PT20J

@Kerrville is correct. The firewall isn't used and the airplane has to be levelled.

I've never had it fail, but I have had three or four random disconnects that Garmin couldn't explain.

Clearly the rings weren't sealing well but it may not be the ring's fault (at least before they lost their temper); it's probably that the barrel is just worn out and maybe out of round. The rings are at the top of the cylinder when you do the compression test, but most of the oil loss would be as the piston travels up and down the barrel. Also, an oily cylinder will often have great compression because the oil seals the ring barrel interface during the test. It's just another reason why compression tests are not a definitive indication of overall cylinder health.

If the weights are correct, there is no need to reweigh it. Just level it and measure the gear positions per the Mooney procedure.

Likely

All speed brake installations are by STC. When Mooney installs them at the factory, they still use the STC.

That is impossible. The forward limit on a J is 41. My empty CG is 46. If it was reweighed, someone screwed up the calculation. (Because of the trailing link landing gear, you cannot use standard positions for the gear -- you have to use the procedure in the POH which is also in the Service and Maintenance Manual when weighing the aircraft). If the CG was calculated, you'll have to go all the way back to the factory CG and recheck all the intervening calculations (assuming that all the changes were kept) to find the error.

Keep in mind that they are the only ones that have seen your airplane and they might have noticed something not obvious from the pictures. Beegles has an excellent reputation for quality sheet metal work. That said, Maxwell also has a good sheet metal guy and the factory should be able to do a good job. But you'll have to talk to them. The repair I quoted was out at the wing tip (last two ribs) and may have been simpler to repair. No two are the quite the same and repairs on airplanes are expensive.

Lexan (i.e. polycarbonate) is more flexible and less brittle than acrylic so it’s less likely to crack. I’ve found step drill bits to be the best for drilling holes in all plastics. Seems like you would still need to get the curve as the lens in the picture appears slightly convex. You could make a cast of the underside with plaster of Paris and then heat a piece of Lexan over it with a heat gun and then trim it to size.

I once brushed that switch while reaching to change the heading bug while making a 180 to extricate myself from icing. I immediately retracted them, but the left brake had collected enough ice to not fully retract. I now pull the speed brake CB if there is any chance of entering icing conditions.

If you have the yoke-mounted speed brake switch, it is very easy to brush against it with your left arm when you reach around the yoke and this will extend the speed brakes without you knowing it. When you turn off the master, the brakes free-fall with a loud clunk. Scared the heck out of me the first time it happened. Skip

It was the previous owner so I wasn’t involved. I would get your local maintainer to work out what needs to be done to get a ferry permit. I once helped get a Beech 18 ready to ferry after it ran off the runway and hit a sign when a brake failed. We got some sheet aluminum and wrapped it around the leading edge to reform the airfoil shape and pop riveted it to the skin and sealed the edges with duct tape.

Don Maxwell is the owner of Don Maxwell Aviation Services in Longview, TX (KGGG). Maxwell is one of the oldest and best known Mooney Service Centers. https://www.donmaxwell.com/ The factory in Kerrville operates a service center: Mooney Factory Repair (Maintenance & Repair Only - No Part Sales) 165 Al Mooney Road North Kerrville, TEXAS 78028 United States Email: fsc@mooney.com Phone: 830.792.2052 Skip

There is no structure in the wing behind the leading edge to the spar outboard of the fuel tanks except the for the ribs. For comparison, the previous owner of my airplane bashed the right wing in 2017. It was fixed by Maxwell. They replaced two ribs, a skin, a wingtip lens and a few other minor parts for $1327 in parts and $4085 (43 hrs) labor. They primed the repair and scuffed the top of both wings and painted them for $2168. Total cost with tax and shipping was $7803.40. Keep in mind this was six years ago. Still, it's a lot less than $15K and you don't have to paint the top of the wings which adds cost if you don't care about a slight paint mismatch. You might call Don and send pictures for a second opinion. He was crazy busy when I was there in April with planes backed up all over the ramp and in hangars, so he might not be your quickest option. But, I'd give it a shot. I might also call the Mooney service department and see what they say. I believe they are actively seeking work to generate revenue and the parts department is close by . Skip

Well, obviously if it shimmies, or directional control is compromised, it should be fixed. But that is something that will be obvious and doesn't come on suddenly. The OP wasn't complaining about steering issues but asking what to do about a notation that a maintainer made that the steering has "excessive" play. The truth is that they all have some play in them even when new because of the design and there is no spec on it and so how much is too much is determined by the owner and the maintainer.

The “eight second ride” is about a nose wheel caster adjustment on pre-1977 airplanes that may not have been set up correctly at the factory. It is covered by SBM20-202.

The G3X likes to be the center of its universe. The only advantage to having FS 510 is being able to upload databases wirelessly (which some report doesn’t always work well). Bluetooth doesn’t have enough bandwidth for a speedy database update. FS 510 has a WiFi interface for that but the G3X does not. Whenever Garmin gets around to refreshing the G3X hardware, it’s a good bet they will include WiFi. But, that’s just a guess.

The nose wheel steering is not one of the strong points of the Mooney design. There is no spec on the play that I’m aware of. Blocking the pedals is part if the rigging procedure and not normally done during inspections. If you are happy with it and your IA considers it airworthy then leave it alone. The worse that happens is that you have to do a lot of footwork to taxi straight. if you want to fix it, it’s fairly simple to put it on jacks and replace the parts with the most slop. In my case, I greatly improved it by taking it to an experienced MSC. They shimmed the steering horn and replaced a couple of rod ends. Didn’t cost much and it taxis much better now. Skip

Garmin doesn't make it simple to figure this stuff out. Probably the best place to understand Connext (Garmin's marketing term for wireless data sharing) to tablets is the Garmin Pilot User's Guide because this app connects to all the products. Still, some of the descriptions there seem to have been plagiarized from other manuals and contain no new information. Keep in mind that Garmin products overlap in their capabilities and so it is possible to connect to more devices than you actually need to. G3X Bluetooth: Flight plan transfer to and from G3X; GPS data from G3X; AHRS data from G3X. These all work with ForeFlight. I believe that Garmin Pilot will also link EIS data from the G3X and download csv files of flight log data, but I don't use Garmin Pilot and haven't tried this. GTX 345(R) Bluetooth: ADS-B In weather and traffic to the iPad. Note that in a G3X panel, the GTX 345 internal AHRS is disabled. The FS 210 is, in my opinion, redundant. The AHRS in it is not going to be the same quality as the G3X and G5. For me, as a third, I wanted a completely separate instrument and installed an AV-20-S. So, with two connections, you get everything. I also Bluetooth pair my phone with my audio panel (PMA 450B in my case) to allow using the phone with my headset and playing music stored on my phone.

External IFR GPS mode indicator. Probably an older GPS that required this (it used to be common on IFR GPS STCs) was removed and this was left behind.

Master cylinders? Under left exhaust cavity behind cowl flap.

Can you install standard standard AGC type fuse holders somewhere around the dimmer controls and wire in place of the expensive fuses?

Threads are galled. I would replace the hose and firewall fitting.

I recently rebuilt my Cleveland master cylinders. I ordered the O-rings from Spruce using Parker documentation, but when I was looking at the M20J IPC, I noted that it included an exploded view of the cylinders including Paramount and appears to show the internal O-ring part numbers. You might check your IPC and see if it has similar info and cross check the part numbers with the LASAR kit. EDIT: Here’s the M20J IPC pages if it helps

Maybe the rings lost their seal due to the cylinder being worn out and the blowby is what overheated them causing them to lose their temper.