KSMooniac

Liberal use of tri-flow all over the cable, perhaps with a helper exercising the cable while lubing. You should also check for freedom of movement and make sure you don't have a mechanical issue with it too.

No debris is normal, I'm afraid. Lew's idea about draining repeatedly sounds like a good first step to me. I can't remember if your plane had sat a long time or not before you got it, or if the prebuy noted anything tank-related. Can you refresh my memory?

My bad! I forgot that the venerable C model made it all the way to '78! O-360 jugs as a core only are probably only worth a couple hundred each, but who knows. Barnstormers or even eBay are good places to try to move them...

Alan, you can use a clean jar...just make sure to sample mid-stream and not catch the first oil coming out of the quick-drain. I read of one account where someone used a baby food jar for their sample and mentioned that in the notes. Blackstone noted a slight concentration of applesauce.

O-360 jugs are NOT the same as IO-360 jugs, and cost about half as much, so you need to double-check. Our IO-360 A3B6D engines have sole-source Lycoming jugs with no aftermarket competition, and thus they cost twice as much as any other cylinder on the market.

Uh, where in the world did you find 4 reman'd IO-360 jugs for $2k? An overhaul is on the order of $800-1000 each, and new ones are ~$1900 each. Did your A&P tell you exactly what would be done for $550 each? If you buy someone else's used jugs you likely won't know the history and especially the time in service. If your existing jugs are first-run, I would opt to have those overhauled by a quality shop. If they have 3000+ hours on them, then perhaps not... I wouldn't buy a full set of used jugs, so can't begin to put a value on them. Depends on time of course, and how they check out, but I can't imagine them being worth much more than say $400-500 each.

Service work sustaining Mooney By Alton K. Marsh Mooney Aircraft is riding out the economic downturn through customer service and warranty support work, a spokeswoman said. Once an employer of 400 workers, the Kerrville, Texas, company now has 55. Customer support remains fully staffed at the factory. Mooney did not display last year at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis., and will not display again this year, but continues to attend other shows such as Sun ’n Fun in Lakeland, Fla., and AOPA Aviation Summit in Long Beach, Calif., Nov. 11 through 13. Mooney will send factory representatives to Oshkosh, as it did last year. The Mooney inventory sold out last December. There are no new aircraft at the factory or at dealers. Some 7,000 Mooney aircraft remain in service. Although there are eight partially completed aircraft in the factory, Mooney will not complete those unless a production line can be sustained. A ready workforce remains in the Kerrville area, although some now drive to aerospace jobs in San Antonio. Others have found work in Kerrville. Talks are in progress with new investors so that the production line can be restarted. However, the investors feel the economy remains volatile, and while many indicators have improved, there remains little confidence among customers in the current recovery, the spokeswoman said. Mooney has received inquiries from owners who want to upgrade, indicating support for a production line once the economy improves.

Quote: KLRDMD The RAM air is disabled with the Ray-Jay turbo installation on the E/F

My plan will be to get a local shop cut and sew carpet to my specs, and I'll add some floor snaps to secure it as well. It is just one of those things on my perpetual wish list. (and no disrespect taken!)

Mitch, I have no idea which vendor made the carpet in my plane. I had some previous experience with some Airtex seat covers and carpets back in the 90s with some 152s and 172s, and I was not impressed with the carpet back then. I've certainly read quite a few good PIREPs on their stuff in the last few years, so perhaps they are much better, or they have different grades of carpet. In my case, this stuff is thin, moves around, stains very easily, and the welting is coming loose after just a few years in service. Some day I'll replace it with something of much higher quality...

Here are some pics of my (dirty) carpet. Hope that helps!

If anyone thinks that any airplane makes it through the production line without an off-spec or damaged part, you're kidding yourself. Parts get damaged all the time in normal production, and go through a process with engineering review to repair, replace, or use as-is before they ever get a chance to accumulate real "damage history" in the field. Any prospective plane with damage history needs to be checked out by an expert and see if the paperwork matches the repair work. D.H. does have the potential to lower the value, but it is not an absolute. Nor does it make any airplane "trash" automatically.

