Bucker Jungmeister repair

Following a dead stick landing in Pea field my Bucker Fuselage split. After stripping out the hardware and peeling back the covering it quickly became apparent that most of the failure was in the joint glue but i think calling it glue is too generous - maybe the chinese make it from snot or babies teardrops !

There is a "good side" Kevin, at least you've a clean break to repair, not the usual torn mess of fibres that won't quite go together. Perhaps the wily Chinese designed the joint as a breakaway feature, but I don't think they'd be so kind.

Clamped the parts with rope ties

Looking further at the FG30 it appears the inlet valve mechanism has failed. The cam seems to have full lift but the push rod has dropped.

The excessive valve clearance is due to inlet pushrod wear with swarfe in the tappet (cam follower) socket. Note the exhaust side benefits from valve stem blow past. This engine has at best had 1 1/2 hrs running !

Google reveals that inlet cam wear is common on Saito engines due to lack of lube in the design. So the sum up, my experience with expensive Saito engines is a disappointment compared to my cheap and nasty Chinese NGH which has run for nearly 3 years in my GP Stearman which has stopped once due to requiring a de-coke.

I wonder if fitting nipples to the rocker covers and linking them together with silicone tube might allow some of the exhaust blow-by oil/vapour to reach the inlet rocker and pushrod Kevin?