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Q-Talk 163 - B&C Starter Mount Modifications

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Our good friend Bruce Crain sent in the following pictures and text to show how he modified the top right (as viewed from the cockpit) engine mount on his beautiful Tri-Q200 to accept the starter sold by B&C Specialty Products. Thanks Bruce!]

I found these pictures of the cut out that is necessary for the B and C Starter on the Q200 firewall. This starter has served me for many maintenance free hours. The old Continental starter did not! Especially when I had high compression pistons.

In this 1st picture it shows how much of the engine mount, fore and aft plate, I had to cut out. Notice the large washer that I bent around the bolt head and then the rivet that is set to the side to hold it in place while torquing the nut when mounting the engine. I drilled holes on both sides of the large washer and put a cotter pin up close to hold it in place as a later picture shows. It makes for a one man job mounting the engine since the bolt doesn't need another person to hold it while torquing the front nut.

The next picture is a front view that shows how much material was removed from the original front plate. The cut extends right up against the round pipe bottom. Some may have to indent the tube a bit.

The third picture shows a side view of the mount so that the cotter pin can be seen holding the bolt head in place. Remember the large washer is riveted in place so that it cannot move. I held the large washer in place and then bent the large washer around the bolt head in a snug fashion. You will need to hold the bolt against the plate firmly so that the large washer doesn't just form a loose U around the bolt.

The firewall will need this cut out to make room for the B and C. If you are lucky you can just reverse the 5 ply birch piece that you cut out of the mag box and glass it back in place. I had to pull the stainless firewall out a bit to receive the glass cloth. I also used flox in the places I could not get glass into. Fill the corners etc to make a radius for the cloth. The back side of the firewall is pretty tight and you will need to "feel your way around" to get the glass cloth into place. Keep the area clean and remove the fiber frax and scuff up the existing 5 ply birch box material to get a good bond. It seems that I needed to dress down the area that the back plate rested in to make it fit, You might be able to glass area the back plate fits into and then bolt it into place before it sets up. It is not an easy job but it is sooo worth it when you fly behind the B and C starter!