REFLECTOR: Engine update

[Geoff Gerhardt]

Guys,

As I've mentioned before, I bought a used 500hr engine, when I started it
up first time, I couldn't develop full power, checked the compression and
it was terrible.  So, I pulled all the cylinders off and took them for a
rebuild.

Since then, the guy who's rebuilding my cylinders told me he was seeing
flecks of metal in the piston skirts - a sign the engine's making metal
somewhere.  He offered to come by and have a look at the lower end of the
engine (he's only a few towns over).  He ended up finding a couple spaulded
cam followers.  So, that meant a full tear down.  On tear down, I found the
 bad cam lifters, but other than that, everything was in pretty good shape.
 No scoring on the crank.  Nice even wear on all the bearings.  Even the
cam looked good.  But, I decided to ship everything off to ECI anyway for
inspection and rebuild.  UPS picked up the crates today, so I'll have a
month of twiddling my thumbs until I can start putting it back together.
 I've got a bunch of little things to do around the plane, tho, so at least
I'll have time to get it completely ready for an airworthiness inspection
after I get the engine back on.

The rebuild means a lot of money and time, but I'm feeling good about
knowing the engine will be in great shape when I'm done with it.

I took a few pics during the engine disassembly:
http://thegerhardts.com/velocity/?p=379

Geoff
N173VS (SE-RG)
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