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baronn

Rebuilding a 182

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Just curious if any other's have run into these issues. Replacing motor, prop, Stol, Wing X and a few other things. Built 520 that is spose to produce some serious power. I was nervous about hanging that on a near 60 yr old engine mount. Against my A&P's advice (old skool), I decided to have it redone. Turns out it had previous damage, been repaired poorly and was so trashed it was junk. I've rebuilt quite a few cars before but this is my 1st foray into airplanes. Pretty Amazing how state of the art 1920's technology this crap is. They're basically pieces of shit. The FAA won't let me hang a water cooled LS3 and use it commercially. OK fine. I'll play along. The mounts for the firewall were completely trashed. The FAA doesn't require ANY inspection of these things. Hell, they don't even require the plugs to be cleaned at annual. Pretty amazing we don't have more issues with these. At least that we don't hear about. Any thoughts on this?

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(d) Each person performing an annual or 100-hour inspection shall inspect (where applicable) components of the engine and nacelle group as follows:

(1) Engine section—for visual evidence of excessive oil, fuel, or hydraulic leaks, and sources of such leaks.

(2) Studs and nuts—for improper torquing and obvious defects.

(3) Internal engine—for cylinder compression and for metal particles or foreign matter on screens and sump drain plugs. If there is weak cylinder compression, for improper internal condition and improper internal tolerances.

(4) Engine mount—for cracks, looseness of mounting, and looseness of engine to mount.

(5) Flexible vibration dampeners—for poor condition and deterioration.

(6) Engine controls—for defects, improper travel, and improper safetying.

(7) Lines, hoses, and clamps—for leaks, improper condition and looseness.

(8) Exhaust stacks—for cracks, defects, and improper attachment.

(9) Accessories—for apparent defects in security of mounting.

(10) All systems—for improper installation, poor general condition, defects, and insecure attachment.

(11) Cowling—for cracks, and defects.



The above is from FAR Part 43, Appendix D. If you are going to own an aircraft then you may want to become familiar with the entire Appendix.

But, in reference to your statement, the engine mount/s are required to be inspected.
Also, even though it does not specifically call out for spark plugs they are part of the Ignition System which is required to be inspected as per Line (10).
Every manufacture can have different procedures on HOW to do the inspect, so the FAA makes a general statement and it is up to the mechanic/IA to find out what the proper procedures are.

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Well, I guess my bad. Perhaps the FAA does generalize some is to be expected with as many different aircraft there are. Nonetheless, Some of their rules are quite antiquated and cude use an upgrade to keep up with modern technology. All I know is that I don't overlook anything. I have inspected this plane tip to tail and if it was suspect, it got replaced. I've not seen that at too many places I've been to in the past. Hopin to have a fst climber. Will post when I'm done

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baronn

Just curious if any other's have run into these issues. Replacing The FAA won't let me hang a water cooled LS3 and use it commercially. OK fine. I'll play along. ?

. Damn I wonder how that would climb ?...
i have on occasion been accused of pulling low . My response. Naw I wasn't low I'm just such a big guy I look closer than I really am .


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As an aside, several antique (built 1947) Repunblic Seabees have been retrofitted with LS1 engines from Corvettes.
While Seabees are sluggish seaplanes with their original 200 hp Franklin engines), 300 hp LS1 dramatically improved performance, while dropped fuel consumption by 40 percent!

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keithbar

***Just curious if any other's have run into these issues. Replacing The FAA won't let me hang a water cooled LS3 and use it commercially. OK fine. I'll play along. ?

. Damn I wonder how that would climb ?...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpZYfd0GzuQ

http://www.quietaviation.com/

Never seen it get off the ground but I'm not holding my breath to see it. The left turning engine would sure be interesting on rotation.
"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
I'm an asshole, and I approve this message

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baronn

Just curious if any other's have run into these issues. Replacing motor, prop, Stol, Wing X and a few other things. Built 520 that is spose to produce some serious power. I was nervous about hanging that on a near 60 yr old engine mount. Against my A&P's advice (old skool), I decided to have it redone. Turns out it had previous damage, been repaired poorly and was so trashed it was junk. I've rebuilt quite a few cars before but this is my 1st foray into airplanes. Pretty Amazing how state of the art 1920's technology this crap is. They're basically pieces of shit. The FAA won't let me hang a water cooled LS3 and use it commercially. OK fine. I'll play along. The mounts for the firewall were completely trashed. The FAA doesn't require ANY inspection of these things. Hell, they don't even require the plugs to be cleaned at annual. Pretty amazing we don't have more issues with these. At least that we don't hear about. Any thoughts on this?



