Refurbing a 64 M20E

[Mark942]

Hi this is Mark,

I have a 64 M20E that I bought last year and love it.  I am slowly ($$$) trying to restore it with a lot of TLC and willing to work next to my kind ole A/P.  Looking to upgrade interior.  I have owned a machine shop and pretty good with my hands and not afraid of work, but want it to turn out nice.  Opinions on buying interior "kits" and from where; as well as I would like to upgrade to seats with head rests before I recover them.

Also I will be attempting to reseal tanks this spring prior to painting next winter. Was told by paint shop that I should replace donuts in gear prior to repaint and tank reseal.  How do I determine if donuts should be replaced?? My A/P says there should be a way to measure height?? but he is not versed in it, and also how do I get use of the special wrench??

Suggestions please,

-mark

[carusoam]

Hey, Mark.

You have come to the right place to find shared experience of like minded people.

Check that search box at the top right side of your screen.  Type a few words, see what echos back.

You are going to be able to answer some of the easy ones yourself.  Wait until you find the questions you haven't thought to ask yet.

There are at least three interior suppliers, plastic suppliers, and rug suppliers.  They come in different levels, from really expensive to perfect for a CB like me.  

There are answers to questions like how does a burn test get performed?  There are photos of some really impressive interiors.  What kind of insulation did you use?  What did that cost?  My favorite and most memorable pic is one where the leather yokes were done by a PP, not an interior expert.

Let the fun begin...

Best regards,

-a-

[carl]

mark ,

lets see some pictures too

[Yetti]

Your seats may have the headrest tubes.  They would not be hard to add. Aluminum tubes that a stainless U goes into.  I chose to leave mine off when I redid my seats.

[1524J]

6 hours ago, Mark942 said:

Hi this is Mark,

I have a 64 M20E that I bought last year and love it.  I am slowly ($$$) trying to restore it with a lot of TLC and willing to work next to my kind ole A/P.  Looking to upgrade interior.  I have owned a machine shop and pretty good with my hands and not afraid of work, but want it to turn out nice.  Opinions on buying interior "kits" and from where; as well as I would like to upgrade to seats with head rests before I recover them.

Also I will be attempting to reseal tanks this spring prior to painting next winter. Was told by paint shop that I should replace donuts in gear prior to repaint and tank reseal.  How do I determine if donuts should be replaced?? My A/P says there should be a way to measure height?? but he is not versed in it, and also how do I get use of the special wrench??

Suggestions please,

-mark

I'm not sure why the paint shop would recommend replacing shock discs before painting? Strip and reseal tanks, definitely! Replace windows, yep! We're replacing my shock discs soon and I'll give feedback on the difficulty. You can rent the tools from Lasar for $50 plus shipping. They do require a $500 deposit. 

If you decide to "farm" out any of the work, my experience would be to try and stay local or at least have good communication with whoever you decide on. Story......When we first bought this Mooney we decided to have the interior redone. Did lots of checking, calling, references. Anyhow, we decide to go with a shop that had been in Texas but moved operations to New Mexico. I called often, had pictures sent, etc. When we went to pick up the plane the shop decided had decided to change the material for the headliner. It looked good, but still wasn't what we had agreed too. We jump in the plane to taxi out and reach down to check the fuel selector valve and it was covered up! Anyhow, it's difficult to resolve those types of things when the shop doing the work is at a distance. Good luck with all the work and this is definitely the place to ask for help or advice!

 

[carusoam]

That's a good reminder to use the check list!  Fuel selector gone MIA.

Best regards,

-a-

[MyNameIsNobody]

13 hours ago, 1524J said:

I'm not sure why the paint shop would recommend replacing shock discs before painting? Strip and reseal tanks, definitely! Replace windows, yep! We're replacing my shock discs soon and I'll give feedback on the difficulty. You can rent the tools from Lasar for $50 plus shipping. They do require a $500 deposit. 

If you decide to "farm" out any of the work, my experience would be to try and stay local or at least have good communication with whoever you decide on. Story......When we first bought this Mooney we decided to have the interior redone. Did lots of checking, calling, references. Anyhow, we decide to go with a shop that had been in Texas but moved operations to New Mexico. I called often, had pictures sent, etc. When we went to pick up the plane the shop decided had decided to change the material for the headliner. It looked good, but still wasn't what we had agreed too. We jump in the plane to taxi out and reach down to check the fuel selector valve and it was covered up! Anyhow, it's difficult to resolve those types of things when the shop doing the work is at a distance. Good luck with all the work and this is definitely the place to ask for help or advice!

