Contential O-300A has not run since 1995- suggestions?

[Matthew_bailey]

My straight tail 172 restoration project had its last current annual in 1990. At that time the Contential O-300A had 677 hours SMOH. Total time on the airframe and motor are 2839 hours. Since that time the aircraft has not flown, although the mags were replaced in 1995. Since 1995 the aircraft has been stored in a dry California garage, but the motor does not appear to have been pickled in any way. I have dumped the old oil and checked the screen. Cleaned fuel sump and replaced the oil with Aeroshell 50wt. Installed a temporary battery for testing purposes and hung a temporary fuel tank. Also removed deteriorating air filter. Soaked the cylinders with oil and pulled the motor over by hand with plugs removed. Fired motor and ran for two minutes, oil pressure looked good and engine ran/sounded OK. The previous owner of this aircraft was an A&P and suggests that the motor should not require an overhaul. Will be performing a leak down check in the next day or so. What are the opinions of this forum? Am I out of my mind to fly with this motor if compression checks out ok?

Matt

[Dave Clark]

CA coastal or CA desert? Big difference. You didn't mention the date it was overhauled or the history up to 1995. If you're buying this plane you should allow a certain amount of money for the risk that the engine will need to be overhauled. If it's CA desert the risk is probably minimal depending on how good it was when put away. If it's CA coastal the risk is higher, and higher yet if the garage would hold moisture ie open door or not vented. Sometimes external corrosion is present and if so I would be very wary. It can take 100 hours or so for a ructed camshaft to show problems. If you run it just for a short time and don't find any metal in the screen don't assume it's a good engine. There's a nice old straight tail 172 here that was the same story. The owner has had it several months and maybe 50 hours and the engine is now off for an overhaul.

The 180 Lycoming I bought this fall (1100 SMOH)was overhauled in 1988 (about as long ago as I would accept) but it was flown regularly through the years and spent the last nine winters in a heated hangar. I'm reasonably optomistic however I also am prepared for the worst.

[N1277D]

When I lived in South Carolina there was a C195 that had been sitting for years in an enclosed T-hanger. The history was that the guy who owned it was flying direct from the carolinas to NY over the ocean and had an inflight fire due to an electrical problem. He reached under the panel and pulled out huge amounts of wire to stop the fire. The airplane then sit for more than 25 years. He would not sell it to anyone on the field or to any of his friends.

Eventually he got the urge to sell it cause of advancing age. The stipulation was if you ran the engine you bought the airplane, the price was right but no one would touch the aircraft because it sitting a long time in the South Carolina humidity.

He then answered an ad in trade-a-plane for someone looking for a C195. The price he offered was the hanger rent he had paid for 25 years. In SC this was about $60/month or about $18k total for it. When the buyer showed up all the locals were wondering who this "fool"was. The guy changed the oil, put in a battery, borosocoped it and it started on the fourth blade - ran perfect, no metal no problems. He flew it locally for a few hours before heading out over the SC swamps, heard later that the engine was fine, he replaced the wireing, radios, and had a great airplane "ouch". But you never can tell with such an engine sometimes you get a good deal, other times you need to overhaul it, fix stuck rings, etc.

[zero.one.victor]

Something's been sitting that long,you're buying a pig in a poke,even more so than normal. Sometimes they're good,sometimes they're bad.
A couple years ago,I was looking for a used servicable engine to drop into my 170. I found plenty of run-outs,& some that were not run-out but had been sitting in the corner of somebody's garage for 10 years. I was told that it'd be a good idea to pull a cylinder & look the lower end over thru the hole.
I also found a couple,offered by the big salvage outfits,guaranteed "no prop strike" (yeah,right!) and one that had suffered a "light prop strike"! (Say what????)

Eric

[funseventy]

I bought my airplane out of an open hangar in the Los Angeles area last April. The family had owned it for 37 years but it had sat for the past 15.
The airframe was exceptionally straight, but had bad paint and a rotten interior from facing into the sun for that time. They had done some work to the airplane to get it ready to sell. They put new radio's, gyro's, glass, strobes and an alternator kit, along with a fresh annual and about ten hours of flying it. I considered the engine to be the big risk, but with how nice the airframe was, it was worth the risk. It helps that I am an A&P and IA, and that does change the decision making. If I would have to pay someone for all the work it needed it wouldn't have been worth it. Since April I have put around 160 hours on it and its doing great. It now has 600 hrs on it and burns a quart of oil every 12-13 hrs. I think I have a sweety. I haven't seen anything in the filter so I'm going to keep on going for now.

Good Luck, Kelly

[GAHorn]

I'd perform an annual inspection on it, boroscope the cylinders, and then warm it up thoroughly on the ground and run a 5 minute, full-power static run on it. Then pull the oil screen/filter and look for debris, especially rust. If no rust, ferrous metal, or large copper or aluminum shows up, I'd fly it overhead the field for 30 mins and then pull the screen/filter again for another check. If it's OK then, fly it 10 hours (day time only) and check again with a complete oil change. If it's still OK, I'd venture you've had a lucky find, and I'd trust it the same as any other engine. Upper cylinder and cam/lifter problems are the most likely injury from long periods of in-activity.

[zero.one.victor]

Long-time Assn member (#446) Johnny Williams of Texas wrote an article that was in the #1/1997 170 News,about hanging a Continental TSIO-360 on the front of a B model. He is a parts manufacturer,and I believe an A&P (& probably an IA),has had lots of experience with these old airplanes.
I quote "the engine was last flown in 1976,but with plenty of Marvel Mystery Oil it is doing good."
Take that however you want to.

Eric

[GAHorn]

He had a priest bless it and sprinkle it with MMO.

[Matthew_bailey]

We did a cold leak back test today on the O-300A. 74/80 on all 6 cylinders. The motor had its one and only major overhaul in 1976 and has accumilated 677 hours since that time. All of the 677 hours were from 1976-1990 with a few replaced cylinders durning that time. The motor was then run infrequently up to 1995. Since 1995 the plane has been kept in enclosed garage in SanJose,CA. The garage had a bar and pool table among other things so it was not terribly moist in there from what I could see. Maybe that is why the guy did'nt finish the restoration? I guess we will see what happens.

Matt

[zero.one.victor]

George,don't forget the hokey-pokey,that is an ESSENTIAL part of any Mystery Oil ritual!
Matt,that engine sounds like it might be in pretty darn good shape--I would be inclined to fly it,with frequent oil changes until you're a little more sure of it. The first couple hours might best be put in orbitting your airport,just in case. You might want to invest the $300 for a spin-on filter assembly too,to catch any rust that might scuff off the internal parts & be suspended in the oil.
Good luck with it! Let us all know when you get started on the tailwheel conversion--man,they look SO much better on conventional gear! More fun,too!

Eric