Upgrading My 68C

[ryoder]

The more I investigate, research, price and daydream about mods the less compelling they become. It's like analysis paralysis. I am at the point now where I have decided to only do safety of flight and comfort mods like a new one piece windshield, some new carpet, repainted panels, and maybe a major overhaul and tank reseal. The airplane will most likely have the original panel for a very long time but if I want to sell it I'll probably get some of my money back, especially for the engine.

[Bob_Belville]

Less addictive too. When I'm locking the hangar door, the only thing on my mind is "When can I fly again?"

Yesterday I took off @ 7:30 (11F, a record low for here) for a 30 minute flight to Twin Lakes Avionics to get the bird IFR certified. @ 1:00 I continued over to KBUY to get the prop dynamically balanced. (Took to from .25 out to .05 which should reduce vibration). Arrived home about 4:30 with 40k headwind at just 6000.

 

With avgas and the two shops I probably spent $600-700. Matters not, a great day of flying. (Density altitude @ KBUY was minus 800', climb baby, climb!)   

[triple8s]

Oh and for the record? Don't tell yourself how getting a newer plane will require less maintenance....that's a load of crap! I moved up 30 yrs and have plenty of sqwawks. Tires, oh time for an oil change, oh now a strobe tube has blown, gosh when did I lose that static wick, it never ends. So get a bird that fits the majority of your missions if need be have a bit of avionic work done so its safe/capable and fly the crap out of it!

[BigTex]

Oh and for the record? Don't tell yourself how getting a newer plane will require less maintenance....that's a load of crap! I moved up 30 yrs and have plenty of sqwawks. Tires, oh time for an oil change, oh now a strobe tube has blown, gosh when did I lose that static wick, it never ends. So get a bird that fits the majority of your missions if need be have a bit of avionic work done so its safe/capable and fly the crap out of it!

.

Yep and for me it seems maintenance comes in waves. Just this month I had to replace the battery, alternator, boost pump and overhaul the fuel selector. Looking through my maintenance log it seems that there's nothing older than 2003 on my plane. So the only thing that's 1965 is some aluminum and the placard.

[LevelWing]

The more I investigate, research, price and daydream about mods the less compelling they become. It's like analysis paralysis. I am at the point now where I have decided to only do safety of flight and comfort mods like a new one piece windshield, some new carpet, repainted panels, and maybe a major overhaul and tank reseal. The airplane will most likely have the original panel for a very long time but if I want to sell it I'll probably get some of my money back, especially for the engine.

What are your plans for the engine overhaul since you said you're currently at 2500? I know you said you were trying to decide, just wasn't sure which way you were leaning. What you said in the post I quoted makes a lot of sense and seems cost effective in the long run. It doesn't help my decision, unfortunately.

 

Oh and for the record? Don't tell yourself how getting a newer plane will require less maintenance....that's a load of crap! I moved up 30 yrs and have plenty of sqwawks. Tires, oh time for an oil change, oh now a strobe tube has blown, gosh when did I lose that static wick, it never ends. So get a bird that fits the majority of your missions if need be have a bit of avionic work done so its safe/capable and fly the crap out of it!

Maintenance will exist in whatever plane I get, whatever year it is. That's always part of the budget, especially for the unexpected items that always seem to pop up.