 

Carpet over the fuel selector...Funny Ha Ha AND Funny Strange.  Maybe he didn't want to ruin the beauty of the flow on the floor with an ugly detent showing...That must have been a "Are you $%^%ing kidding me" moment.

[1524J]

2 hours ago, MyNameIsNobody said:

Carpet over the fuel selector...Funny Ha Ha AND Funny Strange.  Maybe he didn't want to ruin the beauty of the flow on the floor with an ugly detent showing...That must have been a "Are you $%^%ing kidding me" moment.

Yeah.....we were looking for where they rerouted the fuel selector because we figured an upolstery shop that was aviation specific would've known better. At least we figured it out on the ground. I'd would've really been an "Oh Crap" moment if we'd been an hour into our flight and reached down to switch tanks. Guess we have checklists for a reason......

[carusoam]

Add to the tool kit, carpet cutting knife to access the fuel selector...?

I would think rerouting the fuel selector would take a huge amount of paper effort.  Taking parts from a newer improved M20 would be a nice idea.  The parts would be expensive unless you can find them used...

somewhere along the way the selector moved to the center between and in front of the front seats.  A nice upgrade for the less athletic Mooney pilots.

Best regards,

-a-

[cpbloch]

I am writing to let you know how I changed the shock disks on the mains without any special tools.  The nose gear you will either need to rent the tools or it has been accomplished with the use of a nice big turnbuckle by a buddy of mine.   The following is the description that I sent to a friend that has a 1967 F model on how to change the main shock disks.  I hope you find this helpful and good luck looking for a plane.

 

1967 Mooney M20F

 

Get the plane up on jacks, and stable either with the engine supported, or the tail strapped down,  Some say that you are not to use strap the tail down method,  but most of the people around here do and the tail hook seems strong.  I have the usual cement bucket,  the tail chained, and also put a tie strap up and over the tail and down to the bucket for double safety here.

 

Remove the gear doors,   the actuator rods, and then the two bolts that connect the hinges at the top,  You can then wiggle the door towards the front of the plane so that you can get an angle to get the door hinges to let go of the plane.

 

Remove the top small sheet metal cap on the top of the stack of gear pucks,  you can get a screw driver in there and pry towards the back of the plane and it will slide back to give you access to the top of the shock tower.  You need this to get the ½ inch nylock nut off.    You can now see what you have to work with at the top of the disk stack.   There a small hole that is just large enough to get the bolt out after you remove the nylock nut.   The bolt has a flat head cap on it.  At this point while you have the plane jacked up and tension on the bolt you can get the ½ inch open end up there and take a bunch of turns on the nut to loosen it,  you don’t have to loosen it all the way, just get it loose. 

 

If you can put some large planks down under the tire so that you can let the plane down and get some weight on it  this works well,  you can then still have some room under the plane to work.   Let the tire down on the planks, and stop from time to time to see when you have enough weight on the stack of disks to get the bolt to line up with the hole that it has to come out of.   When the plane is up and no weight on the gear,  there is tension on the bolt at the top and it will be below the allingment hole.   You will find that you usually have to have almost all of the weight of the plane on the wheel before the bolts get loose with no tension and it lines up with the hole.  You can now put the flat head screw driver in the hole on one side and the ½ inch open end on the other and have fun making a million small turns to get the nut off.  When the nut and washer are off you can then get a small screw driver and push the bolt out of the hole on the other side.   It is a bit tricky but with some messing around you can do it. 

