Thank you for your advice, I appreciate it.
To answer your questions,
2) Yeah I am not the most experienced aviator, I have been flying for three years and I have my instrument rating. I trained in a 172 and have flown nothing but my mooney ever since.
3) I didn't want to use names just in case I was given a dishonest quote, but yes I am at D-Max because according to this forum he is the best. I saw a thread in my research of him where a guy wrote a smear post of him and he got eviscerated by many people that backed up Don. So of course I am not here to start problems, I just want to know if 13K sounds right for a wing removal and quick fix of a hole in the steel tubular.
4-5) Yeah, I will definitely get a PPI next time. If I have to part out my plane I think I will want to go partner on a 252. I wanna go fast!
7) It is cool that it was my late grandfathers plane, but at some point if the trend continues I will run out of money to pour into it.
11) Don said that I would not be able to get a ferry permit because the problem I have is structural. I already knew this from another thread here. A guy had spar corrosion and tried to get a ferry permit and couldn't, so he had to take a hack saw to it... Very sad and I don't want that at all.
13) I am 27 now. I am single and have a solid job as an engineer so that's how I am able to do this, barely. Every dime I make eventually finds it's way into this plane. I call it my aluminum wife. I figured that after putting in a new engine that I would be out of the woods but clearly not...
14) I don't think so. I think I would maybe see 30-35k for parting it out, but I have no experience with selling aircraft parts let alone parting out a plane. Hopefully if it comes to that Don can help me out.
19) I'll find his threads for sure!
20) oh yeah, I'll be blasting corrosionX into it every year from now on.
21) that's the stage i'm at now, i'm having Don evaluate the airframe to make sure that if I give the go-ahead to take the wing off, that they won't find anything else that will cost more money. In other words, make sure the plane is worth the repair.