The 2013 contest winning Curare ARF was badly treated. In order to win, I practiced intensely two days before the contest and ignored signs of worn bearings. The engine quit and I landed nose first into tall grass. Broken header, bad bearings, broken nose gear. With no time to spare I managed to patch the cracked header using silicone tubing, screwed the nose gear in the lowered position and tried not to think about the bearings. It held together for 2,5 flights, enough to win my first contest.
Now for the overhaul. A new setup is costly and I decided to retire the engine and buy a new one. A new header was ordered as well. The nose gear was not that easy, I could only buy a trike set and not a single replacement nose gear motor, so to save on my budget I bought a cheap Hobbyking set. I should have known better, they fit poorly and I had to shim the mount to get sufficient height. Anyway, It’s on and it works.
With the removable cowl the overhaul was easy. However I noticed that the firewall had also come loose. All the glue joints were cracked and it is a testament to the build quality, the notches was all that held the engine for three flights, and I never noticed a thing. It was simply a matter of gluing the joints, and there it was – completely overhauled and ready for a new season that I very much look forward to.