1981 M20J restoration

[jclemens]

Well, I have undertaken another Mooney restoration.  After building what could quite possibly be the nicest 231 in existence, I am going to build a nice solid M20J and keep the price down where it's still affordable.  This is a good, solid '81 J model that was idle for only a couple years.  It has a factory engine that has 1600 on it, so we just freshened up the appearance with new paint, baffles, plugs, hoses, scat, etc.  Prop is only a few hundred hours since major, but it's at the prop shop for an IRAN to make it look new again.  That takes care of firewall forward.  Panel will be a GMA347 audio panel, G530W, Still up in the air about the KX170B thats in it now, new GTX345 transponder for ADS-B in/out, and a Century 21 autopilot with an S-tec PSS for pitch and a GPSS adapter.  There is an old school engine monitor that will probably get updated to a JPI730 or similar.  Here are some photos showing what it looks like now, and the progress we have made on the firewall forward.  During the annual we pulled all the control surfaces, everything is getting new bearings and hardware.  

[Mcstealth]

Thanks to what you do for the fleet.

[norton]

Looks like a winner.Any idea what the price tag will be??

[Danb]

JC did you sell the 231 yet, it was sweet 

[jclemens]

Yes, the 231 went to live out west in Utah.  

 

[jclemens]

2 hours ago, norton said:

Looks like a winner.Any idea what the price tag will be??

Well, the price is going to be dependent on how carried away I get.  My initial reaction on first seeing the plane was to strip the airframe down to nothing and rebuild it with all new parts.  While the results would be a stunning example of an M20J, the price would reflect that.  The interior and the paint is/was really ugly right.  All the interior plastic is in really good condition, so I have removed it all, cleaned and repaired as required, and repainted it in a light grey.  It has been reinstalled and looks great.  New carpet, seats, and side panels will complete the interior refurbishment.  The windows are all in really good condition.  My typical MO would be to take them all out and put in new UV grey tinted glass with double dark rear windows.  They are really nice, but also expensive.  These will be given a similar appearance with Gila vinyl tint.  For the exterior, all the lighting will be replaced with LED's and all the plastic lens will be new.  For paint, I am weighing the options of a full strip and paint with a trick custom scheme, sand and paint white with vinyl graphics, or just letting it remain ugly.  This may hurt my soul, but it will save a lot of money and maybe allow someone to get into a solid, well, equipped J model that otherwise couldn't afford it.  The jury is still out though on the paint.  I would love to hear everyones opinions.

[bradp]

Jake another option would be a white basecoat with vinyl n number and let the new owner customize it how they like.


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[carusoam]

JC,

I'm really looking forward to how you handle this one.

A better than new M20J in the making...

If done right, it could define the standard for complete plane OHs.

Hard to define what 'right' is...  knowing the market always helps.  Have you targeted a particular market yet?  Everything from CBs to Wall Street tycoons....

Quick question regarding engine status for the bird?  How are you verifying the cylinder surfaces, valves and cam lobes and lifters for not having latent corrosion issues?  Showing photos would be great!

Best regards,

-a-

[EricJ]

Any guesses on the value of the airplane prior to your restoration effort?   I'm looking for a reference point for my own purposes.

 

[carusoam]

The low end of the J market is around 60amu...  a good starting place for a complete restoration project.

JC is a Pro in this line of work...

Mine are PP thoughts only. Not a mechanic or plane sales guy... yet... 

Best regards,

-a-

Edited March 5, 2017 by carusoam

[KSMooniac]

Nice to see another project like this! I think there will be more of a market going forward for efforts like this.

You might consider following the factory SB to remove the ineffective ram air system...saves some weight and removes that expensive seal. Best time to do it is with paint since you can close the hole in the cowl.

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[ArtVandelay]

I agree with the removal of the ram air.
I also would consider going through STC process to increase the max gross weight, for this and the other older Js to get them to 2900lbs.

[Bob_Belville]

I had a MSer, a fairly new J owner, ask me about the ram air in my M20E (he said it only was worth 0.1" for his plane). When I pulled out my ram air knob the MAP increased by 1.1". We were at 6000' but it is still worth 1 full inch at 10,000'.

[Bob_Belville]

1 hour ago, bluehighwayflyer said:

That is because the  primary induction system on your E is so much less efficent than the J's, Bob. 

Of course.

I posted so that folks with pre Js realize that they might not want to spend money robbing their planes of power.

[jclemens]

The ram air system is being removed.  Most of it has already been removed, just need to close the hole in the cowl.  The gross weight increase is just a Mooney service letter that consists of remarking the airspeed indicator, verifying the balance on the rudder, and an AFM revision.  Honestly I don't know if that has already been incorporated or not, if not it's easy to do.

[KSMooniac]

The early J models like this one aren't eligible for the GW increase unfortunately.

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[Oldguy]

11 minutes ago, KSMooniac said:

The early J models like this one aren't eligible for the GW increase unfortunately.

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True. I would love to do this to my '84 J, but the serial number is too low.

[jclemens]

Can't get anything past you guys,   I guess I will have to make it 160lbs lighter.

[EricJ]

32 minutes ago, KSMooniac said:

The early J models like this one aren't eligible for the GW increase unfortunately.
 

Does anybody know what's different about the earlier models that makes them unsuitable for the gw increase?

[ArtVandelay]

Can't get anything past you guys,   I guess I will have to make it 160lbs lighter.

You are missing an opportunity to make some money, clearly you have the expertise to do whatever Is required (balance the rudder, upgrade the gear if required, etc), and access to aircraft for testing.

[mooniac15u]

10 minutes ago, EricJ said:

Does anybody know what's different about the earlier models that makes them unsuitable for the gw increase?

Seems like that topic was beaten to death here:

 

[jclemens]

I don't know that the gross weight increase is needed, the useful load on this aircraft is 996 Lbs according to the latest W&B in the POH.  The useful load on the 2900lb max gross J's is about the same.  The later ones were just heavier, probably what drove the increase to 2900 and the fact that early J's don't qualify for it. 

[EricJ]

20 minutes ago, mooniac15u said:

Seems like that topic was beaten to death here:

 

Clear as mud.   My take-away from that is that nobody really knows for certain.

 

[Oldguy]

1 hour ago, mooniac15u said:

Seems like that topic was beaten to death here:

 

I recall seeing someone make note there was a piece of sturdier tubing on the frame starting with 24-1686/7 (  @PTK ?) that seemed to coincide with the GTOW increase.

And then discussions about how the Missile was able to get its GTOW up to 3200 regardless of the year J it was originally.

[KSMooniac]

I suspect it was limited by marketing at Mooney at the time...No way would they want a used J with a potential useful load of 1150 lbs when they were selling new ones with 1000 lbs. Opposite of what Cirrus has done with their recent improvements, which make a compelling case to buy a new one to get more payload.

It would be a nice thing for Mooney to revisit the topic since the J is long out of production and doesn't compete with the current models.

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