While the engine is off ....

Ed Haywood said:
Wait, so the shop that specializes in mount repairs says that the mount needs repair 99% of the time? o_O
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Yes. You see pictures and the report. This tends to be an area where many owners just don’t believe there is a problem unless they see a crack or something bent.

if you ask Loree Air for the replaced tubes back with the overhauled amount, they will provide them. You can also see where they were located and that the repairs were authentic.

it’s pretty tough to have a family run business like that for so many years and operate on the principle of systematically ripping off aircraft owners.
 
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Larry Korona said:
Where did you get your nose gear O/H'd?
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https://www.robairrepair.com did the oleo tube re-chrome. It's a very specialized process. Local aircraft painter T&P performed the strip, alodine, prime & paint. All the internal rebuilt parts are from McFarlane, except for the 2 needle bearing sets which were pressed fit by a local machine shop. Koyo Bearing bought Torrington Bearings, so some may see Koyo box for Torrington bearings if anybody acquires a set.

The gear was assembled and re-installed on the field using 5606 hydraulic fluid and nitrogen gas. Also used Mobile 28 grease for the bearings and toggle joints.
 
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NordicDave said:
https://www.robairrepair.com did the oleo tube re-chrome. It's a very specialized process. Local aircraft painter T&P performed the strip, alodine, prime & paint. All the internal rebuilt parts are from McFarlane, except for the 2 needle bearing sets which were pressed fit by a local machine shop. Koyo Bearing bought Torrington Bearings, so some may see Koyo box for Torrington bearings if anybody acquires a set.

The gear was assembled and re-installed on the field using 5056 hydraulic fluid and nitrogen gas. Also used Mobile 28 grease for the bearings and toggle joints.
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Thanks for the reply!
 
Ed Haywood said:
The bolts on mine are 7/16, so quite substantial. I will replace.
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Just to be clear, I’m referring to bolts attaching engine frame to firewall, not the bolts through the engine mounts which are 7/16.
 
Ed Haywood said:
We pulled the boot cowl off. Boot cowl is the aluminum skin than wraps around the fuselage behind the engine cowl, and covers the gap between the firewall and fuselage fabric covering. Much better access.

View attachment 106866 View attachment 106867
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Since you have gone that far, you may as well strip and replace all the fabric, have the metal frame inspected and painted, replace the interior, update all the lighting, replace all the windows, maybe even an avionics and panel update. Probably should change the tires too, I mean, while you are at it... ;)
 
midwestpa24 said:
Since you have gone that far, you may as well strip and replace all the fabric, have the metal frame inspected and painted, replace the interior, update all the lighting, replace all the windows, maybe even an avionics and panel update. Probably should change the tires too, I mean, while you are at it... ;)
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Fabric and frame are a possibility.
 
midwestpa24 said:
Since you have gone that far, you may as well strip and replace all the fabric, have the metal frame inspected and painted, replace the interior, update all the lighting, replace all the windows, maybe even an avionics and panel update. Probably should change the tires too, I mean, while you are at it... ;)
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Follow up. I stripped the fabric and had the frame blasted, inspected, and powercoated. Currently assembling with 100% new hardware, wood, pulleys, cables, windshield, etc, followed by fabric and paint. Of course new interior.

But no panel update! Gotta draw the line somewhere.

PXL_20220831_052259774 (1).jpg
 
Ed Haywood said:
Follow up. I stripped the fabric and had the frame blasted, inspected, and powercoated. Currently assembling with 100% new hardware, wood, pulleys, cables, windshield, etc, followed by fabric and paint. Of course new interior.
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From "Needs an engine" to "Fabric off restoration" in one post. Dayum.
 
Ed Haywood said:
Follow up. I stripped the fabric and had the frame blasted, inspected, and powercoated. Currently assembling with 100% new hardware, wood, pulleys, cables, windshield, etc, followed by fabric and paint. Of course new interior.

But no panel update! Gotta draw the line somewhere.

View attachment 110415
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Nice job!! Wow you have a heck of a project there. Beautiful work you have done. I can totally relate.
Your pictures ring a bell for me. I have built multiple dragsters before I learned to fly. I did not realize how dragsters were modeled off of airplane stuff back when I was building them. Although we did have a Wicks catalog and plenty of aircraft an hardware on the cars.
This picture was after a wreck and we were started to put it back together after the chassis was front and back halfed. Only the cockpit survived the wreck. We kept our chassis bare metal so we could check for cracks and weld on it without removing paint or powder coat.
My first dragster took me 18 months to assemble.
This last car we put back together in 10 days and raced it at a national event that I had to be there for my sponsors. We got good at building them but the pressure of having sponsors took some of the fun out of it and why I quit racing.
SDC10126.jpg

I used to live in this shop almost 24/7, breath eat and sleep this stuff. Spare chassis hanging from the ceiling.
e057313e.jpg


c8c721d3.jpg

Good luck with your plane, it looks great!!
 
