Breather fitting modification.

One of the items on my to do list was this breather fitting modification. This fitting screws into the crankcase and provides the crankcase vent. These engines have a reputation for leaving a small puddle under the breather on the ramp after shut down because the camshaft throws oil into this fitting. The extension is a recommendation from Continental to help solve this issue. The longer tube helps to displace the vent location out of the path of the oil being slung by the camshaft. The brass tube was turned down in the lathe and then silver soldered to the fitting.

Accessories

In the background of the picture of the starter gear you can see the carburetor is torn apart. Since I've had the airplane it has always required a lot of leaning to keep it from running rough. The carburetor got a new fuel discharge nozzle kit that will hopefully take care of this problem.

The generator brushes look good, but the drive bushings are showing some wear. You can see the difference between the old ones (kind of cocked off to one side) and the new ones.

The magnetos came apart for inspection. Everything looked good here.

Starter gear

The starter installed and rigged.

New gear installed in the starter and ready to assemble.

Picture of the new starter gear.

This is a picture of the new seals in the starter end plate. The boss on the left hole had to be machined to accept the new style of seal.

This is the starter gear. The big gear is run by the starter motor and the small gear (one that's all chewed up) engages with the crankshaft gear during engine starts. The gears end up looking like this when the starter is rigged incorrectly and begins to spin before it has full engagement with the crank gear. I had rigged rigged this system last winter, but evidentally the damage was already done at some point in the past.

Engine removal.

Some more, rather blurry, engine removal pics.

Engine before removal.

One of the winter projects is removal of the engine for some much needed cleaning, repairs, and painting. Some before pictures.

337 Forms

A 337 is a form that must be completed whenever a major repair or alteration is performed. Below is a list of the 337's that have been submitted for N2496N according to the FAA's records.

2/8/49 Alteration. Installed landing gear adapter plate P/N 0441147.

9/2/54 Repair. Repaired damaged right wing tip.

12/19/55 Alteration. Installed Met-Co-Aire metal wings.

12/17/58 Repair. Wings repaired and covered with Irish linen. Fuselage repaired, skins, gear bulkhead support, left front door post. Converted from a C-85 to a C-90.

2/16/63 Alteration Electrical system and radios installed.

3/28/83 Alteration Cleveland wheels and brakes installed.

12/29/89 Alteration. Radios removed and ARC RT328T installed.

10/10/94 Alteration Brackett air filter installed.

1/19/01 Alteration C-150 Leading edge landing light installed.

Aircraft Log Books

The aircraft log books for N2496N are complete and go back to when the airframe was new in 1947 and when the engine was remanufactured in 1968.

The aircraft log books are made up of 3 airframe books that go back to the factory test flight on 2/19/47, and 1 engine log book that goes back to 6/7/68 when the factory remanufactured Continental C90-12F was installed.

Below are some of the highlights I have picked out from the 50+ years of entries.

Airframe Logs:
8/6/54 - Surface refinished after hail damage, wing inspected and repaired after damage. Right wheel half installed.

12/19/55 - Metal wings installed.

12/17/58 - Repairs after landing accident. Metal wings removed and fabric wings installed. Converted from a C-85 to a C-90.

1/3/63 - Turn and bank and venturi system installed.

3/18/64 - New tailwheel bracket installed.

6/7/68 - Factory remanufactured Continental C-90 installed. 2479.82 Total Time Airframe.

10/19/70 - Metal wings removed and fabric covered wings installed. (For whatever reason the logs show the metal wings being replaced with fabric this date and also 12/17/58).

4/5/71 - Alpha 200A Nav/Com Installed.

8/4/71 - Repaired damaged stabilizer. Re-juvenated the wing fabric.

12/1/81 - Repaired and repainted fabric damage on the left wing tip. 3286.0 Total Time Airframe.

1/27/83 - Cleveland wheels and brakes installed.

3/24/83 - New fuel selector valve installed.

10/29/89 - Removed Alpha 200 and installed a RT328T radio.

8/8/98 - Installed a serviceable right aileron. 3615.0 Total Time Airframe.

5/3/00 - New wing fabric 101 and butyrate dop, repainted the orange stripe to red and the bottom cowling to match. Installed "150" style landing lights. 3627.0 Total Time Airframe.

3/15/10 - New windshield, skylights, wiring, instrument panel, firewall insulation, rudder return springs, rudder bellcrank, rudder hinge bushings, rebuilt the brake cylinders, and painted the interior.

10/1/10 - Serviceable right hand muffler, overhauled exhaust riser, and overhauled exhaust shroud installed.

Engine Log:
6/7/68 - Factory remanufactured engine installed. New throttle control, mixture control, mounts. Late style exhaust system installed.

10/10/85 - Ground valve on #4 cylinder. 934.25 Total Time Engine.

7/20/88 - Exhaust guide replaced and ground the valves and seats on #4 cylinder.

10/5/90 - New rings and ground the valves on #4 cylinder. 1029.0 Total Time Engine.

5/27/93 - New Slick Magneto Kit K4520 and new harness installed. 1045.9 Total Time Engine.

9/1/94 - New engine mounts installed. C/W AD 93-18-03 by replacement of the carburetor venturi. Replaced the throttle shaft, bushings, and float kit in the carburetor. About 1080.0 Total Time Engine.

4/1/01 - New spark plugs installed. 1145 Total Time Engine.

4/19/07 - Honed the cylinder bores, installed new rings and new gasket sets on all 4 cylinders.
1217.9 Total Time Engine.