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RV7AAAAAAA

Active Member
Let me first start by appologizing for any dumb questions I might ask. But my experience with Lyc. engines over the years has been limited. Limitied to adding oil when needed in rental aircraft.
So let me explain what I'm doing and let me know if this is good, bad or overkill. First the engine - 0320-E2A 0 time SMOH in 1975.
Engine log entry: Aug. 7, 1975 tach time 4765 total engine time 2235.
Completed major overhaul this date as per Lyc. overhaul manual. Camshaft rebuilt by Lyc. Replaced all piston rings, exhaust valves (75068), valve keepers, main bearings , rod bearings, connecting rod nuts and bolts, #3 cylinder replaced with serviceable unit, crack welded and valve guides replaced on #4 cylinder by Chromelplate, Inc. Complied with Lyc. service instruction 1225B(main bearing dowel pins). Signed John W Langston A&P 585121314.

The engine is torn down and I will send the crankcase to Divco I guess they will tell me what I Need, the crank, cam , gears, rods, etc. will be sent to ????. (any suggestions here I'm flipping through Trade A Plane). Have cylinders sent to ????. Trade - A -Plane. Now once I have all my clean, polished, inspected and AD compliant parts back I find someone to put it back together for me . Any suggestions?
1. Logs say nothing about the crankcase - is sending the crankcase off routine for a major overhaul? Should I send out the sump/access. case?
2. "pieces back in the same place". Many parts like the lifters should not need any work. Do I have to worry abouth these parts returning to the same position?
Oh and by the way after removing all of my hydraulic units from my engine with a magnet I read on pg. 126 of Sky Ranch book " remove hydraulic units with Lyc. tool #64961 or a piece of wire NO MAGNETS PLEASE. What have I done!!!? Will this affect any performance or just my compass? Ok my brain is a sponge ready to absorb any suggestions. More questions to come
Thanks in advance.
Jim Kirks
Forget where I am on A/C build
0320 in pieces
Thinking of driving to LOE with my camera
 
Aircraft Specialty Services reworked/recertified all of the parts when I rebuilt my engine. One thing I would do differently if I could turn the clock back would be to buy new cylinders. They are not a whole lot more expensive than having your existing cylinders rebuilt, particularly if you have have cracks welded. In addition, the new cylinders should be more trouble free and should bring more $ if you ever sell the airplane.

Sending out the case halves is normal, sending out the sump and accessory case probably isn't.

If you send out the cam, you should probably send out the lifters. A suggestion is to find a local IA who does field rebuilds and pay for an hour of his time to give you direction on which parts to send out and where.

If you like the guy/gal, have him/her reassemble the engine. It is always good to have an experienced engine person help you. If for nothing else, you can have him eyeball the engine for you at condition inspection time just to make sure you didn't miss any obvious issues.

On the other hand, reassembling a lycoming isn't that hard, but it is a critical and expensive item, so paying a qualified person <$1,000 to reassemble it isn't a bad investment.
 
Call Bob Merrell at Aircraft Specialties...!!! You will not be disappointed!
You need to ditch DIVCO and call Harold or Kevin at Crankcase Services in OK.
 
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O-320 rebuild

Jim,
I am in the same boat as you. I have a 1987, 300 hour TTSN O-320D1A that has not run since 1990. Long story. The only repair station that I have had some contact with is Gibson Aviation in Oklahoma. They specialize in pistons and cylinders. For $295 per jug, they will go through it, make it yellow tag, and send it back, shipping included. The mechanic at the airport where my C-172 is hangered recommended them. I am about to send my cylinders and pistons to them for overhaul. Mine look like new already but they have not operated in sixteen years.
 
Kyle, where can I find a qualified person that'd assemble an engine for under 1k? Local quotes I got were 2.5-3.5x that amount :(
 
Jeez, >$2k to assemble an engine? What's the world coming to???

My experience was that disassembling the engine, boxing up all the components to send 'em off, talking with the people at the machine shops, etc. required at least as much time as assembling the engine.

I think that if you took all of the components to an experienced mechanic, s/he could assemble the entire thing in one day, maybe less. My AI charges $55/hr (I think), so 8 hours of his time would be under $500.

The key is to make sure you have *all* of the necessary parts. Gaskets, sealant, thread, etc. etc. etc. Paying a mechanic to dig through catalogues and make phone calls to order little parts is a bad way to spend money.

Also, are you dealing with an individual or with a shop which has a couple of layers of overhead?
 
I got a brand new ECI kit.... so for the most part, things should fit out of the box but tolerances should probably be checked anyways.. I'm either quoted a flat fee (in the range mentioned) or in one case 40 hours of labor.. at 55 an hour.. go figure!! local shops at area airports..

my main criteria is that person needs to know what they're doing.. if they're quoting 40 hours for basic assembly.. they fail that criteria miserably :)
 
Good points above. I'm once again in this position for our RV7 that we're doing. Rebuilding a 360...we've done this a number of times before and here's my 2 cents.

Just buy brand new cylinder assemblies. They are only about $900 each complete with new everything (valves, springs, pistons, rings, etc..)...and have a warranty. Why spent nearly half of that for an unknown...your goal is to have a nearly new engine so the pricing isn't phenomenally different.

Send out the case, cam/lifters, crank to be inspected and tagged.

Buy a gasket kit, bearing kit and put it all back together yourself. Cheap, easy and actually not too hard.

Either have the accessories overhauled or buy new, and you're done. BTW, don't assume the little plungers inside the lifter bodies are all ok. Check them all out..they also aren't that expensive to replace with new then you're done with that as well. I see new Cam/Lifter kits are going for around $800, so that'd be an option I'll probalby go with....just for peace of mind.

Either way, even a grand or two to have a professional put it together isn't bad, but doing it yourself is relatively easy fun and affordable.

Cheers,
Stein.
 
LifeofReiley said:
Call Bob Merrell at Aircraft Specialties...!!! You will not be disappointed!
You need to ditch DIVCO and call Harold or Kevin at Crankcase Services in OK.
Click to expand...
Darrell
Thanks I'll give them a call. I thought Divco had a monopoly on crankcases. Big ad in Trade A Plane. Have you had problems with Divco?
Thanks Jim :eek:
 
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