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I should have had all of my primer lines replaced at OH. Had to replace2-3 afte OH
 
Gary Ward said:
Nice job!! Wow you have a heck of a project there. Beautiful work you have done. I can totally relate.
Your pictures ring a bell for me. I have built 8 dragsters before I learned to fly. I did not realize how dragsters were modeled off of airplane stuff back when I was building them. Although we did have a Wicks catalog.
This picture was after a wreck and we were started to put it back together after the chassis was front and back halfed. Only the cockpit survived the wreck. We kept our chassis bare metal so we could check for cracks and weld on it without removing paint or powder coat.
My first dragster took me 18 months to assemble.
This last car we put back together in 10 days and raced it at a national event that I had to be there for my sponsors. We got good at building them but the pressure of having sponsors took some of the fun out of it and why I quit racing.
SDC10126.jpg

I used to live in this shop almost 24/7, breath eat and sleep this stuff. Spare chassis hanging from the ceiling.
e057313e.jpg

I used to overhaul 2 hemis a month, I had 3 of them we would rotate.
c8c721d3.jpg

Good luck with your plane, it looks great!! The lesonal car is mine. Wheelies look cool but is not what we were going for this day. This was not the pass I wrecked on. It was a different car.
c21327ab.jpg
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Racing is a demanding mistress.
 
Larry Korona said:
Looks great! Who did the overhaul on the gear? I'll like to get mine done too
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Rob at https://www.robairrepair.com/ had the OLEO tube chrome properly removed and reapplied to eliminate hydro embrittlement, then reattached the fork. T&P Aero Refinishers properly repainted all the parts after I had the new bearings press fit into the housings. Local A&P help reassembly and refilled with new 5606 fluid and nitrogen as per the Service manual. Found a new placard on eBay.

What a difference getting her all cleaned up and rebuilt.

A few thoughts on maintaining nose gear...

Some pilots have a "not broke, don't fix it" view. However the 2 sets of needle bearings in the OLEO tube require re-greasing every 1000 hours and the fluid changed periodically. A big yuck! when the fluid thin and black and the needle bearings are bone dry with grit. I've seen Cessnas with scored bearing races that required a new OLEO tube. Preventive maintenance is much cheaper. Also as the fluid get old and holds water the tube rusts from the inside out. once a pit is greater than 10% of the tube, it needs to be replaced.

Another gotcha is some A&P's never change the top O-ring or the Schrader valve insert or the O-ring under the valve due to the extra effort required. Recently there was a mad local pilot whose tube depleted as the top ring failed. He had JUST paid an A&P to rebuild the strut who unknowingly took the shortcut.
 
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Making good progress on fabric. Fuselage and tailfeathers covered. Working on tapes and patches now. Have an outside chance of getting ready to paint before vacation in mid-March. Engine shop says engine ready by end of March. Shooting for completion in April or May, before weather in central Florida gets ridiculous. Gotta spend a lot of money on stuff for the engine install. Mount shocks, oil cooler, hoses, monitor, prop governor. Also gotta order an interior. I don't like spending money. Probably have the wrong hobby.

PXL_20230220_013251759.jpg PXL_20230220_013142199.jpg
 
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Ed Haywood said:
Follow up. I stripped the fabric and had the frame blasted, inspected, and powercoated. Currently assembling with 100% new hardware, wood, pulleys, cables, windshield, etc, followed by fabric and paint. Of course new interior.

But no panel update! Gotta draw the line somewhere.

View attachment 110415
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I just stumbled back on this thread. Jesus Ed...I was just joking! :hairraise:
 
Ed Haywood said:
But no panel update! Gotta draw the line somewhere.
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Panel update finished.

Have to update fuel shutoff valve and gascolator, then seal up the cowl and paint starting next weekend. After that, things move fast. Gear, tail, wings, engine. Shooting for flight in June. Worst case, in time for Oshkosh.
PXL_20230419_000921584.jpg
 
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@Ed Haywood if that transponder is a GTX model, add an OAT probe and the unit will display density alt instead of pressure alt. There is a transponder button to switch between the two. I've found this extremely handy as density alt can change rather abruptly like in inversion layers. Makes calculating TAS in flight a little simpler as well.

