Fuel Tank Reseal M20M

[Mark Cline]

Can anyone recommend a shop for fuel tank resealing that is relatively close to Virginia?  I am planning a paint job in November, and would like to get this completed beforehand.  Someone recommended the shop in Fort Lauderdale, but closer would be better.  I have a M20M FIKI.  

[Niko182]

4 minutes ago, Mark Cline said:

Can anyone recommend a shop for fuel tank resealing that is relatively close to Virginia?  I am planning a paint job in November, and would like to get this completed beforehand.  Someone recommended the shop in Fort Lauderdale, but closer would be better.  I have a M20M FIKI.  

Do it right and do it once. Theres 3 or 4 shops around. One in FL, one in MN, and one in portland. They book out pretty far.

[Rick Junkin]

17 minutes ago, Mark Cline said:

Can anyone recommend a shop for fuel tank resealing that is relatively close to Virginia?  I am planning a paint job in November, and would like to get this completed beforehand.  Someone recommended the shop in Fort Lauderdale, but closer would be better.  I have a M20M FIKI.  

I had my M20M done last summer by Paul Beck at Weep No More at Willmar MN. I'm very happy with the results!

Cheers,
Rick

[Mark Cline]

9 hours ago, Junkman said:

I had my M20M done last summer by Paul Beck at Weep No More at Willmar MN. I'm very happy with the results!

Cheers,
Rick

Thank you.  How bad does the paint get messed up with removing all of those access panels?  How long did it take, and what was the approximate cost?  Thanks so much!   

[philiplane]

Resealing the tanks is a job most shops don't even want to do, let alone do well. You are much better off taking it to one of the specialty shops. They've developed special techniques to do the job quickly yet correctly. And they have to be good at it, since shops like Wet Wingologists in Fort Lauderdale have no other lines of work.

[Rick Junkin]

6 hours ago, Mark Cline said:

Thank you.  How bad does the paint get messed up with removing all of those access panels?  How long did it take, and what was the approximate cost?  Thanks so much!   

My airplane has a 2014 paint job on it and required touchup of all of the access panel screws and a number of chips that occurred during panel removal, which Paul did as part of the reseal job. Paul also repainted the wing walk. But if you're planning to repaint your airplane I would definitely wait until after you have the tank work done.

The quote for a complete strip and reseal of my M20M last August was $11K. As I recall it took a little over two weeks to complete the job because one of my wings had quite a number of difficult to strip areas due to past tank seal repairs. Paul doesn't guarantee a completion date due to not knowing what he's going to find once he gets into each tank. In my case the left wing went pretty smoothly but the right wing was a mess.

Cheers,
Rick

 

[David_M]

My Bravo is scheduled for a left wing re-seal with Wet Wingologists in Fort Lauderdale in August.   Will give you a PIREP when she is done   

 

 

[N201MKTurbo]

Wow, somebody has been destroying your cover plates. There is no reason for it. Those tanks have had a lot of hands in there.

[tls pilot]

2 hours ago, David_M said:

My Bravo is scheduled for a complete re-seal with Wet Wingologists in Fort Lauderdale in July.   Have a left wing with a health leak, but since it will be in the shop, I personally think it would be a waste not to reseal everything on both sides.  Will give you a PIREP when she is done   

Sorry for upside down pic.. hmm

 

Above pic with the vent is the speed brake access 

IF you or the FBO person filling the tank allows fuel to overflow or spill on the wing near the filler cap, it runs down the

speed brake area

Hard to see from the pic but it appears the fuel stain is aft and adjacent to speed brake panel

 

Have you attempted to clean the fuel stain? Then have a filled tank and allow it to sit and relook...

[carusoam]

Get a good look at what is happening near the speed brakes...

Long bodies have the brakes mounted on the back side of the spar....

With bolts that run through, into the fuel tank...

Its possible a seal on the other side of the tank may not be working very well...

At least one MSer has reported a fuel leak in this area that they were hunting down...

Having somebody Pouring fuel onto your speed brakes is not going to make the pilot very happy... 

The amount of stain there... represents more than a casual... oops sorry sir, I spilled some...

PP thoughts only, not a mechanic...

Best regards,

-a-

[carusoam]

Things are looking up already...   

The stain looks like it is being deposited in waves...   it may be only leaking when the tank is full...

If the fuel was dropped into the speed brake area...  it probably would have drained out the drain tube.... and made the mess on the floor...

See if Edison says you need a whole reseal... or just a fix this leaking bolt?

That would make a fantastic pirep!

PP thoughts only, not a mechanic...

Best regards,

-a-

 

[affricate]

Edison in Ft Lauderdale did a great job on my tanks. Before and after photos shows all of the screws replaced around the access panels. I haven't spent the time to touch it up. I actually think it looks okay.

 

I flew from Tucson to Ft Lauderdale, totally worth the trip. Edison is a specialist, it's what he does and he's  really good at it.

[carusoam]

Great pirep for Edison and Wetwingologists...

Thanks for sharing!

