Purchasing a salvage engine idea

[wirejock]

Before flaming, this is hypothetical. Has anyone ever considered buying a salvaged airplane, rebuilding the motor and parting out the rest?

I know a wrecked engine has to be completely torn down and overhauled. There are quite a few out there. The question is, can it be done and will it save any cost over a new engine. Can you do it yourself?

I've torn down dozens of automotive and motorcycle engines, have most of the tools and equipment or have access to it. All overhauls were done to factory specs and using factory manuals. Every bolt was torqued to factory settings. It seems like a possible cost savings.

Time, I've got. Tools, I've got. Money, is hard to come by. Safety is the primary concern. So bad idea or possible? If it's conceivable, what should I look for?

OK, Flame away.

Addendum: I searched the forum. It looks like there are tons of resources for everthing from used to kits. Your thoughts would still be appreciated.
Knowledge is power and there's plenty of it in this group.
Thanks

[Radomir]

If you're getting it for free.. then yes, you *may* be able to save some money.. Otherwise, odds are strongly against you... You only need one or two bum parts (crank or case) to turn it into a net loss... It's getting hard to beat an ECI kit build-up..

Not even talking about having an all new engine vs. on-its-last-overhaul engine...

[Mel]

I'm not quite sure why everyone thinks you have to have a newly rebuilt engine to fly. Actually it's NOT good to have a new engine on a new airplane. A new engine needs to be run hard for the first few hours. Exactly the opposite of what a new airplane needs. I bought a 2500 hr Lycoming and flew for for 3 years before rebuilding it. And it really didn't need overhauling at that point.
Now for the other side of the coin: If you purchase a used engine, you need to KNOW the engine and/or the seller. I bought mine from Lucky at Air Salvage of Dallas. And Lucky is about the most honest guy you'll ever meet.
For my bi-plane I bought the engine from American Legend Aircraft. I knew both the engine and the operators throughout it's history of 250 hrs.

[rv9aviator]

I had a friend that wrecked his Cherokee 140 and had a prop strike. I bought the engine which was a factory reman with only 500 hours on it. I got a fresh ground crank from Aircraft Specialties and had my local engine rebuild shop do the rest. New rings, complete valve jobs, ground the tappets and cam, and had the case checked. Basically I've got a majored engine out of the deal for under $10,000.00. I am very pleased with the outcome.

[9GT]

My 2001 IO-540 V4A5 is a salvaged engine from Wentworth. 501 hours SNEW when I bought it. I did the overhaul myself sending all the parts out that required a prop strike inspection/repair. Retagged it as EXP and I have only $16K into it. A considerable savings from a new EXP and even more than a certified engine. It was an enjoyable experience to overhaul the engine myself and I learned a lot in doing so. Its not for everyone and you do take a considerable risk in purchasing a salvaged engine. Just make sure you don't pay more than the core value. Good luck. Bill

[Brian Vickers]

I thought about doing what you are considering. In my business life I occasionally get bored waiting in airports, or hotel rooms, and amuse myself by sifting through the airplane auctions on Ebay. I have seen several perfectly airworthy airframes up for auction without the firewall forward. The seller clearly states they purchased the airplane for the engine. These are not airport tarmac derelicts, but air-worthy machines. It would make particularly good sense if the airplane has a new, low time, recently overhauled engine, and the airframe is a popular model for salvage. Plus, the log books are usually available and legitimate. It seems that many (most) cores don?t have any engine log info. The core I eventually purchased didn?t have the log. Another good aspect of this is the ability to fly the airplane to your location, then chop job the engine. Maybe fly it for the period leading up to your project needs. The airplane market is currently pretty soft, but demand for engine cores is not. Makes sense to me.

[CNEJR]

I think this is a very sensible idea. I read Barnstormers all the time trying to find a good deal like that. If your patient and have the time and buy a fairly common airframe with it. you could part it out and make money.

[videobobk]

I didn't buy the whole airplane, but my engine is from a hurricane Charlie'd RV-6. Bought FAF including the exhaust, engine mount, baffles and all other accessories. It is a great engine (had 885 ttsn when we got it) and should be good for many years. Saved a bundle as the stuff like baffles and engine mount were basically thrown in. Even got the wheels and brakes. Go for it!

Bob Kelly

[Bdalporto]

You might not need a whole airplane if your just after an engine. A friend bought a used engine off a pitts that was being up graded. If I remember right it had about 800 hrs on it. We went out and saw it run did a compression check and it looks fine and he got a pretty good deal on it, well under 10K.

Brian

[mv031161]

Atlanta Air Salvage is one of the better places to buy a salvaged engine...they will tell you all you need to know to make an intelligent decition. they have a very nice web site and you can see the status of each engine for sale. i.e. log books, no log book, run out, smoh, if it had a propo strike or not, etc.....

expect to pay core value for most and a little bit more for those who are serviceable ready to be bolted and used. . Since you are in the experimental world, your posibilities are a lot broader that if you had to deal with certified aircraft.

There is a nice AEIO-360 engine there right now....many other options as well

If you decide to do your own OVH. I reccoment you send all the metal (Crank, cam, rods) to Aircraft Specialties and let them certify the parts. your case to one of the several case places in Oklahoma and have them certify it as well... buy brand new Cylinders (dont shortcut here)

BTW...Atlanta Air Salvage has all kind of good stuff!

Good luck