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As many of you are aware over the last couple months and escalating today in an epic nature the site has been invaded by spam bots. It reached a level that was no longer manageable so I have set all new accounts to requiring manual approval. IF YOU JUST REGISTERED A NEW ACCOUNT: Please contact me using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of the site requesting approval. Make sure to include your username on the site as I won't know you by your real name and your emails might not match. This might take up to 24 hours so please be patient. Going forward these are the changes I am proposing: All new accounts will be created as a "basic member" that cannot create content but can browse the forums. All current members will become "verified" members. No action or fee required to keep using the site as you already are. To become a new "verified member" you will have a couple options. For instant and easy access you will pay a small fee. Probably a one time $3.00 fee something like that and your account will be verified for life, no additional payments required. A free alternative and slower method will be available where the new user can email me a copy of their ID and something like a utility bill to prove they are who they say they are. As part of this I have upgraded the forum software to include their "commerce" package which will enable the site to automatically take payments for a number of things like membership fees, selling items, etc. I have been considering this for a while since it will automate the current donation system that requires me to manually upgrade accounts after donations which can take time and is prone to errors (such as PayPal emails not matching user emails and me not being able to find accounts to upgrade). So in the near future I expect to change the current "donate $10 or more to remove ads and get Supporter level access for a year" to something more like a $25 per year auto-renewal membership that is completely managed within your member area of the site. While going from $10 to $25 seems drastic, I need to pick a single amount for all users and $25 is actually what the average donation is now from the past 12 months. Also consider that the minimum donation has been the same $10 minimum since 2008 (hard to believe I have been operating this site for 17 years!) and I have been considering raising it to $15 or $20 for a while now. Note that all current Supporter level members will remain as such until it has been 12 months since their last manual donation. I hope this all makes sense. Please feel free to post your comments below. I might not get to reading them all so if you have something really important to tell me please use the in-site messaging system. Thank you all for your patience as we dealt with the floods of spam over the past couple months. It was frustrating for all of us I know. Craig

The park was gorgeous. I put on a 360 mount to do some recording, and it turned out great. We only flew in it for an hour. We went up Ruths Glacier, flew around a little in that area, and then spiraled up to pass Denali, then down another glacier (not pictured). Most of the other passes were fogged in, so we kept it pretty conservative. The other pilots flying were super chill and gave us tips. I kind of wish I had recorded that. Overall, I wish we did it longer, and I wish we could do it again. The weather is shot for the next few days, and then we need to head back to MN. I forgot the cowl flaps on some of this. I climbed from 6,500 to 16,500 and forgot to close them when we reached the top. Oh well.

Hello all, After a rough couple months of spam-bot invasions I have decided to make some critical changes to the way new users to the community are validated and how Supporter level memberships work. Here are the key changes: When a new account is created here it will be placed in a group called Unverified Members. This group can browse the site but cannot create any new content. To upgrade this account to a Verified Member you have two options: a) pay a $2 fee for instant validation which is good for the life of the account or b) contact me @mooniac58 with a picture/scan of your valid ID to prove you are who you say you are. The old manual $10 minimum donation for upgrade to Supporter level has been replaced with a $25/year automatic subscription system that will renew every year on its own unless you cancel it. No more waiting for me manually upgrade your account, etc. Those that purchase the $2 instant validation will get a $2 credit towards their first year of Supporter level access...so $23 for the first year and $25 thereafter. Generic Donations: Separate from the membership plans, users can still donate arbitrary amounts to support the site using the new donations page. Those that donated prior to today with the old system will continue to have Supporter access until 12 months from your last donation as long as that was $10 or more. These are the current membership levels for members: Unverified Members - New accounts, can browse site, cannot create content or message others. Verified Members - Either paid the $2 fee or proved in another way that they are a real person. Can post new content but not in classified forums. Limited to 200MB total storage for attachments, photos and other files. Supporter Members - Signed up for $25/year subscription. Do not see advertisements on site. Able to post non-commercial topics on the classified forums. Storage limit of 1GB. Sponsor Members - These accounts have paid a fee to have a limited number of commercial posts on the forums (usually 1 per month limit). Some final notes: While I am confident new spam-bots are not being registered on the site, I am quite sure that they have dormant accounts that were created in the past that still exist undetected. For this reason we have and will see brief uprisings where they rise up and make a bunch of spam posts. We will ban each of these as they occur and wipe the content. I don't expect much of this and the past few days have been clear skies here. If you created an account prior to August 5, 2025 and did the normal email based activation then you are in the Verified Member group. No one was downgraded during this process and you don't need to do anything to validate your account. Please do not do the $2 validation process (I am still working on hiding this option for everyone except unvalidated accounts in the site). I will be making small changes here and there to try and make it more clear how new users validate their accounts. For now I hope newly registered members find their way to this topic to get the instructions. Eventually I hope to figure out how to customize the site more to guide new members through the process better. And lastly a big thanks to everyone who has supported this community over the past 17 years! Craig

