Bartman

I replaced every screw on my inspection panels with this annual with the proper screw but used Stainless from Spruce. Put them in a cup with a couple of squirts of the Corrosion X and they all went in easily with my cheapo handheld nearly worn out lithium battery powered Black and Decker rechargeable handheld screwdriver.

Data point for an old thread. I considered cranking with the plugs removed, but comments from our @M20Doc Clarence changed my mind. Yesterday we removed the plug on the upper right front and filled the entire 8 quarts via the right side oil galley and it took several hours at low pressure. This morning I loosened the fuel lines and engaged the boost pump to clear the air out of the fuel lines. Afterwards we started the engine and she came to life in about 8-10 seconds, and oil pressure came up within 5-6 seconds of starting.

You can one day tell your child that mom and dad took you for your first flight on the same day that Elon Musk and a SpaceX flew their first crew on 5/30/2020

I snapped this during my engine removal. It’s in the pilot side footwell behind the right rudder-brake pedal. In this picture it is the cable coming out of the firewall. If yours has been removed I bet someone used it for wiring such as engine monitor.

Mine did that a couple of times and yes the handle suddenly spinning at your left lower leg does get your attention quickly !!! I added checking the red engagement knob to my preflight and TOD-landing checklists. Position the crank handle covering the red knob at all times. A small piece of safety wire can be your friend.

They can’t make them too good or they can’t sell parts. LOL

I considered going with roller lifters and and exchange, but after looking into the DLC coated lifters I chose to go that direction with a new Camshaft. Unfortunately my A3B6D engine was removed on 1/31 and shortly after all of my components were sent out to specialty shops the Pandemic hit. Due to unexpected delays at specialty shops and COVID-19 slowing everything down it took a while for all of my engine components to finally come back back in one place. Planning on beginning installation tomorrow morning

I fixed this problem last year with a new set of ignition wires.

My J has an off field landing due to loss of engine power in her history and the FAA records indicate the pilot had flown thru icing conditions as the cause. When I first read it many years ago I remembered my primary training and know about carburetor icing, but I didn’t understand how a fuel injected engine could develop induction icing. Later I joined Mooneyspace and read about the Ram Air and realized it was not just induction icing, but icing of the fuel servo and that 2+2=4. In 13 years of ownership I have never opened the Ram Air but have fought with the gasket that goes between it and the cowl many times. For these reasons when my rebuilt engine is installed later this month it will be without the Ram Air.

After the success and raves from some of the early adopters on Mooneyspace I chose to upgrade my 430w to the IFD440 and chose to add the remote transponder and their ADSB-in solution. I enjoy intuitive nature of the flight plan entry on the panel screen, but for me the IFD-100 app is the best. I now have a full screen on the iPad very similar to the panel mount and can make up flight plans at home which sync to the panel at startup. One thing, you have to keep both iPad and panel on the same IFR database cycle otherwise they will not sync together. I enjoy that I don’t have to worry about charging the Stratus or shielding it from the sun, but I do keep it in the bag for backup.

So much for thoughts of refurbishing cylinders and fix a leaking case stud. Time for overhaul.

https://www.csobeech.com/files/CenturyII&IIIManual.pdf Section 6 pages 1-5 may be of help.

We are away visiting so no picture, but our tree is decorated exclusively in Planes Trains and Automobiles.

Hey @hnorber how about an update ? I am in a similar situation but instead of burning I’m leaking. My IO-360 has about 1950 as well, but after the last rebuild it had some case work at about 500 hours and cylinders IRAN at that time. My issue is a leaking case stud and we are gonna either fix it with an oversized stud as recommended by several in this thread or it’s going for overhaul or exchange. Anyway we agreed to remove the cylinders and inspect the cam and lifters thoroughly. If it looks good then we IRAN the cylinders and reinstall with new rings.

My Century IIb with STEC-30 ALT is perfectly level and straight with no oscillating in heading mode. When I go to NAV mode running off of the Avidyne 440 I have a slight oscillation that I was not able to adjust out. The altitude hold works perfect if I manually trim it slightly up or down, but if I trim it perfect then turn on the STEC-30 ALT hold it hunts up and down and is uncomfortable. If it does that I turn the trim up or down slightly then is butter smooth.

The reason we flew in today was to reposition the airplane to go to DTS tomorrow morning. Airport is reported as open and even though my airplane is airworthy and all, I still don’t relish the thought of going there with two alphabet agencies on the grounds.

