M20R Ovation Intake

[William Munney]

Does anyone know where i can find a fiberglass intake for M20R Ovation sporting the IO550G?  Mine has been cracked and overtightened by ham-fisted owners or maintainers and I would like a new one or suggestions on how to make my own under “owner supplied parts”.  Here is a pic of my current intake.  It’s functional but ratty.

Happy New Year.

Thanks all.

 

[kortopates]

Fiberglass is easily repairable. Why not repair it again. Especially when you price what a new one will cost

[William Munney]

Where would i even find a new one?  Mine is VERY ratty. I am redoing the entire firewall forward and its looks like I stole a piece off a junk vacuum cleaner for my new IO550.  I am also considering making a new one using the old part as a mold under “owner supplied parts”.  Maybe use Carbon Fiber or Kevlar.

[KSMooniac]

I'm unfamiliar with the part... was it originally a single piece, and it broke into multiple pieces, and then was repaired/taped back together?

In one of my many conversations with the late Ron Blum, he dreamed about producing a better intake system for the Ovations and I wonder if this is what he wanted to fix...  

Carbon fiber might be a better material for this application.  Kevlar would not be a wise choice IMO.  

[MooneyMitch]

Clean it, fiberglass repair it and paint it......................exactly what I did with my new engine installation.  DIY and use your funds elsewhere.

[MIm20c]

Call up a service center to order the parts from Mooney. My guess is the three parts will be $4k ish.  Or find the best local A&P that works a lot with fiberglass repairs and have him completely rebuild the parts AFTER the new engine and baffles are in place. 

[StevenL757]

1 hour ago, William Munney said:

Where would i even find a new one?  Mine is VERY ratty. I am redoing the entire firewall forward and its looks like I stole a piece off a junk vacuum cleaner for my new IO550.  I am also considering making a new one using the old part as a mold under “owner supplied parts”.  Maybe use Carbon Fiber or Kevlar.

I’ve had this work done on the same parts with my prior Ovation, and the repairs came out better than new.  Mine looked worse than yours.  Start with Brian Kendrick in San Marcos, TX.  You can reach him at Brian@mooneysupport.net

Steve

[GeeBee]

I repaired mine. Use West System epoxy (do not use polyester resin) and some fiberglass cloth. Came out looking like new. After glassing and sanding paint. You'll like the results.

[William Munney]

VERY helpful.  Thanks fellows!  I’ll reach out to Brian Kendrick tomorrow!

I’m also going to try to make one out of the existing part.  Carbon Fiber or Kevlar.  Exact part of better materials.  I’ll have to read the “owner supplied parts” reg again.  If i can’t do it well or it’s not allowed…….I still have my original functioning part.

I’ll check with the Mooney service Center too.

[William Munney]

2 minutes ago, GeeBee said:

I repaired mine. Use West System epoxy (do not use polyester resin) and some fiberglass cloth. Came out looking like new. After glassing and sanding paint. You'll like the results.

OK.  Looking at that now.

[William Munney]

26 minutes ago, MooneyMitch said:

Clean it, fiberglass repair it and paint it......................exactly what I did with my new engine installation.  DIY and use your funds elsewhere.

WOW.  Nice!  That’s what I’m looking for.  Very sharp.

[William Munney]

1 hour ago, KSMooniac said:

I'm unfamiliar with the part... was it originally a single piece, and it broke into multiple pieces, and then was repaired/taped back together?

In one of my many conversations with the late Ron Blum, he dreamed about producing a better intake system for the Ovations and I wonder if this is what he wanted to fix...  

Carbon fiber might be a better material for this application.  Kevlar would not be a wise choice IMO.  

This assembly is a flimsy factory fiberglass piece that takes outside air and feeds into the IO550 intake plenum.  I think the Ovation has as somewhat sophisticated tuned induction setup for an intake plenum which you can see on the top of Scott’s Ovation engine in this thread.  However…….the part in question looks like it came off of some trashed out vacuum cleaner.  It just looks terrible in an otherwise sharp engine bay…….and i don’t want any chips or former repairs flaking off into my new engine.

Over the years, any mishandling or over tightening of the hose clamps will crack or chip this piece. 

