options for cracked spinner filler plate

[Vance Harral]

Aircraft is a 1976 M20F with a Hartzell HC-C2YK-1BF prop.  Annual inspection has turned up two separate cracks in one of the two filler plates in our spinner (see attached pic).  This is not the spinner "bowl", just one of the filler plates that attaches to the bowl, behind the prop blades.

 

As far as I know, the spinner is original equipment.  Best as I can interpret the parts manual, this is the Hartzell 1904-3 spinner, with the associated filler plates being listed as P/N "A-2480".

 

I found a Hartzell maintenance manual online which suggests certain cracks can be stop drilled, though I think ours may be too severe.  Anyone stop-drill or otherwise repair a filler plate and care to offer advice?  Alternatively, is this a good candidate for fabrication as an owner-produced part, using the cracked plate as a template?  Best as I can tell, the filler plate is a simple piece of sheet aluminum, cut to a specific shape, with a few nut plates riveted to it.  Seems simple enough, though not sure what particular flavor of aluminum alloy is appropriate.

 

Last resort is to buy new, but I can only find reference to P/N "B-2480" in online sources.  Does this supercede the "A-2480" filler plate?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice/suggestions.

[Openwheeler3]

I had a shop repair one of these by simply riveting a new piece of metal onto the plate across the crack. Mine was cracked in the middle, though. Your cracks may be harder to fix.

[N201MKTurbo]

I would just make a new one. Use the existing one as a pattern. Drill out the rivets on the nut plates and duplicate the holes on the new piece. Massage it over something about the same diameter as the spinner till it gets the same bend to it. Rivet on the nut plates and paint it.

[orionflt]

PM me, I have two from a spinner that I replaced

 

Brian

[Vance Harral]

PM sent, Brian, thanks.  Appreciate the other suggestions, too.  Fabricating a new one seem straightforward, but I'm not a metallurgy expert.  Need to use same thickness, alloy, etc.  Weight has to be close enough to be reasonably balanced until I can get the airplane to a prop shop for a fresh balance, which we're due for anyway.

[Awqward]

These "filler plates" are called "doublers".....$378.47 + S&H....EACH... from Mooney via your MSC...ask me how I know

[aeromancfi]

Spinner balance is an issue with patching a filler plates, so I would avoid a "Patch" unless you match both sides.  I had one placte crack on my 65E, Lake Aero furnished a replacement, I think they may have fabricated it themselves, but it had newer style nut plates.  The fit and hole alignment was perfect. It was bare metal so painting with a "rattle can" took care of that. 

aeromancfi

[Awqward]

I doubt they fabricated it themselves....only an owner can do that under Part 43...and even then it has to conform exactly to the original spec...in materials and dimensions...

[Awqward]

Well I just got the bad news via Russell at SWTA: my new spinner aft bulkhead from Mooney is not going to be ready now until 3/9...having slipped from 2/11....having been ordered in November....so that will have my airplane AOG for nearly 4 months by the time I get it!

So I'll plead one more time: does anyone have / know of an aft bulkhead (backplate) for a M20J with Hartzell q-tip prop HC-YC2K-1BF / 7666A-3Q? At this stage I'll take anything that's not cracked to get me airborne until the new part arrives....

Anthony

[Vance Harral]

Sorry to hear of your trouble, Anthony.  Wish I had parts to help you out, but don't know of any in my local area.  When I found the cracks in our filler plates, I was afraid it was going to turn into a saga like yours.  Fortunately the filler plates are more available than the backplate, and in our case Brian helped us out with servicable used parts.  We took the airplane for its post-annual shakedown flight this morning, and all is well.  Thanks again, Brian.