According to reports everyone is safe and uninjured and that is the main thing. Cessna Citation destroyed in the post crash fire. Yes I should have said they ran off the end of the runway, but what I hastily posted is a copy of a txt I sent to someone and I didn’t have time to fix it on the road. Anyway no injuries and local police, EMS and fire departments did their jobs well. AWOS reported winds as light and variable as we approached, but this is an airport surrounded by mountains and you gotta be on your game and expect the unexpected winds and downdrafts. When we turned final I said to my wife we have a tailwind. I even said to her we may need to go around but with just a little slip we settled down and landed about half way. That’s the farthest we ever touched down at this airport, but we were poised for the precautionary go-around but was not necessary.

Dale Earnhardt Jr just crashed at Elizabethton about 3 hours after we landed. We came in on runway 24 which basically you fly in the valley, turn the base leg over the hill and then turn final. When we turned final we caught a tailwind out of nowhere and I actually landed about half way. Based on my limited information and knowledge of the area I would say that’s what happened to them. Reports are he, wife, kids are OK and that all I know.

I bought what was at the time a really good example of a well maintained and reasonably equipped J model. It paid dividends because other than some general upkeep I have never been hit with a big expense, except for an expected an negotiated fuel tank seal. That will soon come to an end with a rebuilt exchange in my near future. Don’t buy cheap unless you really know how to evaluate. It can be expensive.

How about a spray of TriFlow or LPS-2 every oil change ?

Mine had SB compliance documented by a reputable shop, didn't mean squat. At one of my subsequent annuals we removed the side panels and found surface corrosion on the cage under the pilot side window. Had to be done again but it was only surface corrosion and not pitted. The previous repair looked like Krylon or something like that but after preparation we put the Zinc back on. Last year I found some very light surface corrosion on the center beam by the roof vent control and took care of that quickly too. Only way to really know is to look at the airplane, not the log book.

I have been cleared by Indy Center into PBX many time from as far out as 25 miles from the IAF and not hear another transmission until I'm inbound, yes its that quiet at times. The first time I got a clearance this far out was a few years ago back when RNAV27 was still a T shaped approach and I was cleared to one of the IAF on one of the side arms with "N201TF is 25NM from COFTA and cleared for the RNAV 27 approach, maintain at or above 4,700 until established, report inbound at OBSEW." I was kinda shocked they would clear me that far out, but later I found this to be commonplace into this airport. By no means am I an expert, and as Paul I think it was pointed out I was newly minted and unsure so I asked for lower when I reported inbound and all I got back was "N201TF you are cleared for the approach." Afterwards I discussed with my instructor and now I understand what cleared means, in other words if there are no other restrictions such as a crossing altitude then I am cleared to do what the approach plate says. Now we have the HILPT format and now I usually get the clearance with maintain at or above 4,700 and have even been given 5,000 until crossing OBSEW which is now the IF/IAF. OP, with my understanding I would remain at 3,000 until established or given instruction for lower. I have been bailed out by nice controllers like this one as well. Thank you for posting it and I learned from this thread.

Yeah mine has that on the top center case split since purchase in 2007. I don't remember what kind of material it is but it is hard and smooth and documented in the logs and was done at an engine shop about 200 hrs on this rebuild. There was documentation of having to split the case a couple hundred hours after rebuild due to leak at that seam. It does not leak at the top seam in the past 1200 plus hours. My current problem started when we put some dye in the oil and I saw that was the only place on the whole engine with a single drip with the blacklight so we thought it would be an easy fix.... NOT !!! The leak wasn't that bad before, just a nuisance, but now it drips on the nose wheel and although it has been steady for about 50hrs I still don't like it. Still considering if the camshaft looks good we hone all 4 cylinders and service the valves and maybe new rings and keep on flying on condition.

Thanks to everyone. I think we will pull at least one cylinder and look at the camshaft and if it looks good then decide what to do from there. I have a trips planned the next couple of months and in the meantime we will speak with an engine shop and make plans. It just so happens our AP/IA also runs a full machine shop as his main business so tools and expertise are not an issue. He is also a pilot and maintains a handful of planes at our field as a side hobby job and we are lucky to have him just like Mooneyspace is lucky to have knowledgeable members like yourselves and others. We will tackle this in the fall and I’ll post an update. Thank again !