Rage

JV, I would certainly consider the reseal when pricing the aircraft you are going to purchase. I bought a 68 20F last February and during the pre-purchase inspection that was one of the things I specifically wanted them to check. Unfortunately that was either ignored or not noticed (it was done at a MSC in NY) and shortly after getting the plane out here to Utah we notice some weeping and blue stains inside along the airframe tubing behind the interior side panel covering. 10 months later the tanks are now "leaking" and we are going to have to get them resealed in the next couple of weeks. The current quote I have is $8300 + a potential extra $5-$1000 for replacing some screws on the access panels. This quote was from an MSC in OR. In retrospect, knowing the tanks had not been resealed since it left the factory, I wish I would have considered that in the price I paid. An unexpected $8k+ price hurts after you just bought a plane and made all of the little mods you wanted to make it "your" plane. Blue Skies, Rage

I've started to notice a lot of pressure required to remove the fuel cap from the right wing tank of my '68 F. Upon removal there is a huge delta in the pressures. I’m guessing that the equalization vent is clogged, but I can only find the single tube sticking out from the bottom side of the wing just aft of the leading edge. From what I can tell, this tube doesn't seem to have any effect on the pressure in the tank. Does anyone know where the equalization vent is and does the Mooney have any sort of crossover tube between the right and left tanks?

Can someone who has removed the fresh air vents please provide some detail on how they accomplished it? I'm in the process of repainting the plastic and can't figure out how to remove them.

Thanks, that's great info. Most of my time the past 7 years has been in higher-end aircraft that I don't have to pay for or maintain, so getting back into GA aircraft is requiring a lot of learning...but I'm loving it. I'm still too big of a wimp to do too much VFR out here in the Utah mountains so everywhere I go I at least file IFR...putting in the standby sounds like a good idea.

First of all, thanks for the great advice and input everyone provides on this forum. I just purchased my first Mooney (two weeks ago), a '67 20F, and ya'll were extremely helpful. I have not posted yet, because so far I've found every answer to any question I've had somewhere on the forum. So here I am with my first of many questions. The plane I bought had the standby/backup vacuum system removed a few years ago (I believe it ran off of the Manifold system) and I kind of like the idea of redundancy in that area. First, is that necessary in a GA aircraft for a lot of IFR flying...I would assume so? If so, what are some good options for a standby system? Do you add a second vacuum pump or do you go with an electric backup ADI?