 

There is a collar at the top of the disk stack that the bolt goes thru that keeps the assembly together.  Once the bolt is out the stack should come loose unless the collar has seized to the shaft.  That is fine leave it for now.   Next step is to get the two 9/16 bolts and nuts at the front of the gear assembly off.  These are the ones that you are staring at when looking at the gear and they have grease fitting for them.    You need to take these out,  you don’t need to remove the large bolt at the bottom of the disk stack this one stays in.    Now that you have the two bolts at the front out you should be able to wiggle the whole assembly if the collar is not seized and get the shaft and the disk stack to come down and out.  You then simply remove the old disks put the new ones on all with one hand while holding the assembly, and then get your legs under all of it and push it back up the way you found it.    It is a bit unstable at this point so it will take all your hands and feet to get the shaft back up in place and the two bolts back in the hing point at the front.  Watch when you take it appart to see what goes where.  At the top of the stack there is a big washer that has a lip on it that lines the whole thing up with the front of the assembly.   At the top down in the recess you may want to put some anti seize on the collar, or clean the old paint out of it so that it goes back in nice.  The collar has a recess half moon in it that helps it align with a weld on the assembly.  

 

Once you have the two bottom bolts in, then you need to get the collar in on top, and then again let the jacks down to put weight on the gear leg to compress the disk stack to the point where the hole thru the collar and the top of the disk stack shaft all line up and you can wiggle the bolt in and then take the dexterity lesson of getting the washer and the nylock nut back on.   From here you just do the reverse and get everything back I place.

 

 

 

 

[Mark942]

Thanks for all the great detail.  I find that I am relearning how to get my hand to bend into unnatural shapes until it cramps up and I drop the screw for the umptenith time .  Reminds me of my young days when I spent more time under my 396SS than in it.  I do enjoy working on the plane though, and the details you share will help me a lot. Thanks,

[Yooper Rocketman]

396 SS.  We talk the same language.

Tom

[MTNM20E]

Just purchased a 64 M20E a few weeks ago and will also be doing a restoration. Excited about the project.  First step is getting the engine back in shape but I am also doing some smaller side projects at the same time.  Interior needs some work also so I've been doing a bit of research on that as well.  Looks like my rear seat back is bolted in a stationary position.  Is yours the same or am I missing something?

Thanks for any info!

[Andy95W]

That's how they all are until sometime in the mid-70's.

[carusoam]

Using the search function you can find how at least one other pilot (Bryan) made it easier to take the seat back out or fold down, or something like that...

you can also search for carpet solutions, insulation, sidewall, plastic panels, instrument panels and the most important of all....Door welting.

some really impressive and talented guys have done some really cool leather work.

Best regards,

-a-

 

[Bob_Belville]

Our archives have lots of info. Some of it is actually true. 

For interior materials, carpet, leather, headliners... a local custom auto trim shop might be an option you'd want to consider. Automotive materials seem to be built to more stringent flame spread standards than GA. Flame spread is the only standard to pass for these non structural, non airworthy components. And car guys do not think in AMUs. (aircraft money units) 

Talk to your A&P for guidance on what work that you do he will be willing to sign off on and what no sign off is required.

My A&P/IA made this simple log entry for my work: "Replaced interior fabrics (headliner, carpet, leather) with materials tested by Skandia Inc. under w/o # 249481 dated 12-10-2012 and certified 14 CFR Part 23.853 and 23-49 app F (e) and certified by FAA DER on 12-12-2012. Said documents attached. Work was performed by Dave's Trim and Robert Belville, owner."

[M20F-1968]

I restored a 1967 F model and turned it into a modern airplane.  When it came to the interior, I retrofitted the new Mooney Ovation interior into my F model.  Fiberglass is much better to work with as you can remodel it repeatedly to make a custom part.  I have the L and R ceiling panels from an Ovation which I did not use (I had 2 sets) which you might be interested in.  If you have questions about what is possible, I may be able to help.

John Breda

[Badmoonraising]

I also have a 64 M20E. The interior needs to be totally redone! Please send links and info. 

[Yetti]

Just depends on how much you work you want to do yourself.   I redid my F including sewing the new seat covers and all leather panels including full leather baggage compartment.

I am going to say I spent about $750.00 for the whole interior.   $161.00 on carpet and $350 on leather hides.  All new stainless screws and other stuff.  $70.00 for a sewing machine.

[Raptor05121]

Hey Mark, any updates yet? We are looking forward to the pictures

[Jim Peace]

On March 7, 2016 at 10:45 AM, Mark942 said:

Suggestions please,

-mark

Has SB 20-217 been done to your airframe?  If not, don't put interior in until it is....A lot of it will have to come out to do it if there are cracks found....

I highly suggest this SB be done to check for cracks.....It really should be an AD....I have my pictures on this in another thread.....

Edited April 15, 2016 by Jim Peace