Jotul F100 restoration questions

[jack3184]

Hi,

I've been restoring a Jotul F100 that had some minor rust damage. First, I found a lot of hard white solids along the internal seams of the stove -- in all the nooks and crannies. I assumed it was a buildup of creosote and chiselled a bunch of the stuff out. I'm now wondering if what I thought was cresosote might have been some sort of insulative cement designed to seal the panels of the stove. Does anyone think they know what this stuff is? (I attached 2 photos below - they are of the side panel leaning open)

Also, there is a small 2" break in the front plate (please see photo). When the door is closed, it will be behind the door, but still we are not sure what to do about it. We could leave it, or use some stove cement to join it back up (we still have the broken piece), or order a replacement part. Any ideas on what to do?

Thanks

 

[begreen]

Creosote is black. The hard white stuff is Jotul's refractory cement. It's what is sealing the seams. I'm not sure if Jotul sells this material retail, but I think Hearthstone does.

Not sure if the broken piece could be welded. A stainless steel plate could be screwed in place to cover the gap.