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This is 3 out of the lot that I purchased. I will never need this many,
the last one lasted 40 years so I imagine if I keep 2 or 3 for myself it should last me the rest of my life or the airplanes life.
There's the crux of the matter. They do last a long time, and they last longer if you rub some paraffin on the slot in the door to reduce the friction against the aluminum. In the flight school we had the originals still working in the 35-year-old airplanes with 12,000 hours on them.
I bet Cessna hasn't used that part in new airplanes since 1986. I'm trying to remember what our 172S had in it, but I don't think it was that part. So Cessna runs out of stock and has to pull out an old drawing and get some guy to go make some. Not thousands, just a few, since they're not going to sell that many. Every one handmade. Every pin machined and staked. Every hole marked, center-punched and drilled. The whole thing electroplated. Inspected against the drawings. Track the source materials. Bill all that out at factory rates, add some for the necessary certification paperwork, add some more for profit and liability coverage, and publish the shocking result.
Go to Ford and try to buy, say, a new glovebox latch for a '68 Fairlane and see what they want, if they'll even talk to you about it. Insist that they make one for you. I think we're lucky that Cessna even bothers with this stuff anymore. Someday they won't.
My worst-ever price story: over $4000 (Canadian) for the plastic rack that hold the folded shoulder harness over the door in the 180/185. Didn't buy it, of course. Next was $900 for the little clamp that holds the tailwheel locking spring on the 180/185 tailgear stinger; it's about the size of a man's wedding ring, made of thin steel with a pair of holes for a screw and nut and a third hole for the spring. $7000 for the "hockey stick" section of aluminum angle that fits into the tail of the 180 and 185 to support the aft stabilizer mounts. One angle on each side. Mechanics don't read the manuals about the proper bolt torque, leaving them loose so the stabilizer can rotate around the bolt (they think) when it's actually supposed to rotate around the steel bushing in the nylon bushing in the stab mount; the steel bushing is supposed to be pinched between the angle and inner bracket so it can't shift around. That loose bolt eats up the angle and bracket. VERY expensive mistake. Too many times I've also seen rudder and elevator hinge brackets worn for the same reason.