REFLECTOR: How to find an engine core

[Jones Nick]

Reiff,

First, let me say I would NOT buy ANYTHING from Performance Engine. I have personal experience with them, none of it good. I also have a friend that bought an engine from them, also not good and the experience was worse than the engine. Also, the engine you get from them will NOT have a serial number and will NOT have a history. Something I would be very apprehensive about.

If you are looking for something more powerful than stock, I would be very careful. There are a lot of people out there that pontificate knowing more than the engineers that design and test these engines. Look at the track records, talk to as many people you can about any history with them before dropping the big bucks into a "modified" engine.

If you are not comfortable with doing your own rebuild, I would probably stick with a reputable rebuilder, i.e. Don George, Mattituck, Penn Yan etc... You should also look at Continental's rebuilt options, they are quite competitively priced and have a good warranty. When I was at Continental they were building the rebuilt engines on the same assembly line as the new engines. The same folks, same procedures same tooling as a the new engines. The only parts that are reused from a core is the case, cam, crank, gears and con rods and these have to meet new standards. They use new cylinders, and new accessories. As far as buying an engine and storing it for several years, this is not as big an issue as most people think provided it is done properly. Following the service bulletins SIL99-1 and SB99-8 will ensure the engine is preserved. I have seen engines stored for 20 years following this procedure without any issues. Also, the customer support with Continental has been excellent. I had an issue with getting some parts that the distributor said were on back order. I wrote an email the Rhett Ross at Continental and had the parts within a week.

I stumbled onto my Malibu engine by just searching the internet for these engines. I was really excited when I found it and was going to put the turbo 550 on my plane until I found out how much the turbo system cost to rebuild and install.


Best regards,

Nick and Connie Jones
Velocity XL-RG
N10CN
99% done 90% to go

From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On Behalf Of Reiff Lorenz
Sent: Friday, February 24, 2012 9:48 AM
To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: How to find an engine core


Nick,

You certainly got a great deal on your engine(s)! I don't know that I'm up for doing my own rebuild or overhaul, but the Continental engine school might be worthwhile just for my own education, ongoing maintenance, and occasional repairs.

I'm discovering, as Brett pointed out, that cores for this engine are not easy to find. I contacted Performance Engines in California (anybody dealt with them before?) and they were willing to sell me an IO-550 core for $14,000. If I had them do the overhaul I'd get a $10,000 core credit and a $3,500 discount.

I have not called Wentworth, but they're on my list to contact. There is also a big Cirrus dealer near me. Maybe they could help.

BTW, How did you find the engine from the Malibu?

Reiff Lorenz
XL-RG, N142AZ, 30% done


From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On Behalf Of Jones Nick
Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 11:27 AM
To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: How to find an engine core

My situation may be unique in that I have built several engines and I am comfortable with doing my own engine work. I found two engines that were damaged in landing accidents, the first was an TSIO-550-C1B from a Piper Malibu and the second was from a Cirrus SR-22. The Malibu engine had 850 hours and the Cirrus engine had 48. I only paid $3500 for the Malibu engine but it was missing a lot of parts and would require some expensive repairs to the turbo system. The core was in good shape so I bought it. In the mean time, I found the Cirrus engine that was complete but had prop strike damage that required a new crank and some case repairs but the engine was complete with all accessories and components with only 48 hours. I bought this engine for $12,500 from Wentowrth on ebay. The crank was an additional $5000. I went to the Continental engine school ($750) and learned how they built engines and rebuilt mine. I have less than $20K in the new engine. I sold the case from the TSIO-550 for more than I paid for the whole engine and now have tons of spare parts.

Sorry this is long but the point is, if you're willing to learn to do your own work, you can get some great deals. Every time a Cirrus activates the CAPS, there's an engine on the market. I would check with reputable bone pickers for a deal.

Best regards,

Nick and Connie Jones
Velocity XL-RG
N10CN
99% done 90% to go

From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On Behalf Of Reiff Lorenz
Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 10:46 AM
To: reflector at tvbf.org
Subject: REFLECTOR: How to find an engine core


Reflector,

I want to put a continental IO-550-N in my XL-RG. I don't want to buy a ready-to-run engine now because I have a many years left in my build. So I'm thinking of buying an "inexpensive" run-out engine that I could use for position, weight, spacing, fitting, etc. When I get close to being done, I could send this core in for an overhaul and end up with a like-new engine that still has its full warrantee.

What's a good way to find an run-out, but overhaul-able IO-550 engine?
What are the problems in this plan that I'm overlooking?

Thanks!

Reiff Lorenz
XL-RG, 30% done
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