Would you do it?

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killerfish72

Filing Flight Plan
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John
I'm seriously considering purchasing a 1970 Piper Cherokee 180E located nearby. It's low airframe time at around 3200hrs. Engine is only 351 hrs SMOH (2005)and 87 STOH. New cylinders were put on 3 years ago to satisfy ECI AD. Airplane has been hangared in midwest (Iowa, Illinois, Ohio) for at least past 33 years.

My concern is how little the airplane has flown SMOH...especially the last 3 years (87 hrs). In fact, this past year it's only flown 6 hours. Which is why they're selling. So, I'm naturally a bit concerned about corrosion in the engine (Cam and lifters). The owner and logs state 15w50 has been the oil of choice. In addition, the owner keeps the Tanis plugged in all winter when not in use which I've read can also lead to corrosion (maybe?).

My IA shared similar concerns, but also stated there's really no way to know without pulling a jug. And even then, there's no guarantee of finding anything one way or another. Owner says oil analysis has always been clean (I don't have copies yet).

So - all things being equal meaning this is the ideal plane for me (hours, avionics, price, mission fit, etc.). Would you move forward? Any 'lower key' pre-buy options besides pulling a jug to feel better?

Thanks!
 
My airplane only flew about 10 hours a year for the 6 years prior to my purchase. BUT, it was meticulously maintained and kept in a hangar. I had no qualms at all. Get a good PPI. Not so much to break on a Cherokee.
 
I'm certainly leaning towards going for it. I'll likely put around 80hrs+ year.
 
If you have a very skinny boroscope you can go up through the sump to look at the cam.

If not, be prepared for both pleasant and unpleasant surprises. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.
 
asicer said:
If you have a very skinny boroscope you can go up through the sump to look at the cam.

If not, be prepared for both pleasant and unpleasant surprises. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.
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Yep - it's that 50/50 part that has me scratching my head.. Feel like the guy on the other side of Clint Eastwood...."Do you feel lucky?"
 
killerfish72 said:
Yep - it's that 50/50 part that has me scratching my head.. Feel like the guy on the other side of Clint Eastwood...."Do you feel lucky?"
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Well, to answer your question, I would do it but then again I could also afford a new firewall forward if things took a turn for the worst.
 
asicer said:
Well, to answer your question, I would do it but then again I could also afford a new firewall forward if things took a turn for the worst.
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As could I, 'barely'.... Obviously, that's a lot of AVGas :)
 
A sample of oil (post-flight, or at least post-warmup) shipped off to Blackstone Labs might tell you a lot about the engine. Only takes a few days.
 
DaleB said:
A sample of oil (post-flight, or at least post-warmup) shipped off to Blackstone Labs might tell you a lot about the engine. Only takes a few days.
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Yep - that'll be part of the deal for sure
 
Rightfully so a lot of attention is paid to the engine as a big ticket item. The airframe and everything else is were an owner can financially die by a 1000 duck bites. Hangared most of it's life is a great. The engine condition can be carefully checked and priced appropriately, at least an engine overhaul goes right back into an A/C's value. Repairing corrosion on the airframe or cosmetically improvements don't add a lot of value and cost plenty.
 
If the price was right, (we don't know?) I'd have absolutely no concern for the things you appear to be concerned about. And, don't go pulling any cylinders. In this case, (at least what you've described), it's a waste of time, and your money.
 
Art Rose said:
If the price was right, (we don't know?) I'd have absolutely no concern for the things you appear to be concerned about. And, don't go pulling any cylinders. In this case, (at least what you've described), it's a waste of time, and your money.
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Yep - as mentioned, I'm not going to go nuts unless something really obvious pops at pre-buy. The price is right (to me at least and that's what matters). I definitely won't pull a cylinder. I will have the oil analysis done as they've at least been consistently doing that so we'll be able to compare (even though it's not a sure thing it'll catch anything, it's cheap and easy to do).
 
Plugging all winter is not a major concern ( there are obviously many schools of thought on that), I know several owners here who plugs in October and removes it in May , they are running like that for 10-15 years without any issues.
 
I bought with that same risk (23 hours total after an OH 30 months earlier) after a solid PPI. I had some for gotchas but the plane was solid. You may get a weird oil report after a year of flying it harder. Those numbers reduce as you keep flying more; at least mine did).
 
If the price was right I would buy and fly the snot out of that plane. Man I thought I was risk averse until I came to POA. I have flown a bunch on some very old rebuilds that at times in their lives didn't get flown much. Guess I am lucky to be alive.
 
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