Best regards,

-a-

[Cayman44]

Just had both wing tanks complete scrape and reseal by Houston Tank Services at Eagle Lake, TX.  Had a cancelation and got me in where others said a six month wait. Took three weeks and am very happy with work - no scratches to paint or covers. But better than that I have had a gear rigging and inner gear door problem with the rivets pulling out that was requested, charged, and not repaired by a big name MSC.  Now the doors and the rigging are perfect! Going there for my next annual. Will never go back to that other MSC.  Cost me thousands to fix multiple serious errors.

[carusoam]

Nice pirep for Houston Tank services..!

Thanks for sharing that.

Best regards,

-a-

[Steve Hunyar]

On 6/3/2021 at 2:32 AM, Mark Cline said:

Thank you.  How bad does the paint get messed up with removing all of those access panels?  How long did it take, and what was the approximate cost?  Thanks so much!   

I called a couple of the shops.  glehman@advancedaircraft.net (Greg) in Troutdale, Or quoted me $7,000 for both tanks to be resealed.  I didn't ask if he had space.  I did call Weep No More and I have a reservation Dec.29th.  Quite a ways off but I'm on the cancellation list.  He quoted me 5,500 per tank and about 10 days to 2 weeks to fix.  My tanks aren't weeping very much at all and it may just be a quick patch which I was quoted 2,000 for both tanks.  I am selling the plane so may just keep the reservation and let the next buyer decide what to do.  You can see it on Trade a plane.  M20M Bravo.  

[carusoam]

So… I looked at TAP….

Trade a plane.  M20M Bravo.  

May need more info from @PeteV to find the right one…

https://www.trade-a-plane.com/search?make=MOONEY&model=M20M+BRAVO&s-type=aircraft

 

Best regards,

-a-

[PilotX]

On 6/14/2021 at 4:11 PM, Cayman44 said:

Just had both wing tanks complete scrape and reseal by Houston Tank Services at Eagle Lake, TX.  Had a cancelation and got me in where others said a six month wait. Took three weeks and am very happy with work - no scratches to paint or covers. But better than that I have had a gear rigging and inner gear door problem with the rivets pulling out that was requested, charged, and not repaired by a big name MSC.  Now the doors and the rigging are perfect! Going there for my next annual. Will never go back to that other MSC.  Cost me thousands to fix multiple serious errors.

Talked to @Cayman44 after the tank reseal. I thought the new screws looked pretty good and wouldn't be in a rush to repaint myself. I appear to only have seeping, dripping when the tanks are full, so I will probably try to patch.

[KlausLang]

On 6/4/2021 at 2:14 AM, carusoam said:

Get a good look at what is happening near the speed brakes...

Long bodies have the brakes mounted on the back side of the spar....

With bolts that run through, into the fuel tank...

Its possible a seal on the other side of the tank may not be working very well...

At least one MSer has reported a fuel leak in this area that they were hunting down...

I had my wings resealed 2014 in germany. Now they leak again and it looks identically to those photos. I will have them resealed in February in a repair shop at Berlin Shoenhagen airfileld. I let them know Your thoughts. Was the resealing shop able to locate the leaks and have the spead brakes been involved? 

regards, 

Klaus, Muehldorf, Upper Bavaria, Germans

[hazek]

Who would be best to talk to for a reseal here in Central to West Europe? Does anyone have any good references? Left wing looks pretty bad unfortunately.

[hazek]

Some pics:
 

[Fritz1]

start by calling the European service centers, you find them on the Mooney website. There are 3 or 4 companies in the US that do this job well, the mayor ones are weep no more in Wilmar MN and Wet wingologist in Florida, typically 7 year warranty, for a Bravo probably $12-13k total today. Now and then a bird flies over from Europe to have the work done in the US. They use recirculation pumps for the stripper, without those it is very difficult and extremely time consuming to get the old sealant out. To my best recollection three types of sealants are applied sequentially which requires lots of experience and is very hard to do and time consuming. Bottom line to really get it done right it might be the least evil to make an appointment with weep no more or wet wingologist and fly the bird over the big water.

[Fritz1]

Aeromecchanica in Gordola, Switzerland appears to do a fair amount of Mooney work

[Fly Boomer]

6 hours ago, hazek said:

Central to West Europe

I have no personal experience, but this came up when I was looking for a pre-buy in Europe:
Willem-Jan Mastenbroek (Maintenance & Sales)
Matthijs Smit (Parts)

Mastenbroek Aeroskill
Breda Int. Airport (EHSE)
Pastoor van Breugelstraat 93-3, Bosschenhoofd
4744 RC

Phone:  +31 165.332233
Email:  info@aeroskill.nl   or   parts@aeroskill.nl
Website:  www.aeroskill.nl
 

[hazek]

Thank you for the replies so far. I will investigate those shops. For the MSC in France I heard bad things about so I don't think I will ever go there. Really wish there was someone who can do this well in Europe, I don't mind flying a bit to get to them, as long as they do the job well.