47U

The fact that the mx manual doesn’t fully address the ramifications of the eccentric bushings is (I think) a pretty big deficiency. I only learned of them when I was trying to figure out why one of my nose gear extension tubes was so tight I couldn’t rotate it, and the other one was sloppy-loose. The eccentrics were not set to the same position. And, there is some evidence that at some point my nose tire had retracted high enough to leave skid marks on the top skin of the wheel well. To leave out the possibility of rudder interference and to also not explain the reason for the shaved Heim bearing and the steering link orientation… I’m fortunate for the smart people on this forum. Oh, and I fixed the orientation of my steering link. Interference must be a concern based on how much material is shaved off the Heim bearing. It’s almost down to the bearing insert.

Your’s is a ‘62C, with the needle bearings on the carb heat flapper? (Picture saved off a previous MooneySpace post, I think.) You can probably find a serviceable air box from one of the salvage yards, or, working with your A&P, repairs to your air box would be possible as previous posters suggest. I‘m thinking you have a ‘62C because, (not to alarm) but some years ago I heard first-hand from the owner of a ‘62C that he suddenly experienced a change in engine smoothness. The proverbial ‘auto-rough’ over open water, as it were. He was on the (San Francisco) Bay area tour, at night, with his wife onboard. The mechanic found one of the needle bearings from the carb heat flapper bearing welded to the center electrode of one of the spark plugs. My ‘63C doesn’t have any bearings, just the flapper door shaft in a plain carrier. If it gets too far worn, it will start wearing on the intake duct. I made a little sheet metal patch to close up the gap. LASAR still had the Mooney kit available 15 years ago when I rebuilt my air intake. It included a new flapper door, shaft, shaft (plain) bearings, and a new hot air dump valve. The kit isn’t available at the factory? I think it was about .8 amu 15 years ago… surely they could make a profit on the kit with today’s prices.

I think this bird is a 1974, so the upper catch is a hook that captures a vertical pin. Not a very good picture…

That makes a lot of sense. Because you are right. And I’m wrong, again. I took the picture to be sure, and then I didn’t follow it. A short search into the archives (in the light of morning) revealed… I’m lucky I didn’t have the same interference as Cliffy. Lucky. I just returned from Willmar for tank reseal. It was over 30 hrs tach time, there and back. But, I’ll be fixing this before further flight. Rob, not sure if I’ll ever get to the Northeast, but I owe you dinner, or at least a beverage!

Last summer I went through the whole nose gear. Stripped, painted, bushings, donuts, steering link and upper structure from LASAR, the whole she-bang. And I’ve been able to get my oil consumption (leaks/blow by) down to a quart every 12-15 hrs which helps. It was a mess before I started, though. Something had to be done. Don’t disagree with your statement. However, I put it together the same way as I took it apart. The shaved Heim bearing obviously goes into the steering link for clearance issues. Could be the IPC is wrong, or over the 35 years before I owned the airplane someone deviated. I would guess that it had been apart before I took ownership. At this point who knows? Is it worth fixing to match the IPC? Debatable. Below is the IPC for my serial number. Lacks clarity… ambiguous, at best.

I can now visualize… and Rob (takair) had a good post… Cliffy, have you been able to figure out why the interference is occurring? ‘Something’ must have changed. Even if the interference resolves when the gear is down, if something is breaking, that could be really bad. I think the shaved-down Heim bearing is for clearance with the steering horn only. There’s no change whether the gear is up or down. I also would think that if the elliptical bushings have not been touched, then something else has changed to cause the interference when the gear comes up. Something bent or broken. Maybe something structural, like the nose gear trunnion mount(s) fuselage tubes.

That was my first impression that you are talking about the carpet in the nose wheel hump, then I digressed into thinking it was the flap/trim indicator cover. (Sorry about my confusion.) My nose wheel well is also covered in carpet, same carpet as the floor. It was cut to fit around the sides, but the top is a separate piece. There’s binding sewn on the carpet edges. All of it is attached to the aircraft with contact cement, which I’ve had to reattach some loose parts. I don’t think it would be too bad a job. I’d make the top piece separate with a slit(s) to accommodate flight control rods and support structure. The boot around the control rods could be made with a seam so you don’t have to disconnect anything. What year Mooney? A little more complication if you have a gascolator in the nose wheel well. The gascolator mount hardware penetrates the left sidewall of the wheel well. And then there’s the short fuel line from the gascolator that exits the wheel well and connects to the 90 degree elbow forward of the right rudder pedal. The flap/trim cover hardware has tinnerman nut plates in the nose wheel well, too. I’d think that if you’re handy at all, go for it. Burn certs required on the material/carpet you end up using. Progress pics would be great!

Picture? I’m having spatial disorientation.

Is your flap/trim cover made of aluminum or royalite?

I”m not being much help here… you might find something at the hangar.trader website. As you probably know, Port-A-Port is making parts and support, but not manufacturing hangars. https://www.hangartrader.com/find-hangars?search=&city=&country=-1&airname=&airid=&cat_p=1&cat_c=1&exf_14=&option=com_jomclassifieds&view=search&Itemid=234

I had a DG doing that once upon a time… coming out of an annual inspection. Except, mine was rotating CCW. The vacuum hoses were hooked up backwards on the DG.

