Slick Nick

@dkkim73 yes, you’ll want to run it hard and ROP to keep the temps up. I posted a thread awhile back where I ran lean of peak at altitude and couldn’t get the CHT’s above 200. My hang up with the IPA is that it can be hard on tank sealants, so I only use it if I’m going to go through a couple full tanks right away. If my destination is such that I will leave the plane sitting for a few days with the IPA in the wings, I usually go without. Something to keep in mind. Flying when it’s this cold out is awesome, the air is often still and crisp.

Airframe hours don't really matter, especially on an airplane as well built as a Mooney. It's much more about HOW that airframe was cared for over it's lifetime. I've seen 1500 hour machines that are absolutely beat to sh!t, with corrosion everywhere, and 10,000 hour frames that have been maintained meticulously and look brand new inside.

Sacrilege! Jokes aside, looks pretty good. Any plans to do the other side?

Is that a beechcraft yoke?

The little lip on the inside i think is designed to keep water out, since it makes a bit of a bend where the door does. The way your seal is installed might allow moisture in behind it. You ssid you had extra seal left over? Might be worth redoing it the proper direction.

If your muffler is THAT close to the cowl, you've got much bigger issues than just the little tab sticking out. The engine mounts are probably toast, allowing the engine to "sag" down and interfere with the cowl. Once you bend that part up, it won't be long until the whole muffler is rubbing. Post a sie view of the front of you plane, and measure the gap between the spinner and the cowl top and bottom. If the sag is noticeable, have new mounts put in.

Because the density of the air changed from your departure and landing airports. Mixture is dependent on the density of the air entering the engine.

Nice review. Is it “P” shaped like the stock one? Almost looks like you have it on backwards, with the flat part facing outwards instead of being tucked flush under the trim panel.

Looks like something is rubbing on the cowling from inside.

Idle mixture is a funny thing, because if it's set at a high elevation airport on a hot day, it will be much different than an airport at sea level on a cold day kinda thing. It's a compromise to get it dialed in for the conditions you fly in specifically. Worth maybe having it checked again however, along with your ignition system being diagnosed. An inflight mag-check can tell you a lot next time you fly. Look up the "Savvy in flight mag check".

What do you do with mixture on descent and for landing? If you're sure it's not plug fouling, it could be a mechanical issue, or your idle mixture setting could be way off. Remember, that's not controlled by the mixture knob it's preset on the fuel servo by your mechanic.

Quite possible. Lead fouling of plugs will show up on a mag check. You need to lean it really aggressively in cold temps, I would even run it at peak EGT for a bit, see if that remedies it. If I recall you've been running it really rich for a whole lot of hours, you could have finally bridged a plug perhaps. How much of your oil cooler did you block? 280 on the cylinder head is pretty cold, what was your oil?

Not only that, but the whole “known” icing thing is up for debate. Is that areas where icing has actually been reported? Technically all of the prog charts are “forecast” icing, doesn’t mean it’s actually known. What’s the actual definition of “known” icing? I’ve got many hundreds of hours flying in actual icing conditions, and I still do everything I can to avoid it, especially in an aircraft that can’t fly fast enough for a ram rise that burns it off, like a single engine piston. Unfortunately, the Pacific Northwest means icing conditions are present for almost half of the year.

I keep my plane inside year round so I don't mess with changing oils much, even when I'm at an outstation I'll have the plane put inside overnight so the engine never really gets "cold." If I am somewhere say, for lunch and it's cold outside, just putting the cowl plugs in and parking away from the wind usually keeps the engine nice and warm for a couple hours while I'm gone.

You’re right, there’s not much you can do about things like landing gear pucks, etc. just be cognizant of how brittle things can become in the cold temperatures and try and be as gentle as you can. Cowl flaps open for start, close them up as soon as the engine is running and keep them closed you will not need them at all when it’s that cold. What are you doing to clean frost and snow off of the airframe? Have you got wing covers and stuff?