There are three great advantages to having my own airplane: 1. I never miss my flight. 2. My bags always arrive with me. 3. I can land and pee anytime I need to.

It’s still going to happen! I’ve just been extremely busy with the full time job which I’ll be retiring from in January. After 40 years, I’m going to be done with being on call 24/7 /365 and worrying when I’ll get the call that one of my airplanes is broken somewhere. I’ve moved to the UP, Michigan, last April and have been commuting for work to Waukegan IL Fridays and Mondays. Lots of driving. I did have a conversation with the composite shop and we’re still good there as they have people who can make molds! I’m to far into it with the research and money spent to walk away. What I need is time which will be happening soon. Thanks, David

Actually i find that non pilot passengers handle it way better when you pre brief them what is about to happen and that you are intentionally doing it and it’s normal. Then when it happens it’s a non event. I even say there it it is reach down at a normal speed and turn the selector valve. Whereas the complete surprise followed by yelling a cuss word while jumping in your seat and snatching the switch over i find generally puts them in hysterical mode with even pants wetting and swearing never to fly with you again.

I have an update to share. It turns out the gear really is cracked. I had a magnetic-particle inspection performed last week and it revealed several cracks in the area. Neither Don Maxwell nor LASAR are able to repair this, so I am moving forward with the salvage gear. I will have an MPI performed on this one before installation to verify it is a good part.

It is the consequences of the impossible turn at 200 feet. I have practiced this a few times and the best I can do is 700 feet. I know some here have said they can do 500 feet. You also have to consider obstructions such as tree heights on your return path. My personal margin is 1000 feet and a clear path. ^^^This is the better option^^^ Have a plan before take off and treat every one with the expectation of an engine failure because time is not on your side. .

There's a little bit of fudge in here, but these are the basics. The communication rules for Class C and D airspace (FAR 91.129 and 91.130) require the establishment and maintenance of communications with "with the ATC facility having jurisdiction over that area" (Class D) / "with the ATC facility having jurisdiction over that area "(Class C). The problem in situations like yours - into the Class C primary - and more generally, TRACON to Tower in either airspace is that you and I really don't know who that is. That for various reasons, most of which are agreements between TRACON and Tower we are not privy to. Two examples (among hundreds). This is a Class B to D example, but it's the same situation. The specific airspace doesn't matter but it helps for this example. Those familiar with the picture at the bottom will recognize it as the Denver Class B centered on the BJC Class D. The Bravo starts at 8,000. Below is the BJC Delta. On this training flight we were not talking to Denver and were planning to cross over BJC. My student called BJC Tower and requested transition at 7,500. Tower told us to call Denver Approach. There's a letter of agreement between BJC and TRACON giving DEN jurisdiction of that segment of BJC's airspace. At one time Pueblo, Colorado's (KPUB) Class D had its own Approach Control. I've been given pattern instructions and landing clearances there from Approach. The regs don't know this, but ATC does. So the ATC manual tells controllers that it is TRACON's responsibility to "Coordinate with the appropriate control tower for transit authorization when you are providing radar traffic advisory service to an aircraft that will enter another facility's airspace." There's a not to that paragraph: "The pilot is not expected to obtain his/her own authorization through each area when in contact with a radar facility." It's also TRACON's responsibility to "Transfer communications to the appropriate facility, if required, prior to operation within a surface area for which the tower has responsibility." That, in short is why what happened is no big deal and why once told it was TRACON's fault, the tone of the conversation changed. The one caution I have is this. I have no problem with remaining mum and happily transiting a Delta while talking to TRACON. But I see landing at the towered airport differently. Less from a regulatory standpoint than from a practical one. It's tower's job to coordinate runway access. A delayed handoff can cause problems for a busy Tower. So I will always prompt TRACON for a handoff if I am landing. Yes, that's a bit fuzzy, but those who have gotten rid of the last remnants of their their ATC-phobias don't worry about it much.

