Guitarmaster Posted January 17, 2015 Report Posted January 17, 2015 I am deep into my owner assisted annual and all I can say is, this plane is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you will find. So far... Cracked muffler, down pipes AND tailpipe. There were screws inserted into the slip joints pretty much eliminating the "slip" part to it hence the reason for the cracking. Hmmmm. Leaking intake manifold gaskets. Ripped intake boot. PC system tubing very brittle and broken with two bad servos. Strange ADF looking thing BEHIND the instrument panel (see pic) Prop never had the original A.D. completed... don't even get me started. Vacuum warning system INOP. I actually had to design a new circuit, as the old one is no longer available, to monitor the vacuum system and output to the light. Works great now! Owner produced part. Gotta love it! Electric warning light. In the process of designing the circuit to handle this. Brakes down to the rivets. No wonder it wouldn't stop too well! Aileron rigging was jacked up. Redoing the interior panels to get rid of the warped, mildewed panels. They look great now! The good news, no corrosion, no gear or fuel problems. Installing a power plug in the rear bulkhead for double duty. Rear seat power and a place to insert a trickle charger. IT's been a week of a ton of work, but it has been FUN! I know my airplane inside and out and I highly recommend everybody do owner assist! 3 Quote
carusoam Posted January 17, 2015 Report Posted January 17, 2015 Thanks for sharing the list and the pictures. Best regards, -a- 1 Quote
ArtVandelay Posted January 17, 2015 Report Posted January 17, 2015 What do you mean by "redoing the interior panels"? Quote
Guitarmaster Posted January 17, 2015 Author Report Posted January 17, 2015 Nothing more than removing the old cardboard backing from the carpet panels and changing them out with corrugated plastic. My plan is to do on airtex interior down the road sometime. But this will have to do for now. Quote
kmyfm20s Posted January 17, 2015 Report Posted January 17, 2015 Well you should have a smooth running machine now. Good job! 2 Quote
kmyfm20s Posted January 17, 2015 Report Posted January 17, 2015 Looks like your kiddo going to know a few things about airplane! Future pilot:) Quote
Guest Posted January 17, 2015 Report Posted January 17, 2015 I'm not sure that I would support the nose of the plane with the engine lift ring. It's not meant to lift the plane. Someone posted a picture of a nylon strap around the engine tubular structure, much stronger if its even required. Clarence Quote
jetdriven Posted January 17, 2015 Report Posted January 17, 2015 Who did the pre buy inspection? 1 Quote
Sabremech Posted January 17, 2015 Report Posted January 17, 2015 Who did the pre buy inspection? I was thinking the same Byron. Quote
yvesg Posted January 17, 2015 Report Posted January 17, 2015 Who did left the baby without supervision? Quote
Guitarmaster Posted January 17, 2015 Author Report Posted January 17, 2015 I was supervised the whole time. Quote
DS1980 Posted January 17, 2015 Report Posted January 17, 2015 Seriously. Who did the annual and prebuy? Quote
Mooneymite Posted January 17, 2015 Report Posted January 17, 2015 I'm not sure that I would support the nose of the plane with the engine lift ring. It's not meant to lift the plane. Someone posted a picture of a nylon strap around the engine tubular structure, much stronger if its even required. Clarence This is a great segue into a favorite Mooneyspace discussion about tying down the tail!! Quote
Super Dave Posted January 17, 2015 Report Posted January 17, 2015 I'd love to learn the story of that ADF behind the panel. Made me laugh out loud. 3 Quote
Guitarmaster Posted January 17, 2015 Author Report Posted January 17, 2015 The annual was done by the broker after acquiring the plane in an estate sale. All the AD's were complied with and he installed the new aileron control rods to cancel that recurring AD. The prop was a tough one. It was signed off with 50 hours left till inspection but... the initial was never done because the airplane sat for a considerable amount of time and went past the calendar time to do the first inspection and stamp the hub. It is heading to Cody Stallings at the end of the month for the prop. I will be interested to see how much difference the dynamic balance makes. My IA is a VERY thorough guy and he had to dig deep to find that. The pre-buy was done by a local mechanic familiar with Mooney but not that airplane. I shadowed him while he did the pre-buy and I asked MANY questions. At the time, I didn't know any mechanic of my own and just had to hunt for somebody. In fact, I didn't even know about this site, although I wish I had. In any case, it was not a MSC. I called Mooney, LASAR and Don Maxwell about the vacuum and electric warning systems parts. NONE had never heard of such a thing. I think Don is pretty much the Mooney guru. He did tell me that the '75 and '76 are strange years. Mooney was transitioning to the "J" and these two years have some different things not found in other Mooneys. Go figure. Funny though, my truck is the same way. I did learn from Don that I should pick up a "J" service manual because most of the systems in the late "F" are the same. In any case, I don't play the blame game. I take a vast majority of the responsibility. Did I get taken? Maybe, but outside of the few systems that required repair, she is a corrosion free (as much as an aluminum airplane can be), straight bird with a strong, healthy engine. I am HUGELY thankful for my IA that is willing to work with me for a small cost. I have had a great time working with him fellowshipping, learning and fixing my airplane! I know EXACTLY what I have now. BTW, if you are having problems with the PC, check the tubing. The red stuff seems to get really brittle. When we tried to bend it, it simply snapped. The Brittain folks have been awesome! 5 Quote
Guitarmaster Posted January 17, 2015 Author Report Posted January 17, 2015 I'd love to learn the story of that ADF behind the panel. Made me laugh out loud. Me too!! We think it might be a repeater of some kind. I guess they did things different back then. Hahahaha! Quote
