diff --git a/src/sys/ubixfsv2/btree.h b/src/sys/ubixfsv2/btree.h
index 7a05100..0b5d71a 100644
--- a/src/sys/ubixfsv2/btree.h
+++ b/src/sys/ubixfsv2/btree.h
@@ -62,5 +62,6 @@
   void          PrintWholeTree(void);
   bool          Verify(void);
                ~bTree(void);
+  friend class UbixFS;
 }; // bTree
 #endif // !BTREE_H
diff --git a/src/sys/ubixfsv2/btreeheader.h b/src/sys/ubixfsv2/btreeheader.h
index e1e4bb8..be72012 100644
--- a/src/sys/ubixfsv2/btreeheader.h
+++ b/src/sys/ubixfsv2/btreeheader.h
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
   uInt32 treeLeafCount;
   off_t  firstNodeOffset; // used when tree is on disk
   off_t  firstDeleted;    // used to point to an empty node
+  char paddington[4068];
 } bTreeHeader; // bTreeHeader
 
 #endif /* !BTREEHEADER_H */
diff --git a/src/sys/ubixfsv2/main.cpp b/src/sys/ubixfsv2/main.cpp
index 34d2436..294254e 100644
--- a/src/sys/ubixfsv2/main.cpp
+++ b/src/sys/ubixfsv2/main.cpp
@@ -58,5 +58,6 @@
   cout << "sizeof(bNode): " << sizeof(struct bNode) << endl;
   cout << "sizeof(ubixfsInode): " << sizeof(struct ubixfsInode) << endl;
   cout << "sizeof(diskSuperBlock): " << sizeof(struct diskSuperBlock) << endl;
+  cout << "sizeof(bTreeHeader): " << sizeof(struct bTreeHeader) << endl;
   return 0;
 }
diff --git a/src/sys/ubixfsv2/ubixfs.cpp b/src/sys/ubixfsv2/ubixfs.cpp
index 13e8ddc..04d5c89 100644
--- a/src/sys/ubixfsv2/ubixfs.cpp
+++ b/src/sys/ubixfsv2/ubixfs.cpp
@@ -375,7 +375,7 @@
   assert(sb->blockSize);
   assert((unsigned)sb->blockSize >= sizeof(bTreeHeader));
 cout << "allocating bTree header" << endl;
-  bTreeHeader * bth = (bTreeHeader *)malloc(sb->blockSize);
+  bTreeHeader * bth = new bTreeHeader;
   assert(bth);
   memset(bth, 0, sb->blockSize);
   bth->firstDeleted = bth->firstNodeOffset = -1;
diff --git a/src/sys/ubixfsv2/ubixfs.h b/src/sys/ubixfsv2/ubixfs.h
index 0c8d989..9fb5881 100644
--- a/src/sys/ubixfsv2/ubixfs.h
+++ b/src/sys/ubixfsv2/ubixfs.h
@@ -144,6 +144,7 @@
   virtual int      vfs_format(device_t *);
   virtual void *   vfs_mknod(const char *, mode_t);
   virtual         ~UbixFS(void); 
+  friend class bTree;
 }; // UbixFS
 
 #endif // !UBIXFS_H