Here it is! I had to try a couple scanners because of the holes for the spiral bound pages and I cleaned up the final scan a bit. Let me know if you find any issues. I already uploaded it to the files section as well, just waiting for approval. The Backwards Tales Rev 8 - Coy G Jacob.pdf

It’s a long story. I worked for the giant biomed company (Roche) for 20 years till 2010. Then worked for the automation company doing missile and semiconductor projects for 10 years. I was planning on retiring 3 years ago. A month from my retirement a guy I used to work with at Roche said they were forming a new biotech startup. He asked me if I would lead their software development. I told him HELL NO, I was so done with life in the fast lane. He said “What would it take?”. I gave him a crazy high number. And damn it, he said OK. Then after a year or so I did something really stupid. I invested a shit ton of money into this enterprise. Now I’m one of those private equity investors. I asked the CEO for the day off today. He said he didn’t care if I took the day off as long as I came back next week. So I have to hang around until this enterprise is successful. We are close. Two very major huge companies are interested in acquiring us. Then I will have that PC12 and the Mooney will be the play plane.

I thought of your “dispute” when I saw this yesterday. I say you’re a lucky man with first world problems. Apparently it could be much worse…

Short answer: NO! Long answer: HELL NO! Sorry, but if you've never owned and are NOT an A&P this will be a huge mistake. Off the top of my head: 1) How did the owner "inspect the cam" on a Lycoming? (HINT: you have to split the case!) 2) He replaced the fuel caps. So, how much water got in the tanks, and for how long while it sat outside? 3) Why was the prop replaced? Prop strike? If so, then you need an engine tear down. 4) Did you glance at that panel??? KX-170s and what looks to be a first-gen DME. If you pay to have this done you are going to spend more than finding a nice J that is ready to fly. The TIME this will take is likely to be measured in years. All, IMHO, of course. Be very careful of advice to take this one on as a project...just sayin'

This whole thread seems to be getting a little silly. Some obviously like to run their tanks dry and some don’t. Each to their own. Personally, I don’t see any great (actual, not theoretical) risk in doing so and I see no operational necessity to do so routinely.

This is not a reasonable argument. Sudden and unexpected fuel selector failure is not a significant risk and you are not significantly increasing safety by your methods. By the time you've run the tank dry, you've probably already operated that system 5 or more times during that flight. There are way more fuel starvation accidents where the pilot neglected to switch fuel due to high workload prior to landing than there are fuel starvation accidents where the selector failed in flight. In each and every one of the former, having run the other tank dry would have saved the situation. If any of the latter have occurred at all, only a subset of those (where there was not an airport suitable for landing withing gliding range) would have caused a problem. I have an airplane to be useful and the range is part of what makes it useful. If I were to cut that range in half or less, that would make it much less useful. Now there are some of us who only fly for pure pleasure to get up in the air. In that case, yeah, sure, never go below 75% fuel. But that's not what I do and the additional safety of never needing to switch fuel tanks in flight is probably lower than the increased accident rate due to increased number of landings anyway.

