Found and Bought an Engine

[BLittleton]

I've been saving for a while, and what I think is a great deal fell into my lap. I came across an IO-360-A3B6D. Angle valve, horizontal induction, constant speed, 200 HP.

The engine came off a Mooney accident and was torn down and completely rebuilt 12 years ago. The owner intended to put in his project, but instead pickled it and put in a corner since then. The owner claims to have been replacing the desicant plugs and oil fogging it periodically. I had an A&P friend of mine come look at it with me and said it was a no-brainier. The engine looked good and has chrome cylinders, so no chance of rust. Plus, almost all the accessories are present.

The best part, is the prop came as part of the package. It is an older model, Hartzell that needs to be gone through, but included.

I got the whole set up $9,000. Seems like a great deal to me.

Vans has been so great about working with me for my finish-kit order. I got the canopy and stuff earlier this year, but since I didn't know then what kind of engine I would have they put my mount, gear legs, and cowl on back-order. All I had to do was call up Vans with the specs, and they are sending the proper mount and cowl. Very convenient.

[Raymo]

Sounds like a great deal! I had a similar deal in Florida a while back that was sold to another after we agreed on a price.

[Ironflight]

That sounds like an outstanding deal! Just be aware that having chrome jugs means there is little chance of rust IN THE JUGS. You can still have corrosion on the cam and/or followers - or other components. If it was properly pickled, with lots of oil in the crankcase and grease on the cam and such, then you should be fine...

On our most recent project, we bought in to a ten year old, zero time since new IO-360 that had always been stored in desert conditions. We still got out a scope and checked everything we coudl we through inspection holes and the like. So far - doing great with 150 hours on it!

[dwranda]

That's exactly the kind of deal I am looking for. Did you find it online some place like Barnstormers,etc?

[BLittleton]

Originally Posted by dwranda

That's exactly the kind of deal I am looking for. Did you find it online some place like Barnstormers,etc?

I just knew a guy who knew a guy. Right place, right time, with the money.
I'm not accustom to deals like because I usually don't know anybody.

[zilik]

Originally Posted by Ironflight

That sounds like an outstanding deal! Just be aware that having chrome jugs means there is little chance of rust IN THE JUGS. You can still have corrosion on the cam and/or followers - or other components. If it was properly pickled, with lots of oil in the crankcase and grease on the cam and such, then you should be fine...

On our most recent project, we bought in to a ten year old, zero time since new IO-360 that had always been stored in desert conditions. We still got out a scope and checked everything we coudl we through inspection holes and the like. So far - doing great with 150 hours on it!

As i read to OP's post all I could think about was; What about the cam? Chrome don't rust but cams love to rust.

[chevelle000]

Pull the #1 and #4 cylinders off and inspect the camshaft lobes and tappet faces. Any type of spalling DO NOT start the engine. Spalling does not stop it only gets worse

[Snowflake]

Excellent deal! FYI - The picture in your post doesn't show.

[Low Pass]

Before buying, see if you can pull the mags and take a good look inside at the accessory gears. Look at the gear faces particularly. Might give an idea of what you have going on inside the rest of the engine. Obviously, the best would be to look at the camshaft, but have to pull a cylinder or sump and run a scope inside.

I'm a little pessimistic on the "used engine supposedly preserved coming from an arid environment" these days... Corrosion is a bad. Very bad. The engine could be a killer deal, or could be that you're buying a case and some expensive used accessories.

[bret]

I also bought engine prop combo out of a Mooney accident, it was parked, tail got eaten by a runaway hand propped Cessna.