Will B Posted May 5 Report Posted May 5 I bought a cowl from BAS parts for a M20J. After preventive reinforcement and paint, IT DID NOT FIT!!! See pix of replacement and original. Why did this happen??? Same model, same part number. (1st 3 are original, last 3 I'll fitting reolacement)
PT20J Posted May 5 Report Posted May 5 Well, these airplanes are hand assembled, so it is possible that Mooney trims the cowling to fit. It looks like there is interference between the lower left of the upper cowling and the fuselage skin. I would trim that and then see how it fits. 1
N201MKTurbo Posted May 5 Report Posted May 5 Nothing a little fiberglass elbow grease and paint won’t fix. Should have fit it before you painted it. 3
EricJ Posted May 5 Report Posted May 5 I'm guessing the cowl was from a different serial number range than the airplane.
MooneyMitch Posted May 5 Report Posted May 5 Not all airplanes/parts were created equal at Mooney! One size did not necessarily fit all! They would change horses in the middle of the stream. lol. During a run, if someone decided something was better or whatever, they would change in a heartbeat. Some things yes, some things no. Just because it fit one plane, there is no guarantee it will fit another. Ok, enough said. I do hope you can adjust/ modify to fit your beauty!!
Will B Posted May 6 Author Report Posted May 6 Well, if I start cutting on it, I have no recourse for a refund. + a repaint $$. Original was painted 3 times and bubbled each time. It's perfect except a 3in x 1.5 in bubble at the center contour.
N201MKTurbo Posted May 6 Report Posted May 6 It would look better if you paint the gap white. What did they do to fix the bubble?
Slick Nick Posted May 6 Report Posted May 6 All the cowls are hand made and trimmed to fit each specific airplane. 4 hours ago, Will B said: Well, if I start cutting on it, I have no recourse for a refund. + a repaint $$. Original was painted 3 times and bubbled each time. It's perfect except a 3in x 1.5 in bubble at the center contour. It’s too late. You’ve already painted it. You own it. Trim it to fit, make sure the holes line up, and have it painted. Why you’d get it painted before a test fit has me scratching my head a bit.
Will B Posted May 7 Author Report Posted May 7 Well, I'm not a mooney expert. Please, let's not blame the victim (customer). I've delt with aircraft maint for just about 50 years. Beginning as a squadron maintenance officer. When I buy a part by model and part number, I expect it to fit. It appeared to be an exact match compared to my original. And, installing and locking the fittings in place can take an hour or more. A proper fit is a reasonable expectation. I did sand off 1/8" to 3/16" of each 45 degree corner (miraculously without hurting cosmetics). That allowed some shift back and enabled the upper lock fittings to be anchored, but still left a good 1/4+" gap on the right that tappers to 3/16th inch on thr left, and I don't regard that as a "reasonable" fit. I now know that each Mooney is a bas$^÷d. Lesson learned! Fiberglass can absorb things like ceramic coating [penetrates deep into paint and a minute paint crack exposes it to the fiberglass below] or even simple diesel fuel. Both of which can imbed into fiberglass and cause bubbles when exposed to heat after painting. The reinforcements I made to the inner lip, bonded where the flush rivets can vibrate loose, and put 3 layers of fiberglass to reinforce factory ribs made the new cowl sturdier than original production. With that all done, BAS Parts will make it good if I want to risk repainting my original again. I've seen a lot of Mooneys' that the owner probably wouldn't care about a poorly fit cowl. Mine is too nice to accept that. Just an unfortunate situation.
takair Posted May 7 Report Posted May 7 As others suggested, they are hand fit. I’ve worked for a couple of large OEMs (high end jets and copters) and a regular tool used to be the grinding wheel. Doors were hand fit to the gap and no two were equal. Today’s designs are much better. Regarding painting, a friend has a technique where he adds a layer of light weight cloth, like for model airplanes, before the paint. Takes care of much bubbling and cracking. My guess is if you bought a new cowl, they are oversized. Don’t know if you can buy new these days.
LANCECASPER Posted May 7 Report Posted May 7 8 hours ago, Will B said: Well, I'm not a mooney expert. Please, let's not blame the victim (customer). I've delt with aircraft maint for just about 50 years. Beginning as a squadron maintenance officer. When I buy a part by model and part number, I expect it to fit. It appeared to be an exact match compared to my original. And, installing and locking the fittings in place can take an hour or more. A proper fit is a reasonable expectation. I did sand off 1/8" to 3/16" of each 45 degree corner (miraculously without hurting cosmetics). That allowed some shift back and enabled the upper lock fittings to be anchored, but still left a good 1/4+" gap on the right that tappers to 3/16th inch on thr left, and I don't regard that as a "reasonable" fit. I now know that each Mooney is a bas$^÷d. Lesson learned! Fiberglass can absorb things like ceramic coating [penetrates deep into paint and a minute paint crack exposes it to the fiberglass below] or even simple diesel fuel. Both of which can imbed into fiberglass and cause bubbles when exposed to heat after painting. The reinforcements I made to the inner lip, bonded where the flush rivets can vibrate loose, and put 3 layers of fiberglass to reinforce factory ribs made the new cowl sturdier than original production. With that all done, BAS Parts will make it good if I want to risk repainting my original again. I've seen a lot of Mooneys' that the owner probably wouldn't care about a poorly fit cowl. Mine is too nice to accept that. Just an unfortunate situation. A reasonable expectation would have been that it will need to be fitted to the airplane. You aren't buying a fender for a Chevy. Definitely not the fault of BAS. If Mooney had a new one in stock it would have to be fitted to your airplane. As has been mentioned these are handmade. As an example, the large seal on the cabin door and baggage door helps to make up for a lot of inconsistencies. 2
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