The first instance sounds like vapor. Js do get vapor in the fuel lines. Most of the time it doesn't cause a problem but LOP at high density altitude it can cause roughness. You can see it in the fuel pressure fluctuations if you have a digital engine monitor (the factory gauges seem to filter it out by accident or design). When I used to fly float Beavers Part 135 we only filled the rear tank for long flights and it was considered poor form to leave any gas in it for the next guy that might have a heavy load. So we would run it dry by watching the fuel pressure and when it started to drop you had a few seconds to switch to a tank with fuel. Once I got distracted by a radio call and I can tell you that pax HATE it when the engine quits. I know that Deakin advocated it, but I just don't see any reason to run a tank dry in flight. My CiES fuel senders are plenty accurate.

Thanks for all you do Craig! The content and info exchange here is certainly more than worth the minimum $25 a year.

We fly out of some high DA airports in our D with it's whopping 180hp. I have found it's never a problem leaning on the roll. I know where my EGT's are taking off at 100' MSL from home base and lean to "about" that number on the roll. Even out of KPSO with DA's above 10k we don't have a problem, it doesn't climb fast but it is safely doable. You have to know that the deck angle is going to be different that what you're used to seeing, it's going to climb slower, and you just let the plane give you what it can. Pulling back to climb faster doesn't work as others have mentioned. The DA in this instance shouldn't have caused issues.

Bunch of Washington based Mooneys got together for lunch at Yakima yesterday. 5 of us showed up and we parked next to a resident Mooney to make it 6! Good food at Reno’s by the Runway, but it’s mighty warm in Yakima this time of year and there’s not much indoor seating!

Mt Ranier is still impressive from 50 miles away! Nice tailwind on the way home from the awesome Evergreen Aviation Museum (and water park) in Mcminnville. You can see the Spruce Goose, an F-4 with 2 kills, and an SR71 and then go down some good water slides that exit from a real 747 on the roof!

Made it back to Canada today from Iceland. Vancouver tomorrow.

It’s weird to me that people say, “if your an A&P or know an A&P who’d be willing to work with you…. It could be a good value”. My time isn’t free. I can work on my airplane with my time, or I can use my time to generate dollars. You aren’t getting a deal committing huge amounts of time to something. You are paying for it with your time, which could easily be used to generate money somewhere else. I do owner preventive maintenance a lot on my airplane. I do it for 3 reasons: I enjoy it, It’s less effort (we don’t have many available shop options close by), I become functionally more familiar with my airplane (and thus, safer). It has very little to do with being “cheaper”. It’s not.

The problem with stopping the prop is that you have to fool around with the starter to bump it enough to get it to be horizontal. And doing all this while you’re in an extremely critical phase of flight, and you also gave away your ability to go around in case you get a little too slow and slam it in which damages the airplane more. I just don’t think the perceived upside is gonna be nearly as good as the downside. There was a guy that did this I think with a traveler, and he was fooling around on the flare, bumping the prop trying to get it to stop horizontal, and it kept windmilling past that back to something not horizontal, and then he ended up hitting both props on the ground anyway, but he made it really hard landing because he stalled it because he was distracted. Don’t forget the potential for severe back injuries, because the seat frames in older planes are not designed to crush down like far part 23 seats are. There’s no shock absorbing system because the gear is up. I think the only upside here is that you might say the insurance company about $20,000. But you’re still going to have a claim, and they’re still going to raise your rates, and the additional part of the claim is gonna be more than the money you saved them, so I don’t think it really moves the needle all that much in the regard of upside.

Totally unrelated but does anyone know how to contact Ethiopian Airlines customer service?

