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Tanks sealed

ryoder

By ryoder
in Vintage Mooneys (pre-J models)

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ryoder Veteran

ryoder

Posted
Posted

I had my tanks stripped and sealed by a local shop for $1922. That includes both wings but does not include a ten year transferable warranty, just the normal guarantee you get from a shop.

The shop is well known and well liked. When I call them I get the owner and he takes his time to discuss things with me. People in the area know him and his guys do good work.

I am happy with the job. It is nice to not smell gas in the cockpit and to not have to wipe blue off the wings after putting it back into the hangar. But I will of course monitor it for leaks and take it back if I run into any.

Next up is the install of my one piece quarter inch green tinted windshield on Tuesday.

After that I'm going to replace the carpet and side panels and might even do the seats in leather. I also need to fix or replace the door panel.

  • Like 3
Marauder Grand Master

Marauder

Posted
Posted

I had my tanks stripped and sealed by a local shop for $1922. That includes both wings but does not include a ten year transferable warranty, just the normal guarantee you get from a shop.

The shop is well known and well liked. When I call them I get the owner and he takes his time to discuss things with me. People in the area know him and his guys do good work.

I am happy with the job. It is nice to not smell gas in the cockpit and to not have to wipe blue off the wings after putting it back into the hangar. But I will of course monitor it for leaks and take it back if I run into any.

Next up is the install of my one piece quarter inch green tinted windshield on Tuesday.

After that I'm going to replace the carpet and side panels and might even do the seats in leather. I also need to fix or replace the door panel.

And when you are done with all that, come to Delaware and do my interior!

  • Like 1
carl Proficient

carl

Posted
Posted

about how long do they need the plane for to do just the tanks?

I will need mine done . 

The top of the wing walk has a leak if i fill it up. 

Wakeup Proficient

Wakeup

Posted
Posted

If this guy does a decent job at 1/4 the price of the main guys he is going to be busy after the word is out.

scottfromiowa Grand Master

scottfromiowa

Posted
Posted

If this guy does a decent job at 1/4 the price of the main guys he is going to be busy after the word is out.

Ya think? Keep us posted on your satisfaction with result. A strip and re-seal for that price is really cheap...Hope it works out well.

LANCECASPER Grand Master

LANCECASPER

Posted
Posted

about how long do they need the plane for to do just the tanks?

I will need mine done . 

The top of the wing walk has a leak if i fill it up. 

 

Have the hangar elves pull off the old wing walk (they may need a hairdryer or heatgun to soften the adhesive as you, oops they, go). Help them find the screw by the cabin door that leaks and then follow this link: http://donmaxwell.com/publications/MAPA_TEXT/_overlay/Fuel%20Tank%20Repair_How%20We%20Fix%20Them%202-05.htm

 

Look at the section entitled "Panel Screws". I bought Permatex #3 at O'Reilly's Auto Parts. I gave the elves a new stainless screw and had them cover the threads with the sealant. They tightened it and made sure there was some sealant oozing out of the top once it was tightened. They let it cure a couple of days and then put on the new wingwalk.

 

Aircraft Spruce sells the self adhesive wing walk material.  I used a couple sheets of poster board before I removed the old wingwalk and made a template so they could cut the new wingwalk accurately.

 

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/3msafetywalk.php

 

I bought 6 feet of the 24" wide for my R model.

 

The hangar elves did the repair for about $75 and they did a really good job.

  • Like 1
duke Enthusiast

duke

Posted
Posted

Thank God for hangar elves, sure helps pocket book when they are happy, healthy and not afraid to get their hands dirty.

triple8s Mentor

triple8s

Posted
Posted

In the interest of safety I strongly advise anyone who has the tanks or fuel system touched by any shop no matter how reputable, to ground run the aircraft and FULLY test the system personally. Dont assume the shop will test it. It's no fun getting 20 or 30 minutes into a flight and switching tanks to have the engine get quiet. Ground run the engine, do it and switch to both tanks running long enough to assure things are all good to go. The standard checklist isnt enough after maintenance, cant be too careful.

  • Like 3
Wakeup Proficient

Wakeup

Posted
Posted

I was thinking the same. What precautions besides running the engine and switching tanks do you do after a tank reseal ?? Anyway to check for debri anywhere else? Thanks Troy

Mooneymite Grand Master

Mooneymite

Posted
Posted

Sounds like if your tanks hold up - this shop is going to get a flood of Mooney work.

 

If the work is good at that price, O&N probably will never sell another set of bladders!

N601RX Grand Master

N601RX

Posted
Posted

Are they familiar with AD 85-24-03? I know a local AP who did some mooney tank work and was not aware of it. He painted over everything with the new sealer, including the rib drains.

RobertGary1 Grand Master

RobertGary1

Posted
Posted

In fact the AD needs to be inspected for on any sealant work. You can't plug up the rib holes. Sadly this is where the tanks like to leak. I use a toothpick to try to get sealant in the slot where the ribs come together in the drain holes without sealing them. For the lower (larger holes) I placed a SS tube to seal around to seal without hindering flow.

  • Like 2
carl Proficient

carl

Posted
Posted

Ha ha , 

This is very interesting discussion. 

I learned a great deal from everyone ,and I thank you for the information.

ryoder Veteran

ryoder

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Answered via pm.

One thing I noticed is that I now use less fuel. My fuel burn is right around 6gph now when it was 6.5 before. This is from the dipstick before and after method and flying at 2200/18 most of the trip leaned out at 5000 to 7000. I must have been evaporating and leaking more than I thought.

FloridaMan Grand Master

FloridaMan

Posted
Posted

Be careful. After such an investment I think it would be worth the short hop over to KAVO to have Phil, who really knows Mooneys, inspect the reseal. From my understanding, there are two things that have killed a lot of pilots in the old short body Mooneys: water collecting behind the ribs and sealant blocking the base of the tank sump points. Both will give an indication of clean fuel and on takeoff the water will clear the ribs and get into the fuel system, causing an engine failure at the worst possible time. I think it would be worth the expense of a little labor to have it inspected and if anything is wrong, have the reseal shop correct it.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  • Like 1

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