Engine Inspection, time to open up

[philipneeper]

Well if you have followed me and my story of N3638H, then you would know we have had one learning experience together. Well, to my luck, it is time to do compression tests and open up the engine. I feel the prop is to easy to turn by hand and lack of flight has also added on my conscience among other things. So, that being said, with the insight of my IA, my wife and I are going to break her down and ship her out for inspections and rework on the internals. I will post pictures of this process under this forum. I feel this will be a learning situation for all of us who argue about sitting engines versus flying. Unfortunately, i am the guinea pig in this situation. So if you have questions or comments let me know and I will check this thread as much as I can. I can assure you, due to my budget and other squawks on the Mooney, the engine will be done by Feb. 
 
 
Very Respectfully, 
Philip and Michelle Neeper
N3638H

[ryoder]

Looking forward to it.

[N601RX]

My plane had set for 8 years in Southern Georgia and had only flown for 26 hrs during that time. A few of the years the only flight was to the shop to get the annual.  When we took it apart we found corrosion on most all the steel parts.  The crank and rods had some minor spots of them, but they were able to polish them out and grind the crank. The lifters, cam,wrist pins, geartrain all had pitting and had to be replaced.

[Oscar Avalle]

My bird did not fly for 4 years while I was stationed in La Paz Bolivia. It was hangared near Lancaster PA. When I brought her back to life I did not trust the engine to fly me over the Caribbean to Guatemala so I decided to do a full overhaul. The engine had about 1400 hours.

[philipneeper]

Got the engine mostly tore down last night, I was really amazed what it looks like in side. Initial glance doesn't look that bad! I took a crap ton of pictures, will post them later. Going to finish tearing it down and separating the case!

[MB65E]

Cool! Take your time splitting the case. Use the tool, or go really slow.

Turns out my case was scrapped anyway, but still feared cracking it more.

Look up all the SB, service letters, etc. I had an older overhaul from 85 that had the wrong Rod bolts, 2 piece cam, older crank gear, etc. Bringing it all up to speed took some research. I had a lot of fun doing it all.

-Matt

[carusoam]

The MS community learned a ton from Phillip's first part of his refurb project.

I am looking forward to the next part.

Best regards,

-a-

[philipneeper]

Cool! Take your time splitting the case. Use the tool, or go really slow.

Turns out my case was scrapped anyway, but still feared cracking it more.

Look up all the SB, service letters, etc. I had an older overhaul from 85 that had the wrong Rod bolts, 2 piece cam, older crank gear, etc. Bringing it all up to speed took some research. I had a lot of fun doing it all.

-Matt

[philipneeper]

I been recording all part and serial numbers so I can AD research everything. I think it looks great inside! I was taking my time but kinda got impatient and made a lil impression in a non surface area. Hopefully that isn't a $2900 mistake!

[Conrad]

Definitely post more pics!

[N601RX]

I did the same thing 3 years ago. Take your time and it will go fine. Something to be aware of is that the lycoming overhaul manual is not complete. Instead of publishing a new manual they just issue service bulletins. Not all of them are referenced in the manual and not all of them are published on lycoming a website. The only way to get them all is to buy a subscription to them for a year. There is several hundred of them and you will have to read through them and see which ones apply. Then print all that apply out and arrange them in the order you will be assembling the engine and for the longer and more complex ones highlight the parts that apply. You will have to the continually go back and fourth between the overhaul manual and sb's. The devil is in the minor details, such as knowing which bolts to torque wet and which ones to torque dry. Some years lycoming has a seminar at Oshkosh and SunInFun where they assemble and engine exactly as they do at the factory and point out details that might otherwise be missed. They also teach a regular weeklong class.

[philipneeper]

Not to bad!!

[Sabremech]

This just goes to show that just because an engine sits idle, doesn't automatically mean it's going to rust. Way to many variables to make that assumption.

David

[philipneeper]

Half the time my plane didn't even get a chance to idle. More sitting that anything.

[philipneeper]

Still got to send them off for MPI

[MB65E]

Looks really nice inside! Cam even looks salavgable. What grind is on the crank flang now? .003, .006, .010? Hopefully, it won't even need a full grind. Aircraft Specialties ground and did a full race balance on mine.

Hopefully you will be flying again with a full major for a price that's very reasonable.

-Matt

[philipneeper]

I'm not sure, my IA has my log books at the moment. I'm sure that engine is factory

[63C]

Looks as good as one that was flown daily. I've never subscribed to the belief that engines automatically rusted up while sitting for extended periods.

[philipneeper]

Hello Group, 

 

As promised here are the pictures.

[philipneeper]

Part 2

[Marauder]

Philip -- I'm sure you posted the history of this plane and engine somewhere. For those of us joining mid saga, what is the history of this engine?

[philipneeper]

I don't have my log books near me, my IA has them. However, Im tracking tach time 2499.77 and to my knowledge, it is the original engine. I replaced one cylinder in 2010. 

 

The airplane sat 14 years in a florida t hangar until I got her in 2010. Flew 1.4 hrs to her hangar and sat there until 2012. 2012-2013 she flown 13 hours. 

[carusoam]

While you are in there...

Check the engine mount where it bolts to the aluminum blocks at the firewall.

The two ears (lower/co-pilot side) separated off my C's mount by breaking their welds.

I fixed it by giving it to the next owner... Fortunately you have a lot more skill than me.

Best regards,

-a-

[Marauder]

I don't have my log books near me, my IA has them. However, Im tracking tach time 2499.77 and to my knowledge, it is the original engine. I replaced one cylinder in 2010.

The airplane sat 14 years in a florida t hangar until I got her in 2010. Flew 1.4 hrs to her hangar and sat there until 2012. 2012-2013 she flown 13 hours.

You would never know that was it's history based on those pictures!

[MB65E]

Looks great inside!! I think everything looks like it will be salavgable!! The crank will clean up nice by having the flange re-cadded. Looks like a fun crew too!!

-Matt