Just one more "while you in there..." :7)
 
NordicDave said:
@Ed Haywood if that transponder is a GTX model, add an OAT probe and the unit will display density alt instead of pressure alt. There is a transponder button to switch between the two. I've found this extremely handy as density alt can change rather abruptly like in inversion layers. Makes calculating TAS in flight a little simpler as well.

Just one more "while you in there..." :7)
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Already got 2 OAT probes ... one for the AV-30 and one for the EDM 830. The AV-30 calculates and displays TAS directly. The EDM uses to compute %HP.

TBH, I had no idea the GTX-335 displays altitude. What would I use that for?
 
Oh, and already strategizing my next additions.

First is an Aera 760 or 660 hard wired to send NMEA 0183 to the AV-30 and EDM. That gets me track on the AV-30 and fuel to destination on the EDM. Of course there is not a good spot for it. That the main reason I wish I had listened to @NordicDave and gone with the CGR-30. Then I would have a big section of panel to attach the mount and just snap the Aera in and out, rather than monkeying with RAM ball arms and cables. But hindsight is 20/20, and I do like the redundancy of the 830 and dial gauges cross checking each other.

The other add might be a second AV-30. Right now the single AV is set up to toggle between AI and DG mode. I will probably use DG when flying XC, and switch to AI when near clouds or at night, over water, etc. But I do plan to get some hood time practicing on the AI. If orientation turns out to be challenging, I might decide to add a second AV in DG mode and lock the top one to AI mode.

Aera 760 can navigate approach plates. That plus 2 AV-30's, with the DG hardwired to the Aera as a pseudo-HSI would be a pretty solid emergency IMC capability.

Also looking forward to the AV-30 magnetometer being released this summer. I prewired for that. Just because I'm VFR is no reason I cannot waste my money on gadgetry!
 
Ed Haywood said:
Already got 2 OAT probes ... one for the AV-30 and one for the EDM 830. The AV-30 calculates and displays TAS directly. The EDM uses to compute %HP.

TBH, I had no idea the GTX-335 displays altitude. What would I use that for?
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The GTX series will display pressure altitude via the menu keys. I've found it very valuable to add the OAT pride to calculate and display density altitude instead. For me flying out west knowing density alt anticipating performance requirements is very constructive. Surprising how often 5K MSL is really 9500' or greater density alt in the summer here.

I really enjoy watching your progress and admire the decisions you made in panel selection. It looks intuitive. I'm sure it's frustrating at times, but ultimately looks like fun.
 
Ed Haywood said:
Already got 2 OAT probes ... one for the AV-30 and one for the EDM 830. The AV-30 calculates and displays TAS directly. The EDM uses to compute %HP.

TBH, I had no idea the GTX-335 displays altitude. What would I use that for?
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Since the AV-30 already shows TAS and DALT, the GTX display isn't useful in your particular case other than perhaps troubleshooting if ATC reports missing altitude. However, the EDM might be able to add that data to its engine logs if you connect the two.
 
NordicDave said:
I really enjoy watching your progress and admire the decisions you made in panel selection. It looks intuitive. I'm sure it's frustrating at times, but ultimately looks like fun.
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Thanks, it's been a lot of fun. TBH, the biggest pitfall is that since I found I really enjoy electrical work, I spend an inordinate amount of time on that. This distracts me from less interesting work like finishing up the fabric covering and prepping to paint.
 
NordicDave said:
A number of us would like to formally nominate Ed for the POA "while you're at it" award for 2023. :D
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The prize for the Scope Creeper of the Year is that the recipient will have the honor of giving all card-carrying POA members rides in his newly airworthy plane at Oshkosh, since he is there anyhow.
 
She's gonna be gorgeous, Ed!

76 posts in and no one's mentioned re-building the fuel selector valve....a known sticking point (pun intended) on the 7/8 series. ;-)

Jim
 
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Jim Rosenow said:
She's gonna be gorgeous, Ed!

76 posts in and no one's mentioned re-building the fuel selector valve....a known sticking point (pun intended) on the 7/8 series. ;-)

Jim
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Thanks! I upgraded to the new valve per current TC spec.
 
Jeff Oslick said:
There are shops that specialize in restoration of engine mounts. I'd send it to one of those.
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I did that when overhauling an O-540 on a Pawnee. No visible damage or wear, but the shop replaced three of the support tubes. I believe the specialty shop was in Minn. Charged $1100.
 
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