stevedietrich

My recollection is that most of the then flying fleet were at a Mooney shop in Florida waiting for new (non porsche ) engines to be installed . Owners had made a major contribution to the conversion. A major hurricane hit and without consulting with the owners of the aircraft , the damaged aircraft were destroyed and the owners paid what many thought was less than the value. The shop was in bankruptcy, somewhat clouded in secrecy.

Long time FORMER owner of N231EW (231/262) 0- 3,500 hours ...... It was (for 20+ years) the perfect airplane for flying to support my business, our racing and a 650NM Friday night flight to Eugene for a weekend of fishing or just the weekly commute into LA . "Frugal, solo, few times a month" ....... You are probably better off buying a non turbo fixed gear single for that mission or perhaps an earlier model Mooney if parts are still available. For serious flying on the west coast the ability to climb the Flight Levels was precious ; however for your mission something simpler sounds much more practical. https://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisk48/48992378623/

My first guess would be an airleak somewhere between the turbo output and the individual cylinder runners. If the hose clamps are not tight the hoses will "walk" a bit. Also puts a lot of stress on the runners to the cylinders. A hint when the airplane is being serviced is to put a small mark where the hose end should be on the manifold and runners so that it is apparent if the hoses are walking.

Bleeding the brakes with CP brakes takes a lot of work, patience and some magic. Sounds like you still have some air.

Either one of the manual gear models for simplicity or the 231 with the 252 conversion 231 airframes are really inexpensive (unfortunately)

Another potential source of excess oil in the turbo and leaking seals is the turbo oil return pump and system. Years ago Duke made some defective return check valves that were improperly assembled. I believe one Mooney was lost and I had the good fortune to have landed with only a couple of quarts of oil left after a short flight. A further note is that there is an SB to insure that the clamps holding the check valves have the heavy duty rubber on them and it is in perfect condition. Wall thickness on the checkvalves is very minimal and can wear through very easily as I found out.