Brock O-235 engine mount, tweaked?

[lopilk]

new to the forum, new to my project, but not new to the legend of the Long EZ...

project came with engine and mount, but the mount does not sit flat on the engine side, and it does not line up with the bosses on the firewall.  the builder moved the project 4 times, so it is possible it got tweaked.

can I flex it back to the correct alignement without damage?  just trying to avoid buying another mount if this one can be saved.

thanks!

[Drew]

Not sure what you mean by---does not sit flat on the engine side---do you have pictures?

The engine mount will fit pretty tight on the extrusions.

[Bruce Hughes]

I would not mess around with an engine mount.

I bought a project with an engine and mount.   However the
mount looked too weak to me so I bought another from
Weldtech.   The new mount did not quite fit the aluminum
extrusions so I moved 3 of them.   It really is not a big job
to move them.   Just get help from someone with a lot of
building experience.  

Do you belong to the CSA?   If you do, then you have a directory
of all of ther CSA members in CO   There are 23 of them, including
2 in Denver.   I think some of the others are in suburbs of Denver.

If all else fails go to Falcon and see Burrell Sanders.   He rebuilds
or finishes Composite airplanes fulltime for a fee.   He knows his
business.    
 

Bruce Hughes

[lopilk]

the pics below show the top-right engine mount boss is resting about 1/2" off the table (circled, note shadow... it's hard to show this in a pic!).  

the builder used this mount to install the extrusions (I have his construction photos that show it), so it was all flat at one point.  it's a Brock mount.  it's pretty stiff, hard to force into being flat, so I'm wondering if I should just order up a new one.  as it is, I have not been able to get it on the extrusions.

I just joined CSA and now have the builder's roster- I'll look up the guys around here, see what they think.  I've flown with Burrall a few times, got a taste for canards- he's offered his help when he frees up next month.  thanks for the suggestions!

[Bruce Hughes]

Hi Larry

Burrell Sanders is about 1000 times more knowledgeable than I am.
The rest of the guys around Denver are about 100 times more
knowledgeable.   So see what they say.

It really is not so hard to move the aluminum extrusions BUT
you need someone to show you how to do it; there is a lot of
stress on the mounts.   Two friends of mine moved mine; John
built a Longeze and Bill built a Cozy from plans and parts.  
I bought a project that was almost finished.

Bruce Hughes

[lopilk]

Don't know if anyone is watching this thread...

The mount is fine as is.  I spoke to an A&P who is also a master welder and he said it was fine to bend the mount the slight amount needed, then proceeded to do so.  Back in business.

[GlennBob]

Nice to see you successfully conquered this obstacle.  
The problem that would concern me regarding moving the mounts on the plane to match the engine mount is that if you ever sold the plane or got a different engine / mount,  the plane would now not match the normal mounts ! !   Glad you got her fixed ! !

Glennbob