There are many ways to set mixture for high DA departures for a NA engine, but none are as easy and accurate as using your engine analyzer! Almost all Mooney's have engine analyzer in them right? Well all the trainers in the local flying club have approved for primary analyzers so that they could ditch those inop and inaccurate 40-50 yr old factory instruments. All it takes is basic EGT monitor to set mixture using the Target EGT method. Basically you simply observe what your EGTs are departing from a near sea level airport. And if you haven't been able to do that in a long time or rarely I suggest you use 1350F for your target. Then for any high DA airport, set up to do a short field takeoff where you hold the brakes while you watch power to come up to full power, except now lean the full power mixture to your target EGT or 1350F. Then release the brakes and start the takeoff run. Its going to change a bit on the take off run but you'll be pretty close. Then in climb just keep slowly leaning in climb to maintain that target egt or 1350F all the way up from sea level till the engine can't produce max cruise power of 75% or less; e.g. ~8K DA and higher. When power has dropped off to below your max cruise power or 75% you are free to lean as aggressively as you want subject to keeping your CHTs in check. Don't have at least a basic engine analyzer? You really should considering the value of your engine not to mention your precious cargo. An engine analyzer in the hands of a smart pilot provides critical safety of flight information on the health of the engine and has saved this pilots butt more times than I can recall.

If you want to build hours, just buy a solid M20C and fly the wings off of it. It is cheap to own and fly. It will get you anywhere you want to go.

I should really start putting up pictures of my flights here... Yesterday checked a couple more SoCal airports off the list. Fallbrook L18 with it's 2,150' runway and Oceanside KOKB with it's "long" 2,172' runway.

They're claiming those little purple dots are a crack? I don't think that's a crack based on that indication, it looks more like just a little bit of porosity in the weld.

The forum software we use (IPBoard4) does not have a lot of additional options to try and stop bot registrations and I am using everything available short of manually approving new registrations, which I frankly just don't have the time to do. For now I am relying on users reporting spam content and then we flag the users as spammers in the system which removes their content, bans the account and restricts the IP addresses they were using. There is a new major version of IPBoard coming out soon (IPBoard5) and I am hoping there is some new features in there to better combat the spambots.

a properly painted prop wont do that. if they etch, alodine, and primer, and topcoat inside the proper window, it will adhere. This was not.

If you say so…

Do yourself a favor - once you get your ticket in that Warrior, fly a couple solo xc trips in it. Get familiar with being the true PIC. Maybe take a passenger up a few times. Flying alone is a huge part of the learning process and you should mix it in with your continued training.

I think that one he can "win" as it's an obvious typo on their $135 hourly shop rate:

Yes, in the cases i’ve seen though it resulted in high CHTs and chewed up the cylinder walls pretty bad. So cylinders were replaced. This is more of a Superior cylinder issue because the installing A&P has to assure proper ring gap at installation whereas other cylinders usually come already properly gapped so it can be missed when the installer doesn’t read the provided documentation and warnings that come with Superior cylinders. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think there is a SMALL market for an "over-improved" E or F, and the right buyer will recognize value in one with an asking price that stands above the field and even flirts with J territory. I say that as an 18+ year owner of a '77 J that was looking for a modified E or F originally, but stretched to get into my J and I'm happy I did. It is of course entirely possible to modify an E or F to mimic a J in just about every meaningful way, but they will never be a true J in the market, and thus the value will always hit a ceiling. The debate here, IMO, comes down to value for the dollar and for the right buyer (like Greg in this case) it might make more sense to buy an over-improved $150k E vs. a $150k J. Greg certainly knows the Mooney line and he stated his mission is 2 people + bags and moderate distance flying, not all the way across the country since he can just hop on a company plane and do that now. In this case, a $150k E that has been thoroughly modernized with a panel full of Garmin including a GFC500 autopilot done by a meticulous owner/IA, yet still retains the awesome J-bar gear so he doesn't have to fret about actuator gears and other tidbits I'm thinking about. It has all of the J exterior mods so it is likely faster than my plane too. Comparing to my early J, I've done all of the exterior mods/upgrades to later specs and have an awesome paint job. I've got nice Bravo seats (including rear buckets instead of the bench), good windows and sidewalls, but I have a vintage panel + GNS530W/430W and STEC30 autopilot. I'm insured for $175k but wouldn't sell it for that if asked. I still have things I want to do like the panel, primarily. For Greg's mission, I'd say he's getting a turnkey simple speedster that meets his needs for quite a bit less than he could get my J without a modern panel, and a whole lot less for another J with a modern panel. There is also an adage to consider that you're buying the previous owner as much as the plane itself, and in this case, that is a very good thing! Having said that, a J offers more potential utility/flexibility due to more cabin space, and especially if you can take one or both back seats out. It comes down to how much that utility is worth it to you... would you pay $50k more for a truly equivalent J vs. a modernized E? If you never put people in back, why pay more? I'd rather take that extra money and buy a toy plane to add to the hangar.

