentioned by others, the bushings in the wings are likely to have
invisible epoxy deposited on the ID, and the factory's dummy spar (of which
I have two - not identical) is not adequate for the job. There is
considerable excess epoxy on the spars, so much so that I could not get the
spar ends into the spar caps without a lot of sanding to remove the excess.
Best regards,
Rob Housman
A070
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com
[mailto:owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com]On Behalf Of
TELEDYNMCS@aol.com
Subject: Europa-List: Trouble fitting wing spars to cockpit module
Thanks to all for the responses.
I'm wondering if it's possible to heat the bush, mount the wings and tap the
bolt through while the bush is hot and the Redux plyable thereby "reseating"
it. Since I'm very close to fitting, and since I've already installed the
plywood pads on the seat back around the bushes making removal very
difficult, this might work. Will the Redux adversely react to this sort of
treatment?
BTW, who is the engineering contact at the factory for such questions?
Thanks in advance
John Lawton
Dunlap, TN (Matthew's Field, future site of a Europa Fly-In as soon as mine
flys)
A-245
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