Huckster79

Right, that is nice, especially with it sometimes being a “gremlin-y problem” to find right spot. I was just curious, i re-read my post and it could be taken snarky- that wasn’t the intention.

What are they doing for 1750 a side? Like a “top coat” over what’s there? I’m thinking that’s what was done to mine…

yea I sure hoped to do the repair, but seeing the sealant condition once we started scraping I wasn’t comfortable with just a repair… im doing good though, this is third bird I’ve owned and this is the first repair that snowballed on me…

$5850/wing, mines an F so 64 gal, idk if diff models are diff price depending on size or not. I was really bumming making the call, but now it’s made I’m excited to have it fully addressed… get this done n start re-saving for a paint job…

Besides the fact that it meant a full strip n seal I suppose if I was going for DIY strip it would be great! it still took a bit to get the spots fully clean but a bulk of the scrape was far too easy… I did t have anything else I wanted to spend 13 AMUs on anyway, lol. I think I should wait till 2025 to bring up a new paint job I want . But hey tanks will be freshly sealed so great time to paint

Well OP here, I have an appointment this spring with WetWingologist in Ft Lauderdale... We got into the repair, and though the sealant looked visually very nice, it was because it was fresh over old... Once we got scraping for the repair, the scraping was just too easy, the original stuff underneath, just crumbled... So I'll be taking a hop to FL, with a few fuel stops being I'll just be on Right tank now... But as much as I hoped to avoid it, now that we got deep into it, anything besides this feels like a bandaid at best... I don't want to be on a long trip and find it painting a wing blue like crazy again a long ways from home or having to chase leaks constantly... I guess it makes sense too, as she needs a new paint job one of these years, and may as well have this done first.

Thank you! Makes sense!

What’s the reasoning? Just curious-not challenging. I was told to reduce it to “reduce stress/wear” but I’ve learned there’s too many OWT in aviation to accept what I was told without question now that you brought up a new view point.

concur! But I think he can find a very nice C for sure for less than an arrow… my insurance guy recommended Arrow to me when I decided to sell the c140, but most are similar priced or north really of a even a good F… I just couldn’t get excited about the arrow… I’m sure it is a good machine but it seemed like the Skyhawk of retracts to me… doesn’t mean there’s anything “wrong” with either, just no sexiness to them IMO…

Don’t rule out the e,f,g… I really fell hard for the F, she’s slower than a J, but a J just wasn’t in the budget, but I love the extra room of the longer cabin… I can’t say much about the arrow, but I’ll tell ya why I went Mooney after thinking super Viking, Navion, Bellanca Cruisair, older Bonanzas and a few others. My flying hours were c172 and mostly Cessna 140. the Mooney controls are beautiful compared to cabled ones. Shes absurdly efficient! I burned a full 1/3 less fuel than my 180hp c172 friend on a recent trip together and got there far faster, we left an hour n a half behind him, and passed him entering the pattern at his second fuel stop, my first and I only stopped to pee as I was at 1/2 tanks. So not only is her fuel burn great- the fact I can skip fuel stops adds even more speed in practicality. Theres a steel roll cage around my family… that means the world to me flying my kids a lot. 1050 useful load, gives me a 4 adult plane if I don’t top off. manual gear- I love how simple my retract system is, but wouldn’t have ruled one out w electric- I just really like the J bar setup. just a few notes as to why I chose my Mooney M20F

That’s the plan… really was hoping it was just the fuel sender

Just wanted to update you all... Well step 1 done: It is NOT the fuel sender as hoped... It appears the stain begins on the front outboard portion of the tank. It appears its low, as I found no stains on any vertical surface I could weasel the camera into, but that also isn't exhaustive proof either... I was able to chase the stain trail quite a ways with the help of my borescope in a couple of the inspection panels... So my IA and I decided he's going to pull it in the next opening he has, and we will drain it, pop an inspection cover or two and see what we can visually, to decide the next step... Thanks again for all the input and help!

Toughest part for me is this had to wait to Nov in MI… makes hangar work far less pleasant for doing diagnosis, if we repair it’ll go in my mechanics shop but the ahead of time diagnostic work I like to do myself and have him come over so I’m not paying for basic troubleshooting. I Gotta put styrofoam on the ceiling next summer so I can have a hope at some heat…

Oh and Wilmar is certainly a possibility still... All options are on the table, I'm just trying to take a methodical approach. By no means did I mean you were implying that one must absolutely spend the most, none of the comments here I don't believe are really coming from that mentality, even those suggesting shops if its needed. I was referring to folks I've talked to, and a few comments on FB that literally included a line similar to "if you can't spend the money to do it how I would, you need a new hobby" I meant no offense to you, or any of the mooneyspace gang, not by a long shot, so appreciative of each of you that took the time to respond. Wilmar is on the table and if the sealant overall condition looks poor, I'll be getting on the list. But if overall it looks good, I am more of the mentality to repair, but not if it looks obvious that it's a fools errand to repair. And I'm with you if I had the time, facility, proper assistance, and funds I would love to do a restore down to the last bolt, I think it would be very interesting... I've often thought I may try to pull it off when I retire- go get my A&P and rebuild one to brand new for the fun of it. But for right now, I'm trying to find the right balance of downtime, value of the maintenance funds spent, etc. I have a learning curve to still tackle on this bird, and I'm sure I'll make some wrong calls as I learn. I sure appreciate your input, and my apologies if I came off critical of anyone here, was not my intent at all.

Makes total sense, all of that! And yes I think some folks do find a sense of pride out of throwing money at birds just to throw money, and then accuse folks like you and I of "If you can't afford to do it the most expensive way possible, you need a new hobby", as I've heard that line or similar 1000 times. In my maintenance theology I've always searched for the middle ground, I will gladly invest what I need to to keep my bird in top notch shape, so I'm not always looking for the "Cheapest" route, however I am always looking for the best "Value" which may or may not be the cheapest nor most expensive... If my sealant is in rough shape I have no problem getting on the list to get them done right, but if looks good overall I think a repair seems most reasonable. Thank You so much.