MAGNETOS

Aircraft Magneto Services in Seattle received my mags yesterday. They found them suitable for the 500-hour service, which they completed. They are shipping them back to me today. The price was reasonable, too.

That kind of service is a thing call "customer service", and these folks know all about it.

Weekend Progress

Things are moving along. All of the accessories are off (photos to follow), the vacuum pump is off, the intake system has been removed, as well as the exhaust system, and the oil tank is draining in a bucket.

I have also gotten one cylinder off. Peering in the crankcase, things look pretty good. I don't see any signs of corrosion and there doesn't appear to be any pitting on the cam. I am crossing my fingers because the condition of the bottom end of the engine will have a major impact on the overall cost of the overhaul.

I had considerable help over the weekend. My buddy Dean showed up on Saturday and spent a good deal of time fetching wrenches, holding parts and asking lots of questions about aircraft engines. I enjoyed the company. On Sunday (yes, I skipped morning church) my hangar neighbor Brandon came over and helped get the oil tank off. Again, I enjoyed the company. The hangar can get kinda lonely sometimes.

There is a pause in parts ordering as I am changing banks. My aviation account has been at the same bank for quite some few years. I made the mistake of not completely understanding the bank's policy regarding out of character purchases. The bank made the mistake of offering something less than stellar customer service in the process of straightening it out. I am stuck with one foot on the boat and the other on the dock until the card comes from the new bank.

Magnetos

I have learned a lot about Slick magnetos in the last couple of days. My hat goes off to Cliff at Aircraft Magneto Services. These folks are wonderful.

Of major importance is a word about low priced "exchange" Slick magnetos. "Exchange" Slicks are not overhauled, they are new. It is not cost-effective to overhaul the Slick mags. There was an AD issued recently on some Slick mags. If you are ordering exchange mags, be certain that the serial numbers are above 0808453.

If the price seems to be too good to be true, it probably is and you will need to deal with a rather inconvenient AD.

My mags are going off to Magneto Services, Inc. tomorrow for evaluation. Basically, if the impulse coupling is good, the mag is a good candidate for the 500-hour service. If not, then I will be shopping for new mags.

You can call Cliff at 206-768-3099. The company is located on Boeing Field (King County Airport) in Seattle.

The project is off to a flying (no pun intended) start. The magnetos and the carb have been removed, along with many small bits and pieces.

The next step is to ship the mags and carb off for overhaul.

A lot of parts have been ordered. I want to express my thanks to Chief Aviation in Grants Pass, OR., A.E.R.O., and Aircraft Spruce. These are great companies from whom I have received excellent customer service.

Before

The following are the "before" photos. Just minutes before I started pulling things off the airplane. You can note that she is a pretty little bird. I like to say that she has a good "10-foot" paint job. It looks great from 10 feet. No exterior changes are contemplated, though I may remove the wheel pants. They look good, but they are a pain in the neck.

As you can see, the plastic is in pretty good shape, though dirty and discolored. That will be fixed. You can also get a glimpse of the really ugly, and uncomfortable, seats. Shelby Isham at Tnwings will be helping with that.
Again, the plastic is solid. Shelby will be helping with the ugly (and probably not acceptable to the FAA) carpet
I have always liked the "G" model panel. It is reasonably simple, pretty well laid out, and pre-dates Cessna's need to "color coordinate". The color matched lower panels of later models can look really hideous. Especially on colors like yellow. The yokes are in good shape. I had thought of getting leather yoke covers, but they don't need it. The push-to-talk switch arrangement will be getting fixed.

I am going to retain Placards Plus to do new overlays for the panel. This will eliminate the Cessna plastic overlays and the panel will resemble the newer Cessna panels that do not have the plastic overlays. I am also going to slightly modify the lower middle panel by lowering the intercom to align it with the avionics master switch and the radio's circuit breakers. That will leave a space to mount the Bendix/King AV80R I have on order.

This piece of ugly carpet is loose. Shelby's new carpet will fix that. Interior colors will be gray. It is easy on the eyes. If the budget allows, the throttle and mixture controls will be replaced with the more modern type.