Pulled my 180 (1956) to bits and rebuilt it one time. A lot of the components were original and basically just falling apart. Replaced all of those with new stuff. Not surprising since it was nearly 60 years old at the time.

That turned out to be a nightmare job. Never do that again.
My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

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I have paid for a bunch of overhauls. Each time, I bought new engine mounts. It makes sense -- the mounts take a lot of wear. Failure of an engine mount on a newly reman engine would be a major bummer.
Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208
AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I
MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger
Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures

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Check yer firewall to engine mount grommets. Mine had deteriorated to the point where the grommet had split and the sleeve was resting in the hole. I caught it just in time. It was just starting to elongate the hole. Yeah, the part 43 may say look at these but, few do. Clearly mine never were. This job has been beyond a pain but, I'm so glad I did everything I did. The planes have always scared me the most. Mainly because it was a bit of a mystery and I had to rely on other's to tell me what was rite or wrong. I learned the hard way a few times not to do that. I don't anymore......

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Not sure if I'll do the shop but, if anyone wants to know what took me a lotta work to find, I'll be happy to share it. I have another 520. If I find another clean straight tail like this, I'd do this again. IF this performs as expected, I'm sure there is a market for these planes. Won't be cheap.....

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I read your post and also looked up the FAA part 43. On your post and in the FAA appendix, it doesn't say anywhere about inspecting the engine mount to firewall attachment. As we both know, ya simply can't cover it all. This was probably written a zillion yrs ago anyway. My point for this whole post was to simply bring awareness to what I saw as a real serious problem. I got lucky (or skillful) insisting I needed a new engine mount. If I hadn't done that, I mita missed the deterioration of those grommets. You can follow the FAA rules and still miss important stuff. I'm sure they'll change it after an incident. That's usually how an AD comes about......

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Ran into a fitment issue with the motor. The oil pump helical gears are about 40% larger than the 470. The cover for the tach attachment is about a half an inch longer. This causes the cover to get into the firewall and prevent lining up on the motor mounts. Called the STC owner and he knew all about it. Funny how I never got a note about this. His suggestion was to take a hammer and pound the firewall in about a half an inch. Wuda been about an inch in my case because of the insulation shield I had installed. Made me even more pissed this wasn't mentioned earlier. I decided to search and see if I cude find a better solution. All I needed was a shorter output shaft to use the shorter 470 cover that wude also hook up to my tach. Considered having it machined down. I found an extremely helpful and knowledgeable person that found me the 520 helical gear but, it had the short shaft. Rite from Continental. It's now on it's way to me. The more I get into this project, the more I find ya really have to do your own due diligence. This was the solution and the STC owner never even knew about it.

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I keep discovering new things about these projects. My I/A ( who is a good mechanic and a hell of a great guy) is missing some serious points. As I'm trying to get this back in the air and finish the paperwork, They finally did a search on the engine I was putting in this bird. There's an AD on the starter drive. Apparently it needs to be looked at. If it's wrong, it will grenade the engine.This can only be done with the engine out. It sat on an engine stand most of last summer and I had to pull it off 2x after it was mounted. To find this out at this stage is really inconvenient. If anyone ever does this, 1st thing is to look for any SB's and AD's. This way you can correct them when everything is torn apart. 2nd thing is to contact me and I can give you a full step by step to accomplish this.
On the plus side, I did inspect it and it's good. Prop is on and a few small details to attend to tomorrow and it shude be running.

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Doubtful they will have any info on the 520. Cessna never offered that motor on a 182. I will look that up, I haven't had any issues with the airframe itself. All of these could have been resolved early with an AD and SB check while it was torn apart. Also some directions from the STC holder sure wuda helped. Having gone thru this, I won't get caught again. On a positive note, we took it out for it's 1st flight yesterday. Ran strong and smooth. Gonna run in the motor and will get back with performance stats. Initial climb was very impressive

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Had the Vacuum pump puke on me. Since I had to move it to clear the alternator, I modified the mounting studs to get it on and off. The switch will be much easier now. Just finished the annual. I was going thru the preflight with my pilot and we checked the U bolts on the mains. I hadn't looked at them since last fall. The rear bolt on the co pilot side was sheared off. Surprised it was missed on the annual but, shit happens. It will be part of the preflight in the future. Replacement is 575.
Ouch

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