The Restoration of 1968 Cessna C-150H N22507 By Mark van Wyk (Updated June 28, 2010) 1 On the cover of this article, there is a before and after comparison of my airplane: a 1968 Cessna C-150H tail number N22507. Maybe it looks pretty much the same now is it did before, but a lot of work was done and a lot of money was spent to upgrade and restore the airplane. Fortunately, it’s been a “flying work in progress,” meaning I was able to fly the plane pretty much the whole time that I was working on it. What inspired me to spend so much time and money fixing up the plane? The first clue that I needed to start thinking about some major re-working happened in November, 2007, when my old engine conked out in Death Valley National Monument, CA on my way to a C-150/152 Club fly-in, about nine miles south of Furnace Creek Airport. The exhaust valve in the #2 cylinder had disintegrated. The vibration and noise was bad, but the propeller continued to turn, and my altitude loss was not too severe. Fortunately, I landed safely, and miraculously, A&P mechanic Mr. Dick Tremaine, who is based in Dyer, Nevada, flew out his C-150, with tools and a spare used cylinder, and he managed to fix the plane, with me assisting, and make it flyable so that I could get home. Mr. Dick Tremain (right) and I (left) Repairing the Old Engine in Death Valley, CA About 100 hours of flying time later, the oil pressure began to drop noticeably, and metal particles were observed in the oil – definite signs that it was time for an engine overhaul – something every airplane owner should be prepared to do when the time comes. So, I had some choices: 1. I could hire a local A&P mechanic to disassemble and overhaul the existing engine, which had about 6200 hours on it, and had been overhauled numerous times in the past, by God-Knows-Who using God- Knows-What quality control; or 2. I could have a local mechanic remove the engine, and send it to a reputable overhaul shop, where they would overhaul it and send it back for reinstallation; or 3. I could purchase an off-the-shelf zero-time overhauled engine, and swap mine as a core; or 4. I could purchase a brand new O200-A engine – which is still being manufactured and is available – from Teledyne Continental Motors (http://www.genuinecontinental.aero/). 2 I chose a combination of 3. and 4. A company named Teledyne-Mattituck (http://www.mattituck.com/), a wholly owned subsidiary of Continental, has a special deal where they build an all new parts 0200-A engine to the same specs as the factory, for about 2/3 the price. Also, the engine comes with a lot of new stuff, like brand new carburetor, alternator, magnetos, wiring harness, and starter. It was not cheap -- $20,000 – but I liked the idea of a virtually new engine. So, in July of 2008, I purchased the all new parts Teledyne Mattituck 0200-A. New Continental 0200-A, Still in the Crate Of course, when you get started with an overhaul, you find out that a lot of other things need to be fixed and replaced while you are at it. For example, I needed to either restore my existing engine cooling baffles, or purchase new ones. This task can be performed by a non-mechanic, so I took on the job of cleaning up and restoring the old ones, which was the cheaper alternative. They came out quite nice. Notice the black engine enamel and new rubber seals riveted on the outer edges. Before and After of Engine Baffles and Seals Another item that needed to be replaced was the McCauley 1A101, DCM 6948 propeller, because my existing propeller could not be overhauled. I got lucky and found a still new-in-the box prop from a guy in Santa Paula, CA, who bought it but never used it, for about $2,000 – about half the price of a brand new one. 3 New McCauley 1A101, DCM 6948 Propeller The spinner bulkhead had also seen better days – that had to be replaced. Cracked Spinner Bulkhead A lot of other stuff needed to be fixed or replaced, as well. For example, the three engine control cables – throttle, mixture, and carburetor heat, were replaced with new cables. Three New Control Cables. From Bottom Left: Carburetor Heat, Throttle, and Fuel Mixture During the time that the new engine was being shipped from New York, I cleaned, treated, and painted the acid-damaged battery box, and had the Gill acid-type battery replaced with a new STC-approved Concorde sealed, maintenance-free battery. Battery Box, Zinc-Chromate Primer (Left), Painted (Right) 4 The photos below show the old engine, the old engine removed, cleanup and painting of the firewall, the new Kasola engine mounts, and the new engine installed. An A&P mechanic at Magnum Aviation (www.magnumaviation.com) in San Martin, CA did the engine work. I did the firewall cleanup and painting. Old Engine, Firewall Cleanup and Painting, New Motor Mounts, and New Engine and Propeller 5 Of course, a new engine and prop was only the beginning. Removing and reinstalling the engine was hard on the 40-year-old oil temperature gau ge and the oil pressure lines. Therefore, I had those antiquated, analog gauges replaced with a high-quality, custom-calibrated Electronics International OPT- 1 oil pressure/oil temperature gau ge, shown at lower right. Note the two original gauges, upper left, are now marked as “Gauge Inop” per FAA regulations. Electronics International OPT-1 Oil Pressure/Oil Temperature Gauge There was a lot more to do, as well. I replaced the dried out, cracked side window seals. Side Window Seal Replacement 6 I treated and painted the rust-spotted landing gear. Landing Gear, Before and After I repaired the wheel pants, and replaced a missing front wheel fairing access door. Wheel Pants Repairs. Top Before, Bottom After 7 I replaced the disintegrated carpet with a new custom airplane carpet from TNWings (http://www.tnwings.com) of Tennessee. The two photos below show the process of gluing the carpet to the kick panels, and the installation of the carpet on the floor of the aircraft. Re-carpet Kick Panels New Carpet Installed 8 I replaced the worn-out cabin speaker with a new one. I mounted the new aircraft-approved speaker in the existing frame of the old speaker. New Speaker Installed in Old Speaker Mount The headliner was shot, so that had to be replaced, as well. Below are before/after photos of the surface corrosion on the interior ceiling, the cleaned surface with new insulation installed, and finally, the new headliner installed. Not a fun job, but it came out OK. Old Headliner Removed with Corrosion on Ceiling, New Insulation, and New Headliner 9 Next to be replaced or repaired were the cracked and soiled interior plastic panels. Shown below are the repaired/repainted plastic trim, along with the new panels from both Vantage Plane Plastics (http://www.planeplastics.com) and Texas Aero Plastics (http://www.buyplaneparts.com). New and Repaired Interior Plastic Panels, Painted Cessna Off-White The avionics were pretty good when I bought the plane. I upgraded with marker beacons and DME, making the plane certified for many instrument flight rules (IFR) operations throughout the U.S. The avionics were installed by a certified technician at Peninsula Avionics in Palo Alto, CA (http://www.peninsula-avionics.com), but I helped. Art Vartanian of Peninsula Avionics in Palo Alto, CA -- Installing Avionics 10 Below is the upgraded radio stack. Each radio has a corresponding external antenna. I also use a VFR- only handheld Garmin GPS receiver, which is not physically installed in the aircraft, and is not certified for IFR operations. Upgraded Avionics Stack The seat pan, seat rails, and seat assemblies are in "serviceable" condition. As for the seat pan, cracking is common in older Cessna aircraft. These must be repaired early on by installing doublers. Some small cracks were observed near the forward end of both pilot and passenger side seat rails. A repair was done -- stop drilling and doubler riveted onto the seat pan -- and hopefully, that will halt any further deterioration and avoid the need for a costly seat pan replacement. This condition will need to be closely inspected at each annual. From Left: Seat Pan, Pilot-Side Repair, Passenger-Side Repair 11 As for the seat assemblies themselves, there have been "issues." The pilot side seat back bracket broke (a potentially dangerous situation if it happens at climb out). Fortunately, this happened while on the ground. Broken Seat Back Bracket Seat assemblies for C-150 cannot be purchased new. The existing seats must be repaired or replaced with salvage parts. I purchased a used seat from a salvage yard and swapped seat backs. The upholstery and cushioning on my existing seats -- while somewhat soiled --are actually in pretty good shape, so I removed my pilot-side seat back upholstery/cushion and installed it on the salvaged seat back, and then reassembled the pilot seat assembly. Installing Existing Upholstery/Cushioning on Spare Frame I covered the seats with new sheepskin slip covers from a local company -- Rocky Mountain Sheepskin (www.rmsheepskin.com). I've got my eye out to find some salvaged seats in top-notch condition that might be for sale somewhere. 12 Repaired Seats, Sheepskin Seat Covers The final, major work that was done on the airplane was a complete strip, corrosion treatment, and repaint.