Prior owner

You are quite right to be concerned about destroying the fiberglass lower windshield retainer….if it was installed properly, it will be filled with pro seal and it won’t be possible to remove it without ruining it. SWTA still has the molds, but will not make new retainers for anyone. A Mooney 201 retainer, doesn’t fit- not even close. The Mooney piece can be worked, very slowly- re-shaped it to fit . The results are acceptable, but not perfect- you can see the progression below, where one was done. The silver Mooney retainer had enormous gaps at each corner of the windshield. The piece was hand-worked, re-contoured, and trimmed to fit. The windshield was not touched during the replacement.

Call LASAR or another Mooney service center to get the part. It’s an easy one for the factory to make- it comes undrilled. Not a monumental project to replace one on the plane. Are you sure you need both the stiffener and the longeron? Sometimes, it’s just the stiffener (the shorter piece) that is corroded.

Aero classics has a better oil cooler available for the C model. Installed in my plane it reduced oil temps year-round, but it was only a small reduction in temperature.

I agree….and unfortunately I’ve seen quite a few like that. I don’t understand why anyone would want to mess with the elevators like that.

Are new shafts available? If so, at 60 years old, it is not unreasonable that it is time to replace them. Our fleet is very old, and at this point in time, one must expect that maintenance costs are going to become quite high to keep them airworthy.

Chroming process can also cause embrittlement, I believe…I’m not sure that you can just send them out for chroming like an old bumper…but I could be wrong. I’d do plenty of research on this before doing so- chroming includes removal of metal prior,to chroming, and these shafts are very thin walled to begin with. Other coating processes would likely include media blasting which, once again, may affect the thin walled tubes negatively. Be careful!

Loren’s Mooney salvage in Lakeport, CA.

Ah, I knew this would cause some confusion….including my own! This is from a more current manual. Which should we use, I wonder?

Also beware that not all main gear rigging tools are equal- the newer ones on the market aren’t the same as the original tool- the square socket for the torque wrench has been rotated 45 degrees. The torque wrench needs to be attached so that it is in line with the tool…not at 90 degrees, not at 45 degrees, per the Mooney manual drawing. If you get a newer tool with the square hole rotated 45 degrees, go buy a 1/2” to 3/8” adapter with a 45 degree offset to correct this (not easy to find)- otherwise, you’ll be setting the pre-loads wrong. Surely this will invite discussion. I had the opportunity to use both tools side-by-side and if the torque wrench is not in line with the tool, the torque readings change considerably= wrong pre-loads.

We just got one back for an F model and it doesn’t have slot/notch for the cowl flaps clamp either….at this point I think people are going to have to specify in advance that they want the slot. Our mount was sent out with the cowl flap assembly attached to it and it STILL came back with no way to reinstall the clamps!

As mentioned above, I would look at exhaust flanges leaking onto the CHT probes, the intercylinder baffles installation, absolutely confirm that you have no intake leaks by pressurizing intake and bubble testing. In the end, Climbing out at 125-130 mph will cool things down as well. I tried everything, and when I finally ditched my chrome cylinders, everything got better.

It could just be the picture, but your oil cooler looks like it’s seen better days….what is the condition of the oil cooler? And what is your oil consumption like? Blow-by puts a lot of heat into the oil.

I might agree to that provided the aircraft hasn’t seen any dormant periods during the previous 500 hours….but I rarely see planes that are flown regularly or that have not sat for years at some point between 500 hour inspections. This is where I send my mags, and this is the list of items performed during their 500 hour inspection. Aircraft Magneto Service

One thing to consider- not every mechanic has a tin of the correct grease for the Bendix bearings though…and they typically won’t be able to check the run-in speed at the correct spark gap, or have the setup to do all the required capacitor checks and then re- magnetize the magnets…I understand that many will think this is unnecessary, but it’s nice to have a magneto shop do all that and then bench test them after inspection/overhaul.

Look at the engine serial number in your logbook- if it ends with a letter, it’s a wide deck. If it ends with a number, it’s a narrow deck