Shadrach

The plunger must be pushed out the cam side by applying force to the “needle” from the valve side.!I doubt the plunger is the problem. Recoining the valve seats does not take a lot of force. You’re not driving a nail. You”re just mating steel to aluminum in one case and steel to plastic in the other two.

Textbook induction leak symptoms. Likely have a cylinder/cylinders pulling unmetered air through one or more of the intake gaskets into the manifold under the high vacuum of closed throttle operations. Small variances in mixture make a large difference under such conditions. An intake leak will make the proximal cylinder run lean.

That’s one impressive engine you have there. 23”x2350 at 100ROP and 9.8gph is 66.1%. Truly amazing that you are only losing 1.1% hp by reducing FF by 1.1 gph and rpm by 50.

That would not work well at all for my SOP in the Mid-Atlantic. We can an easily make 24” above 7k here in the winter. If I’m staying low to avoid headwinds, I’m WOTRAO x 2500 and 25-30LOP at roughly 80% power. 23x23 LOP is less than 60%. At low altitude, the speed delta between those two settings would be nearly 20mph for my plane.

Insulated my cabin from top to bottom with half-inch closed cell foam save for the firewall, which has a blanket. I did do the top of the instrument panel. The difference as measured with an iPhone decibel was trivial. To the naked ear it seemed marginally quieter. I attribute this to the dampening effect of the foam. There is no background rattling or buzzing in the background. I believe the noise in Mooney is mostly generated by the prop. The tube and fabric Decathlon that I fly is far quieter than my Mooney. Some of that has to do with the fact that it won’t pull much over 2500 RPM but not all of it. It’s much quieter and idol as well… so I have to believe it has something to do with windshield proximity to prop airflow. The build quality and materials of the Decathlon are not nearly as substantial as the Mooney, yet it’s quieter.

Indeed removing the vibration and harshness leaves just the noise. Which is a major improvement.

@Alan Fox @Jerry Pressley

Having done all of them (some multiple times) in the last 20 years, I can’t think of one of them that is “probably” easier with the cowl off…they are all much easier with the cowl off. I am sure with some bloody knuckles and cursing I could manage but I don’t hurt myself anymore to save a little time. It often doesn’t work out anyway. If the oil cooler is relocated to rear baffle wall behind #4, there may be exceptions which also goes for alternators conversions.

alternator/generator replacement, starter replacement, intake duct replacement, exhaust removal. The heat muff can be removed with the lower cowl in place, but it’s tight. i’m sure I’ve left a few reasons off but I’ve had the lower cow off quite a bit. Indeed it’s off right now for a bunch of little things.

Doesn’t the lower cowl enclosure also block ram airflow into the heater inlet? The heater in my plane will cook you out of the cabin, but I’ve heard others complain that their heaters don’t perform as well. That complaint seems to correlate with the cowl enclosure.

And by stock cowl, I think Vance means the upper cowl and side panels only take a few minutes. The lower cowl piece is a bit of a PITA. Less than an hour to remove but not by much.

In terms of care and feeding, a vintage Mooney with manual gear is about least costly Single Engine Retract you can buy and operate. It gives tremendous capability for what it asks in return.

It’s going to pass. They have a veto proof 2/3rds majority. Vetoing it would be a useless protest vote with no political benefit to the governor (which is always his top priority). I lived in CA for many years and return annually to play in the mountains. I love the state but recognized early on that there were better alternatives for me. I think this will suck for Californians but their pain will benefit the rest of the country. There is currently no economic incentive to switch to a the only available alternative (G100UL). I have no faith that the EAGLE initiative will produce a solution in the next 6 years. So California airports will likely have one option in the forseable future and that is to offer G100UL at existing pumps. California pilots will have to get the STC or tanker fuel from surrounding states, a hassle and expense that only a devoted ideologue would pursue. So Californians will be early adopters by mandate. The rest of the country will see some economy from that early adoption. What’s interesting is that I have not seen much in the way of data that shows the damage from 100LL. We all know lead is bad to ingest but in terms of aeroengine exhaust, I’ve seen very little to suggest it’s causing a problem. California pilots bought 12,382,902 gallons 100LL in 2023. That represents ~54,600lbs of lead disbursed into the atmosphere. Reads like a lot but it works out to .41 grams a day per square mile. That would likely amount to a rounding error in the days of leaded auto fuel. Furthermore, it’s also the lowest volume of Avgas sold in CA in the last 10 years which I’d bet is lower than the previous 10.

My kids are infinitely happier in the plane after reinstalling the curtains. They like looking outside for sure, but having a shaded passenger compartment and ANR headsets is the biggest contributor to their comfort on long XCs.

I second everything Vance says above. The speed mods make for a more attractive, modern looking aircraft but the ROI on speed is pretty small. Probably 5 to 8kts at most. A well rigged, stock F model can be expected to yield 150kts at optimal cruise altitudes. Back of the panel access with stock upright windshield is…welll…possible…where as with the sloped windshield you have to go under or through the front. The SWTA sloped windshield modification retains two small access panels to the back of the panel. It’s better than nothing, but not ideal.

Thanks! I am trying to learn what is most common. I don't have much time in C models. All of the carbureted I flew in my early flying days had primer circuits. I am curious as to why the mixture is enrichened after the throttle is pumped and not before. Does it cause it over prime? In all of the carbed engines with primers that I operated years ago, mixture rich was the first step in the starting procedure. I'm not trying to nit pick, I'm trying to learn the idiosyncrasies of a set up that I don't often encounter.

Where does the boost pump fit in to this procedure?

The bead of a tubed tire does not hold air. That being said, I don't think that tube was inflatable.

Setting aside the pathetic gear up numbers, Speed kills…and as a group we are really adept at converting excess energy into bent aluminum.

Thanks. And here I was thinking they were made on a printing press and delivered on horseback… I’m sure that my travel experiences pale in comparison to yours. However, it’s my opinion that it is always prudent to give any government official a paper copy of a document rather than my phone. YMMV…

Often an ignition switch issue and also sometimes a continuity issue from vibrator to retard breaker. Best to do the easiest, least invasive thing first.

First thing I would do is check to see if the starter vibrator is buzzing with the key in the start position. That is to say with the key turned all the way to the right but not pushed in you should hear the high pitched buzzing sound of the energized starter vibrator. Note this has nothing to do with the engine's starter. That's the first and least invasive check. Attached is the manual for your SOS system. SOS IgnitionVibratorManual.pdf

I do not think a passport is required to move freely within the country (although it might help), however, proof of legal entry is (copy of form I94). Sort of Ironic that a southern border patrol agent is concerning themselves with a Kiwi traveling with a coworker. As if it were likely that he'd made the trek through the Darien Gap to get here... No one would do that to be an employee on the sell side of a merger...

Does it look like this?

Does your ignition have a "push" position like this one?