For a moment I was admiring your carpeted fuel tank.

Hey Greg, you're nearby so let me know if you ever want to talk Es! I'm at SGR. Probably biased as I have an E that I have painstakingly restored and modernized and would argue is one of the nicest out there . I don't think the J should be that much of a price-step up from an E, unless you really need that extra space, a modded E is basically the same performance wise and is more nimble and crisp to fly, in my opinion. Maybe 5% more between the 2. Johnson Bar gear is its own value IMO. There have been a few E's in the last 12 months that have sold for $160k range. The J comparison isn't truly fair unless you're looking at apples to apples, a J and an E with the same panel, engine times, interior, condition, etc. Usually when I see that state, the J is more expensive even when an E is in the mid-100s. Here's a $140k J with good avionics and low-time engine but poor interior: https://www.trade-a-plane.com/search?category_level1=Single+Engine+Piston&make=MOONEY&model=M20J+201&listing_id=2443724&s-type=aircraft Here's a $165k J with good avionics and low time engine and decent interior: https://www.trade-a-plane.com/search?category_level1=Single+Engine+Piston&make=MOONEY&model=M20J+201&listing_id=2445319&s-type=aircraft Here's a $158k J with good avionics, mid-time engine and decent interor: https://www.trade-a-plane.com/search?category_level1=Single+Engine+Piston&make=MOONEY&model=M20J+201&listing_id=2446564&s-type=aircraft So what I would take away from that is if you have an E with good avionics, low-time engine and good interior, you're looking at $150s-160k, benchmarking against the $165 and $158k. If one of those goes down (e.g. good avionics, decent interior, mid-time engine, etc.) then $140ks seem to be reasonable. I don't see any E on the market that has low-time engine + good avionics + good interior, I have a '65 M20E with 170hrs on a freshly overhauled engine done by a well-known engine shop with a freshly overhauled prop, brand new non-AD hub, all new accessories (firewall-forward was done at the overhaul), SureFly e-mag, GAMI injectors, fine-wire plugs, new alternator, new voltage regulator, new battery. New panel, Garmin G5s, GMA345, STEC 30 AP, 430W completely overhauled by Garmin, JPI 930 engine monitor with CIES Fuel Senders, all new switches, wiring, circuit breakers, custom cut flat, one-piece panel. I have a brand new full Executive interior done by AeroComfort that included all new soundproofing, inertial reel seatbelts, custom stitching pattern, with every piece of the interior being redone. The entire electrical system is new. The plane has all LED lights, bladders, the electric step mod, one-piece windshield, gets flown 125+ hours a year and is meticulously maintained. When I had it valued after all the work was done to figure out what I needed to insure it for, it was north of $170k. That's obviously not me getting my money back .

a m20e isn't a cessna 150, it's faster than than the f and fully modded probably faster than the J. lets be honest, things have gotten expensive, i'd say serviceable should probably start around 80-90k, fully loaded like you listed, shoudl probably approach 140 150

Thanks for posting that to make us aware of the seriousness of the matter. Please repost any more that you get like that so that we can keep track of...this serious situation.

