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Baffle seal installation cost

ilovecornfields

By ilovecornfields
in Modern Mooney Discussion

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KSMooniac Grand Master

KSMooniac

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It is a simple task...but tedious. You might consider doing it yourself and getting a friendly mechanic to supervise/sign.

Highly recommend the silicon seals and wide flange pop rivets to install. My J originally used staples (PITA) and I don't know what later models used...hopefully pop rivets.

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LANCECASPER Grand Master

LANCECASPER

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On 10/29/2018 at 4:38 PM, ilovecornfields said:

I was thinking about replacing the baffle seals in my Ovation. I got a quote for $375 for the kit and $950 for the labor. Seems a little high for the labor cost. Anyone have any experience with this installation?

I bought the kit from Guy Ginbey @GEE-BEE - well worth it.. It took me and my A & P about three hours to do it. I worked ahead of him and removed the old as he installed the new. You're in California - he might be able to recommend someone that would do it for less since he's out that way.

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ilovecornfields Grand Master

ilovecornfields

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To answer my own question, ended up going to Kurt at Expert Aircraft (F70) since they had lots of experience installing the Gee-Bee kits.

I have noting but good things to say about Kurt and the kit. Installation was fast, great guys (I ended up spending the whole day hanging out at the airport) and on my flight home my CHTs were easily 20 deg cooler. With the amount of gas I’m going to save not having to go extra rich with the crappy baffles this will pay for itself quickly!

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INA201 Experienced

INA201

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17 hours ago, ilovecornfields said:

To answer my own question, ended up going to Kurt at Expert Aircraft (F70) since they had lots of experience installing the Gee-Bee kits.

I have noting but good things to say about Kurt and the kit. Installation was fast, great guys (I ended up spending the whole day hanging out at the airport) and on my flight home my CHTs were easily 20 deg cooler. With the amount of gas I’m going to save not having to go extra rich with the crappy baffles this will pay for itself quickly!

I had the same results! Lowered my CHTs quite a bit.  I got obsessed with cooling and caulked everything I could. I also sealed up around the starter and alternator. The problem is now my CHTs on a 60 degree day like today(surface temp) only get up to 325(hottest one)and oil barely gets to 175-180.  

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Niko182 Grand Master

Niko182

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Sorry to revive an old thread. I'm looking at replacing the baffles after a couple months ago, my #2 cylinder decided to go up randomly by 35' F. my CHT's never used to pass 370 on takeoff and they still don't except for the number 2 cylinder which usually now hits 395. in cruise all the CHT's are around 300 except #2 seems to always be 30 to 40' hotter. My baffles are still from 1999 so I thought this might help. how much is the kit, and how much labor time did they spend at F70? at 12500, CHT's are 265, with the #2 at 300. I just want to cool them down for takeoff mainly, especially since its not even summer yet.

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PT20J Grand Master

PT20J

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On 5/18/2019 at 2:20 PM, Niko182 said:

Sorry to revive an old thread. I'm looking at replacing the baffles after a couple months ago, my #2 cylinder decided to go up randomly by 35' F. my CHT's never used to pass 370 on takeoff and they still don't except for the number 2 cylinder which usually now hits 395. in cruise all the CHT's are around 300 except #2 seems to always be 30 to 40' hotter. My baffles are still from 1999 so I thought this might help. how much is the kit, and how much labor time did they spend at F70? at 12500, CHT's are 265, with the #2 at 300. I just want to cool them down for takeoff mainly, especially since its not even summer yet.

I put GeeBee seals on my J when we re-engined. The aluminum baffles were in good shape. The seals are held on with hardened staples that have to be cut off with a Dremel and cutoff wheel. It took me a couple of hours to remove all the old seals and staples and clean up the baffles. My A&P installed the new seals in a couple of hours. which included drilling holes, clecoing them in place and pop riveting. Guy supplies everything you need in his kit.

But... since you only have one cylinder running hot, are you sure it's not a bad probe? It's pretty easy to swap probes between adjacent cylinders and see if the problem stays with the cylinder or follows the probe. Another good check is to see if the probes all read ambient temperature before startup. Mine are all within a degree of each other (CHTs, EGTs, oil temp).

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bradp Grand Master

bradp

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I used an overlap method for the corners of the J style seals with nylon screws and holding the rear to the side baffle seals.  There is a nearly perfect flush 

When you’re in there would recommend the following -

Take a small piece (like half inch of baffle seal material and put it behind the number 3 cyl on a 360.l with some RTV. This will provide additional cooling air flow to the hottest running cylinder  

Seal up any little holes you find with RTV   

A Flashlight is your best friend for finding air leaks 

 

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