Disappointing performance, but not for long

[MQQNEY]

Recently, last November in fact if I remember rightly, I was delighted to finally join the esteemed fraternity of Mooney owners, with the purchase of my first Mooney, a sweet little 1964 M20C Mark 21. I was, and still am, extremely happy with the purchase. She was drinking a little too much, (oil), so I was aware that some work would need to be done in the fairly short order, but I didn't give a shit, because as far as I was concerned, a Mooney in need of some repair was way better than no Mooney. initially I had been a little disappointed with the climb performance and airspeeds I was getting, but wasn't sure if this was the planes fault or my own, or even over expectation. So I thought screw it, dropped the keys with my L.A.M.E. with the instruction to "fix everything". That work has now been done, basically a top end rebuild for the engine, and may I say, I am even more enamoured with the Mooney brand than ever. Performance is now pretty much as advertised, and she goes like I had always thought a Mooney SHOULD go! I am absolutely a stone cold devotee for life, and I'd like to suggest that Al Mooney be rightly made a saint.

[rbridges]

What happened? Bad cylinder?  Glad your back at 100%!

[MQQNEY]

2 hours ago, rbridges said:

What happened? Bad cylinder?  Glad your back at 100%!

All the rings were worn, bores all got a hone, inlet valves replaced, exhaust valves ground and re-seated, L.A.M.E. says it appeared to have been allowed to become extremely hot too, and everything  ( top end wise ), was just tired. Anyway, she is good as gold now, and I am very happy also

[Hank]

Like you, I love my C! She's just dandy, gets me where I want to go, does so quickly and in fine style.

[carusoam]

It helps to have some instrumentation for the C...  engine monitor, FF, and carb temp would be helpful for a forever bird.

CHTs are tough to control when you don't know what they are.  Then read about preferred climb speeds around here and how people control CHTs...

Best regards,

-a-

Edited March 27, 2017 by carusoam

[pinerunner]

I especially like the classic rounded rear window look. Apparently there was a fad in the early 60's to make everything possible look squared off. 

[201er]

Mind sharing how many hours were on it?

[MQQNEY]

5 hours ago, carusoam said:

It helps to have some instrumentation for the C...  engine monitor, FF, and carb temp would be helpful for a forever bird.

CHTs are tough to control when you don't know what they are.  Then read about preferred climb speeds around here and how people control CHTs...

Best regards,

-a-

Yes I think that will be the next thing, once I recover from the spend on the engine a little. I have been looking at the insight G2

[gsxrpilot]

I had the Insight G2 in my C. It's the best value for money in engine monitors. An excellent unit. You really have to go JPI EDM-900, 930 or MVP-50 to get anything better than the G2.

[Drumstick]

On 3/27/2017 at 11:13 AM, MQQNEY said:

All the rings were worn, bores all got a hone, inlet valves replaced, exhaust valves ground and re-seated, L.A.M.E. says it appeared to have been allowed to become extremely hot too, and everything  ( top end wise ), was just tired. Anyway, she is good as gold now, and I am very happy also

Do you mind if I ask what this service cost (in hours since the money doesn't exactly match)?  I'm considering the same at annual and hoping for ballpark estimates before I call the shop.

Edited March 28, 2017 by Drumstick

[MQQNEY]

On 28/03/2017 at 5:11 AM, 201er said:

Mind sharing how many hours were on it?

At the time of purchase, engine had 807 hrs LTR

[MQQNEY]

5 minutes ago, Drumstick said:

Do you mind if I ask what this service cost (in hours since the money doesn't exactly match)?  I'm considering the same at annual and hoping for ballpark estimates before I call the shop.

The work cost me about AUD8.5k. Ouch, but worth every cent

[Drumstick]

Just now, MQQNEY said:

The work cost me about AUD8.5k. Ouch, but worth every cent

Does that include all your annual costs or just the top end work? 

 

[gsxrpilot]

4 minutes ago, Drumstick said:

Does that include all your annual costs or just the top end work? 

 

You do realize he's in Sydney Australia and quoting prices in Australian Dollars (AUD)? It might be better to ask about the number of hours the shop charged for. Having lived in Sydney myself, I can tell you the cost of labor is night and day different, as are parts and everything else that has to be shipped across the globe to get there.

[Drumstick]

10 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

You do realize he's in Sydney Australia and quoting prices in Australian Dollars (AUD)? It might be better to ask about the number of hours the shop charged for. Having lived in Sydney myself, I can tell you the cost of labor is night and day different, as are parts and everything else that has to be shipped across the globe to get there.

I caught that and edited my question about 3 seconds after posting.  Thanks!

[DXB]

Based on Mike Busch's descriptions of cylinders with compressions in the 40s making full rated power, I'm surprised the top overhaul would make such difference.  At the same time, it fits with my own recent subjective experience - reconditioning 2 bad cylinders not only dropped my oil consumption dramatically but also seemed to give me a perceptible speed increase.