I would suggest a read of the FAA's Part 16 determination (link) that this whole situation is precipitated by. "The text of these Resolutions is unambiguous. In response to the Resolutions, the County took immediate steps without qualification or limitation to implement the specific intent to prohibit the sale or use of 100LL at County airports. Specifically, the County terminated all FBO 100LL fuel sale permits, purchased unused 100LL stocks from FBO-operated tanks, and transitioned all County-owned fuel tanks to the exclusive sale of 94UL, effective January 1, 2022." Aircraft owners were left with no choice but to fuel elsewhere or now fill up with the only 'drop in' replacement (see G12) that arrived just under 3 years later. And a significant number of those who filled up with the 'drop in' replacement have experienced unique and noteworthy issues with their aircraft. I would say that it did not 'enhance the flying experience' for many. Couple relevant airport newsletter links: Fall 2024 Winter 2024 Users were also provided with an incentive that had the following language: "You are each encouraged to buy some fuel and see for yourself that it operates no differently than the 100LL you are accustomed to, with the advantages of a cleaner engine, cleaner spark plugs, cleaner air, and reduced engine wear."

Yes, anytime you run a tank dry, you may want to switch to that tank after you refill it, and start it up on that one to purge the air from it.

If we do that they will just make more accounts. For the time being I have shut down all new account registrations while I clean up the mess I woke up to. After that I will try to think of a new way going forward to prevent this. Please understand that I am using every counter-measure available within this forum software to try and stop this and they are still getting through. Isn't AI a wonderful invention?

You can draw the hangar and move cutouts of the airplanes around, but sometimes you just have to put the airplanes in and move them around.

Just printed them off and found the vents on ebay....will send picture when installed.

7, 8, 9, 11 hours....my bladder will remain completely unfamiliar with those numbers I'm a 3-4 hour max per leg pilot these days!

As far as adds go, I’m cool with that one

I have been in some type of service business almost my whole life. The last 25 in the construction of high end custom homes. When it comes to anything involving people, nothing is certain, sacred or off limits. I tell my clients you want to be the first born, the second wife and the third contractor. Reason is that people have to go through the first two to figure out how to avoid the lies and/or the ignorance. The relevance here, is too many people get distracted by the low bid, or sometime the high bid. Thinking the former is the only honest guy, or the former is the best just because of price. I fell for it a few times myself…. This doesn’t mean the low guy is always to be feared nor that the expensive guy is taking advantage. What it does mean is that if there is a big difference in price, one must figure out why before moving on. For me, in this instance an overhaul would be the only option because I’m not waiting two years, so who to pick? One thing all good shops have in common is the culture is oriented for service and excellence. The culture is easy to suss out by a visit and conversation. The second step would be talking to an old client, a not so old client and a new client. References are gold in these situations. All mechanical things are prone to issues and while we all hope to have none, when you do, is the guy who did your work going to be there? Or more importantly do you want to go back to him? I would venture to bet if one could collect accurate statistics, the factory engines are likely a minimal amount better regarding defects, at least for the majority of reputable independents. But I don’t believe the percentage would be large enough to make me wait an extra six months, much less two years. My vote would be find a good shop and let’r rip. Make sure they put new cylinders!!

The factory brings new crank cases and new cylinder assemblies to the party, and that's something you can't get from anywhere else to begin with. And while theoretically, you can get just as good of an overhaul out of a set of used cylinders, and a used case, these boards are full of the misery caused by early demise of a shoddy overhaul. Especially that Jewell place, where they ran bottle brush hones down the cylinders and spray painted them and call them overhauled, and 200 hours later the engine comes apart and it's all junk. I think that you could say that the guys at Power masters, western skyways, Poplar Grove, Zephyr, and Ly-Con can put together an engine better than the factory can, because the craftsmanship there is so high. And that's from the reputation. But if they're forced to use rebuilt cylinders with unknown history, there's no way to craftsmanship out of that.