Paul, I'll try to take some pics tonight...I'm headed to the hangar to take care of a few things. My carpet is a cheapy (perhaps Airtex) that I don't really like. One of these days I would like to replace it with something higher quality, but have been too lazy to make my own templates.

I think I spent about 2 hours removing my cable. The bits on the business end are easy, but there is a microswitch assy attached to the cable housing behind the panel that has major access difficulty, and there is a nut that needs to thread off the housing while removing it, which of course has access difficulty. On a 201 it just isn't worth having that system...it works great on the E/F though.

I think you'd be better off tracing/cutting your own templates and getting a local auto shop to cut and sew some carpet from approved materials of your choosing.

On a 201 I would say it is cheaper and better to simply remove the ram air system entirely since it is ineffective. There is SB guidance to do so, which happened on the later models from the factory. That little orange seal is very expensive too, and prone to wear and abuse since it snubs the lower cowl. I removed mine prior to paint last year and the paint shop filled the hole on the cowl and now you cannot tell. If faced with replacing that seal or the cable, I would opt to remove the entire system and pay less money to get the cowl fiberglassed and repainted. If you insist on keeping it, you could remove the cable and have McFarlane duplicate it for a reasonable cost. Removing it is a PITA in my opinion, and I would not want to reinstall it.

50 ROP is almost the worst mixture setting to run an engine, especially one making more than 65% power which is easy to do with a K at any altitude. 40 ROP is the worst.

Is the breaker popped? Manual system disengaged? Does the motor try to turn at all?

I'd want to see the details of the damage and the repairs, as well as a Mooney-savvy pre-buy. Typically the spar doesn't get damaged in a gear-up/gear-collapse to my knowledge, so there may be more to the story. I'd be more concerned about the weak avionics, though. You'd have to get it really cheap to have some good headroom left to modernize the panel. Is this a K from AR by chance?

Amelia, with a turbo Mooney I would say both "upgrades" are well worth the money. I will never own a plane without an engine monitor (that works!) and I would also make sure any plane I own runs smoothly LOP (carb'd engines excepted). If you can get your K to run LOP reliably, you can quickly "pay for" the cost of the GAMIjectors if they are needed to run LOP in your plane. You can truly run at the same power levels on much less fuel going LOP in a turbo...perhaps save as much as 2-3 GPH for equivalent power. Figure that saves $8-15 per hour and you'll be ahead after 66-125 hours depending on fuel costs. My JPI EDM-700 with fuel flow has been a champ. The previous owner installed it, and there is perhaps ~800 hours on the installation with no issues besides a faulty display that was fixed under warranty. I expect the newer -730/830 will have no issues with the more modern display, and I'm slightly tempted to upgrade mine to that configuration. I'm waiting for OSH to see about any specials before I jump, though. Their products work very, very well IMO and I can recommend them without reservation. If your burning hole is a bit larger, then you might consider one of the latest all-in-one primary replacement monitors that would allow you to liberate all of the vintage gauges/probes/senders etc. and get a nice, accurate, reliable box. EI, JPI, Auracle are options in this market, but it might require some substantial panel surgery. I would love one of these, but I'm waiting until/if/when I do a glass PFD upgrade b/c I figure I'll do a full custom panel at that point and combine the work.

Alan, aren't you glad you made that choice? That is a trip I very likely wouldn't make in my NA-J this time of year.

I've got the same issue...I believe the simple fact is that most finishes do not adhere well to stainless steel. Aero Comfort in San Antonio makes an attractive leather cover, but I haven't opted to get one yet. I would venture that just about any auto upholstery shop could make one cheaply given some dimensions, too.

I just saw that ad earlier this afternoon and was wondering about the leading edges...TKS or protective rubber? Since a hot prop is mentioned, I would imagine they would also list TKS if installed, but who knows. Regarding a 10 AMU annual, it could be a bunch of catch-up MX to get the plane into a sellable condition. Decent cosmetics, a 530W and a recent overhaul at that price is very, very attractive. I would be taking a hard look if I were in the market for a 252.

Very beautiful work! The powder-coated landing gear are outstanding too. Keep up the good work and you'll be flying a beautiful Mooney in no time.

3 weeks and 3 days, but who's counting? I haven't been since 1994 and am taking my dad (who has never been) via the Mooney Caravan!