I made an extension out of some 1/4” tube and a short length of hinge pin, JB Weld to hold it together. Then I discovered that the GATS jar probe is long enough to drain fuel from the selector valve sump.

So, did you end up with a wide deck instead of a narrow deck? If so, was there any difficulty in that transition?

George has been retired for some years, now. In 2013 he overhauled my generator. (I’ll wait for the engine overhaul to upgrade to an alternator, maybe 800 hrs away +-.) I did do the Zeftronics VR at the time, though.

Perhaps this bolt has some wear on it?

It appears to be the right filter according to the application chart. I wouldn’t think replacing the airlocks with screws would violate the PMA. Air filters are on the preventative mx list. I’d remove the airlocks and install it with screws. You can probably use the same screws from your K&N. Don’t forget to make a logbook entry.

The IPC part number… also listed at pn B3-555-A in the cross reference section in the back of the IPC. The switch part number 30212 (I think) manufactured by Arrow, Hart & Hegeman. Probably not going to find one… maybe on eBay. BUT, there are some possibilities on a controller.com search. Beech might have used the same dome light in the baggage compartment? https://www.controller.com/parts/search?SearchType=Start&PartNumber=b3-555-a

Interesting. How long have you had this airplane? Are you sure it’s the original spring? It almost looks like the spring is too long. Can you shim the hole in the flap handle to gain a little more tension? Is the spring fastened correctly on the forward end? @Sabremech does this look correct to you?

Yes, the top of the panel is tilted forward. It looks like it’s tilted backwards because the center radio stack is so tilted so much more forward. (And, I might not be able to hold a camera square with the world.) The bottom rubber mounts are quite solid in the cups (the cups were part of the LASAR panel mount kit). But, I understand your point. I’m guessing the gyros back in the day need some vibration protection, hence the rubber mounts? Although, a couple months ago a J model owner on the field asked me to help troubleshoot some intermittent ‘electrical arcing’ he was seeing under the pilot’s panel, occurring most commonly at full power on takeoff roll. His rubber mounts were so deteriorated that the panel sagged enough that one terminal screws on a switch, a little longer than all the others terminal screws, was arcing on the panel support structural tube. I went to the J model IPC to get the part number and counted like 18 (?) or something rubber mounts on the J model panel. These rubber panel mounts should be listed on your time change schedule. Like with engine isolators and landing gear donuts.

I agree, a phone call would have been the right thing to do. You might have ended up AOG for an unknown amount of time, but Maxwell should have given you that option.

Looking at that picture, certainly your frustration is understandable. It appears that some type of mx was required on the throttle cable that required the panel material to be removed for access and, to my untrained eye, it looks like only a matter of time before the same style of material removal will be required when your prop and mixture cable eventually require mx. Otherwise, Maxwell might have spent hours to demount the panel so that access to the throttle cable could be gained. Very unfortunate. I think the root cause begins with the layout of the panel which did not allow for mx access to the control cables. Surely the shop has the CAD file. What would the cost be to have them remanufacture the panel with appropriate cutouts for access to the control cables and swap the new panel for the damaged one? Perhaps they would offer a discount? You would expect, for $100k invested in a new panel, that allowances for future mx requirements would be accounted for. Part of (most of?) the liability lies with the shop that designed and installed your new panel. I’ll say again, this was very unfortunate. Your frustration is understandable.

Part number 750022. It looks a lot like the flap return spring on the hydraulic flap models, but that’s pn 750012. Zero hits on LASAR website. Zero hits on controller.com. Not sure how many B models are still around. Only 239 examples were built? For best results, I’d call your favorite MSC and see if the factory has any, or can source one. Barring that, you’re calling all the salvage yards. Or, find one that’s close on McMaster or the local hardware store and ask your A&P what options are available to make this into a legal part using vintage airplane rules. What’s the downside if it breaks? The flaps suddenly retract? That wouldn’t be good. A spring with an aviation Mil-Spec would be ideal as it would have some level of certification to a standard. Then again, your spring might surprise you and have a lot of life left in it. Replace it with a bungee cord as an owner produced part? Or, you could thread a bungee cord through the spring and fasten it on both ends, then if the spring does break, the bungee backup would keep the flaps in the notched position. I’ll stop now. I don’t think I was very helpful. Good luck…

The upper standoffs are long. They are sized to remove the bend in the original panel. After installation of the new panel, I measured the panel angle (aircraft leveled first) and it came out to an 8 degree tilt, a standard spec available in steam gauge gyros.

Hard to see in this picture, but LASAR sold me a panel mount kit. It included the ‘wedge’ to fill in the gap on the radio stack, standoffs, isolators, and three ‘cups’ which the bottom isolators sit in. The cups keep the isolators from sagging. On the top mounts, I put the isolators on the aircraft substructure, then the standoffs to the new panel. Not sure if that makes a difference, though.