M20J Cowl flap hinge part

[redbaron1982]

Today while doing my preflight inspection I noticed that the RH cowl flap was wiggling more than normal. I removed the engine cowling to find that one of the hinges was broken. I've attached a picture for reference.

Is there any place where I can get this for a reasonable price? I found one on eBay for $300, but I'm sure it is much cheaper to fabricate it. If I decide to fabricate the part, is there a place I could get the drawing? Do you guys know any shop that could fabricate it? I'm located in Houston.

If I looked correctly in the IPC, I'm looking for PN 650177-502.

One side question, I noticed I have some doublers installed on top of the retainer (see attached picture). I cannot find this in the IPC. Is this something I should remove? There seems to be some interference between this doubler and a river in the muffler.

 

[redbaron1982]

1 minute ago, bluehighwayflyer said:

I can’t help with the rest of your questions, but here’s where the doubler comes from…

 

https://mooney.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/SBM20-218.pdf

That SB is for the cowl flaps, the doubler I'm referring to is on the engine cowling. I can't find any reference to that in the IPC.

[PT20J]

32 minutes ago, redbaron1982 said:

That SB is for the cowl flaps, the doubler I'm referring to is on the engine cowling. I can't find any reference to that in the IPC.

That looks like a very poorly done repair. I don’t think that grounding strap is original either. I’d remove the hinge and take it to a machine shop and see if they can duplicate it. Mooney won’t release drawings, but you can call a MSC and get a quote on price and delivery for a new one. Probably a lot more than the use one at BAS.

[redbaron1982]

I found one new for $80 on eBay... so I ordered that one. I don´t think it would get much cheaper than that if I got a shop to fabricate it.

[redbaron1982]

I removed the "unapproved" doubler and I think I know why they put it, in a previous modification they didn't properly removed the rivets and one hole in particular was enlarged quite a bit. I'm going to use a larger diameter rivet there and so I don´t have to reinstall that doubler.

Another side question: what do you guys think on spraying some white paint in the inner part of the cowling... I think it would make things look nicer and also make more evident any oil leak. Is there anything I should be aware if I do this?

[EricJ]

That doubler is a fairly common repair on early M20J cowls because they tended to crack there.    Mine has a similar repair.   Those sorts of repairs are typical and consistent with repairs described in AC 43.13, which makes them legit and effective if done properly.

That cracked hinge piece is also a pretty common issue and that piece is not difficult to fabricate.  I've been through mine a couple of times, both fixing aging original parts and redoing ineffective or partial repairs that had been done before.  The hinges that I haven't already redone are just a matter of time before they'll need attention, too.   The early M20J cowls were Mooney's first attempt at a fiberglass cowl and a cowl with big, effective cowl flaps, so there was some learning going on and it's not an optimal implementation of the hinge system.  It's a pretty simple setup, though, so nothing is particularly complicated or difficult to address.