Marauder Posted January 17, 2015 Report Posted January 17, 2015 I am deep into my owner assisted annual and all I can say is, this plane is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you will find. So far... Cracked muffler, down pipes AND tailpipe. There were screws inserted into the slip joints pretty much eliminating the "slip" part to it hence the reason for the cracking. Hmmmm. Leaking intake manifold gaskets. Ripped intake boot. PC system tubing very brittle and broken with two bad servos. Strange ADF looking thing BEHIND the instrument panel (see pic) Prop never had the original A.D. completed... don't even get me started. Vacuum warning system INOP. I actually had to design a new circuit, as the old one is no longer available, to monitor the vacuum system and output to the light. Works great now! Owner produced part. Gotta love it! Electric warning light. In the process of designing the circuit to handle this. Brakes down to the rivets. No wonder it wouldn't stop too well! Aileron rigging was jacked up. Redoing the interior panels to get rid of the warped, mildewed panels. They look great now! The good news, no corrosion, no gear or fuel problems. Installing a power plug in the rear bulkhead for double duty. Rear seat power and a place to insert a trickle charger. IT's been a week of a ton of work, but it has been FUN! I know my airplane inside and out and I highly recommend everybody do owner assist! Let's compare notes! On my 1975, in the first few years of ownership; 1) Cracked exhaust -- check. I had a chronic problem of one of the exhaust tubes departing the airplane. I got the name "The Abort Kid" for the practice of starting a takeoff run and then aborting to taxi back to get my departed exhaust component. My mechanic figured out it had the wrong part on it. My bet is the previous owner had a similar problem and put a screw in it to prevent it from falling out of the cowl flap. My temporary solution was to safety wire the component so my piece stayed in the plane. Also watch for issues inside the baffles. 2) Ripped ram air boot - check. Be seated when you get the price of that gem. Some of the guys have repaired it. 3) Vacuum annunciator not working - check Let me guess. The silver vacuum sensor on the back of either the AI or DG had a crack in the silver solder? And that part is no longer available. I went with the Precise Flight low vacuum gizmo. 4) Electric warning light not working - check Before you go hog wild on that one, there is a resistor or diode in the actual wire coming up the annunciator panel. Mine failed. Also check the Molex connector to make sure the pins are seated correctly and not corroded. Almost forgot, the bulbs in the annunciator panel sometimes aren't seated correctly. 5) Aileron rigging all jacked up - check In fact all of my rigging was screwed up. I would have them put the boards on all of the control surfaces to make sure it is rigged right - including the flaps. Also make sure the gear is 100% up. Even a little down will give you "fly straight" issues. Let us know what you find out about that hidden treasure... Do you want me to give you the next 5 things to look for? Here's one that I am doing after 24 years of ownership and with the plane being 40. What is it? Hint - it costs $127 bucks with shipping. 1 Quote
Guitarmaster Posted January 17, 2015 Author Report Posted January 17, 2015 Wait!!! I know that one!! The static system drain? Quote
Guitarmaster Posted January 17, 2015 Author Report Posted January 17, 2015 This is was the problem with the vacuum. Electric TBD. Although, we can power the light manually so I don't think it's the diode. This, "mysterious, black, cylindrical object", was the problem with the vacuum. There is also one for the electric that does the same thing for under and over voltage. It's function is to separate high and low vacuum then blink the light for low and on steady for high. I finally got to put my electronics knowledge to good use! LOL! Quote
Marauder Posted January 17, 2015 Report Posted January 17, 2015 I just read your follow up message. The 75 and 76 model years are indeed unique. The 74 F models have different yokes and that panel layout is completely different. The 1977 J models inside look like our twins. They have the same power quadrant and the interiors are identical. The big change obviously was the new engine and the speed mods that LoPresti and crew added. Many of those mods can be installed on our model years. Another benefit of those two model years are the limited number of both one time and recurring ADs. Post some interior pictures of what you are doing. Not a lot of 75 and 76 owners on this board and I don't get too see what gets done to them. Check out TTaylor's work his 75. He did the single rear window conversion (76 F models came from the factory that way. Quote
Marauder Posted January 17, 2015 Report Posted January 17, 2015 Wait!!! I know that one!! The static system drain? BINGO!! WE HAVE A WINNER! 1 Quote
Tommy Posted January 17, 2015 Report Posted January 17, 2015 You must be feeling like a test pilot when you fly this Mooney! Wowza! 1 Quote
Marauder Posted January 17, 2015 Report Posted January 17, 2015 This is was the problem with the vacuum. Electric TBD. Although, we can power the light manually so I don't think it's the diode. This, "mysterious, black, cylindrical object", was the problem with the vacuum. The check circuit is different than the sensor circuit (trying to recall this from memory). My light test would always work. The annunciator test only tests the bulbs. It just never shows the condition of the sensors. I'm pretty sure the problem on mine was the diode or the Molex connector. It was one of the first things I tackled 24 years ago. I'll see if I can find anything in my logs. As for the black gizmo, no clue. Do you have sensor on the back of the AI or DG? Wonder if this gizmo was put in its place. Quote
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