The International Cessna^® 170 Association

Make them out of carbon fiber, probably stronger and no corrosion worries.

I don't know much about the process/material but how about 3D laser printing?

I think Kyle may be on to something.

There arenow new materials and processes being expounded w 3 D Laser Printing. Make mine Titanium.

To keep the C 170 flying for the next 50 years could we start buying new component parts that we don't currently need? It would maintain and raise the perceived Value of your airplane.

At some future time the value of a top C170 is going to be recognized as $ 100,000 . If an excellent C170 is worth 20% of a new Cessna 172 the value would be$ 90,000 Today.

If the corroded area was localized in an area where this would be possible, why couldn't the outside area of the pan surrounding this area be milled to a flat surface and a plate be made to cover it. It could be bolted on using Helicoils in the pan and a gasket??

Joe

Joe Moilanen wrote:If the corroded area was localized in an area where this would be possible, why couldn't the outside area of the pan surrounding this area be milled to a flat surface and a plate be made to cover it. It could be bolted on using Helicoils in the pan and a gasket??

Joe

Bruce Fenstermacher wrote:Of course there is a better way. Or at least as good as these are now 50 something years old. But the market is not big enough for anyone to recover there investment in th cost of certification. Again regulation kills aviation.

It's not the cost of building a better anything in aviation. It's the cost of getting FAA permission to use it.

Joe, you really don't have a bad idea. If it was one pin hole and lots of meat around it, and the pan thick enough. Why not drill the pin hole, tap it and insert a pipe plug.

I'd already thought that it won't be long and some type of high temp plastic will come out for the 3D printers. We'll be all set then. Well except it will take the FAA 50 years to recognize it as safe.

I appears to be a crack about an inch long running crosswise about an inch in front of the carb. Wish I was smart enough to put a pic of it on here.

The sump corrodes because water gets trapped by the internal casting of the carb boss and the internal boss of the forward drain plug. Eventually the water works it way through the oil layer covering the interior parts and works on the magnesium. The smooth exterior surface mirrors the internal but over a period of time that surface under a corrosive attack takes on the appearance of the Rocky Mountains. The magnitude / extent of the peaks and valleys of the interior surface will reveal themselves once you have removed the condensed oil film on the bottom of the sump and only then will you know the true condition of your part.
A one inch crack tells me the damage inside can't be good, and likely is far more extensive than the crack.

T. C. Downey wrote: When I hand you a exact duplicate of a 0-300 sump. you have your A&P install it. who declares airworthiness? Isn't that a owner supplied part?

So when the next owner gets drunk, takes off vfr into IMC, runs into a mountain, and his family's lawyers decide to convince a jury that the engine MUST have quit, and it MUST have been the homemade oil pan (don't laugh, stranger lawsuits have come up in aviation), what do you think the guy you sold the pan to is going to say? That he reversed engineered the old sump, or got an old Continental drawing, and had Downey make it for him? And oh btw, here's the specs and info I gave him?

Don't get me wrong, I feel for you guys. There is no practical or safety reason you couldn't use today's tech to reverse engineer the part and make a far superior replacement for pennies of a PMA'd part. But if it were this easy others would be doing it on a host of parts! Bummer.

DEM

Aryana wrote:The interior of the sump off the C-145 engine I bought from BL looked exactly as described above. While trying to determine the true extent of the damage, I easily pushed a small flathead screwdriver right through the sump.

Looked perfect from the outside, but all the corrosion was on the inside eating away at it.

I guess that's why that engine kept everything between the spinner and tailwheel lubricated on '98C!

I am posting my experience on this problem in hopes that it will be of some value to others.
My problem started in January when I notice a small puddle of oil on the ground under the end of the cowling. The source of the leak remained elusive until annual time in June. The engine sat devoid ed of oil for a few days while waiting on a new cylinder. Before adding oil a new crush washer was added to the front sump drain. With in minutes of adding oil the leek was found.
While waiting on responses in my search for a replace pan I noticed a weld around the front sump. Researching the logs I discovered the pan had been repaired in 2011 by Drake. I called Drake. The phone quote was $1075.00.
They did seem to want to repair the pan on a warranty basses. I had the good fortune of finding a local machine that had a serviceable pan which he sold to me.
Attached are some photos showing the hair line crack causing the leek and the welding that was done by Drake in 2011.