 

[GeeBee]

2 minutes ago, William Munney said:

This assembly is a flimsy factory fiberglass piece that takes outside air and feeds into the IO550 intake plenum.  I think the Ovation has as somewhat sophisticated tuned induction setup for an intake plenum which you can see on the top of Scott’s Ovation engine in this thread.  However…….the part in question looks like it came off of some trashed out vacuum cleaner.  It just looks terrible in an otherwise sharp engine bay…….and i don’t want any chips or former repairs flaking off into my new engine.

Over the years, any mishandling or over tightening of the hose clamps will crack or chip this piece. 

 

Place a wood manderal (I forget what diameter) wrapped in Saran Wrap inside the inlets. Re-enforce the outside with a layer of glass and epoxy. After that cures, re-enforce the inside of the inlet with one layer. It will never crack again, no matter how tight the clamp is screwed down.

[William Munney]

32 minutes ago, GeeBee said:

Place a wood manderal (I forget what diameter) wrapped in Saran Wrap inside the inlets. Re-enforce the outside with a layer of glass and epoxy. After that cures, re-enforce the inside of the inlet with one layer. It will never crack again, no matter how tight the clamp is screwed down.

That sounds easier than building a new one.  Afterwards……sand and paint?

[GeeBee]

Yes, sand and paint.

[MooneyMitch]

Don’t forget to repaint, or powder coat your baffles too.  Make it all gorgeous under the hood 

[William Munney]

I found a boat builder to rework the intake for the IO 550 in the Ovation.  He says it will look like new when he is done and sanded.  After that he is building a mold for the part and constructing one totally new part in fiberglass and another one in carbon Fiber.  Both to the original spec dimensions in composite, repairable material. I’ll paint the fiberglass intake to match the baffles but leave the carbon fiber in gloss weave.   Be a few weeks.

Edited January 8, 2024 by William Munney

[GeeBee]

4 minutes ago, William Munney said:

I found a boat builder to rework the intake for the IO 550 in the Ovation.  He says it will look like new when he is done and sanded.  After that he is building a mold for the part and constructing one totally new part in fiberglass and another one in carbon Fiber.  Both to the original spec dimensions in composite, repairable material Be a few weeks.

Sounds exciting. He is going to use epoxy resin. Right?

[William Munney]

On 1/4/2024 at 8:29 PM, GeeBee said:

I repaired mine. Use West System epoxy (do not use polyester resin) and some fiberglass cloth. Came out looking like new. After glassing and sanding paint. You'll like the results.

Why epoxy and not polyester resin?  I have no experience here.  Thank you

[GeeBee]

Polyester is more flammable (even in a cured state) and not as strong as epoxy resin. Everything on your Ovation is epoxy which if you are going to produce an OPP you should duplicate.

[jetdriven]

On 1/4/2024 at 9:29 PM, GeeBee said:

I repaired mine. Use West System epoxy (do not use polyester resin) and some fiberglass cloth. Came out looking like new. After glassing and sanding paint. You'll like the results.

West is quite soft and flexible. MGS is real structural aircraft epoxy and it is very stiff when cured. It also remains that way when hot. 

[KSMooniac]

the *ester resins won't hold up at elevated temperatures either, so you should definitely specify a good grade of epoxy.  Your maintenance manual should have guidance for this related to the cowling materials, so I would start there.

[glenn reynolds]

I would not change the material from fiberglass for several reasons,  Glass, kevlar and Carbon have all been around about the same amount of time, but carbon is "sexier" but not the right choice in this application, nor is kevlar.  This part is made of very light glass cloth.  This was done to allow maximum conformability.  If you use a heavier weight cloth you will need to vacuum bag to get the right shape etc.  you need to be an expert to pull this off in heavier weight cloth.  details matter.  The carbon can be much harder to work with and again, less easy to find in light weight.  Kevlar is for high abrasion application or tensile strength applications but neither of those applications apply here so again, wrong materials.  One major mistake is not using RTV when installing the lower half to the upper section (male to female overlap joint).  The result will be fretting or vibration which chafes through the glass and puts silica into your oil.  you will see this immediately in your oil analysis.  the correct application is a finger wide thin film of rtv inside the female section on assembly so it's both airtight and vibration free.  don't use too much or it will be too hard to take apart.  

I would focus less on the "fire" risk of polyester and worry more about the usability issues with novice folks using poly vs epoxy.  Epoxy can be more forgiving in a tricky layup or for the inexperienced.  

The repairs take some care but anybody skilled with quality glass repair can do a nice job.  sand and spray paint with high temp silver paint.