My Aztec's first Annual

Well, I met with the mechanics yesterday and we went through the
complete squawk sheet. I've been dropping by almost everyday just to get
updates and looks at things while it's all opened up, so there weren't any
last-minute surprises. One of the primary things to get through were the
logs, which were in a bit of disarray. The airplane has spent quite a bit of
time in Canada, so a large portion of the logs are in French. Thankfully the
AD numbers and such are still the same so one can muddle through on most
things. The shop that I'm using puts everything into a computerized AD list
if they've not seen the airplane before so they can track everything easier
in the future, it also cleans things up a bit. I now have a list of all
applicable ADs, how they were complied with, when the next inspection, etc.
is due, which is nice. Should make things straightforward next annual. I
also appreciate that they just did this as part of an annual, they didn't
charge extra labor, even though I know it took quite a bit of time for them
to do this.

Compressions on the engines were LHE 1-77,2-73,3-70,4-75,5-76,6-76 and
RHE 1-76,2-76,3-73,4-74,5-76,6-74

The batteries won't hold a charge for very long so I'll be replacing
those. The bolt for the Right alternator was found in the bottom of the cowl
(this was one of the things that had been replaced while the plane sat, so
that one was just weird, and I think that the bolt is safety wired, but I
guess it hadn't been). We needed to reposition the fuel injector lines on
the right engine to comply with an AD, redid the clamps as well since they
weren't the correct type. There was a missing rivet for one of the camlocks
on the lower cowl. The nose cargo door seal is just old and cracked, so I'll
be replacing that to keep it from leaking. The intake manifold gaskets on #4
cylinder had separated and cracked, and in fact had been previously repaired
in such a way that I'll have to pull the jug and replace it (If I ever find
someone putting JB weld on an aircraft engine I swear I'll do something
unpleasant!). We couldn't find any log entries on the Vacuum pumps, so
they're probably the same ones as when the engines were installed. There is
a Service Bulletin that says they should be replaced every 500 hours, but
since I've two on this aircraft I'm not going to immediately replace them,
they both work fine and I'm pulling enough vacuum even at 1000 RPM to keep
things in the green arc. Just something I'll need to watch closely. The oil
return lines are loose on the right engine, so they'll need to be tightened
up (I'm told this is something to check every time I change the oil as they
shake loose, that and taking a screwdriver to the valve covers to make sure
they're tight, something inherent to Lycomings?) Most other things are items
that need to be tightened or have new O-rings installed to stop leaks.
A couple of major things though, and these are the things that have me a
bit bummed, but I guess it could've been worse. There is illegal repair on
the right-hand engine mount. It's a repair that should have been sleeved,
but all they did was put a bead around it. They brought in a welder and he
said it's too tight for him to get his gear in there to weld while the
engine is there, so I'll have to remove the engine to get fixed. Since the
engine will be off the aircraft, I'll replace the engine mounts, since
they're slipping just a bit and it's not going to cost me any extra labor to
have it done.
One of the brake calipers on the right side was broken where one of the
bolts attach it. Some of the brake pads are worn almost to the rivets. They
all leak a bit. To repair/replace some of the components would cost $2300
while getting a whole new brake kit would cost $2500. It took some time to
source the old parts because the part number have changed a number of times.
I decided to just get the whole kit and bring everything current, the cost
difference was marginal and now I'll have part numbers someone can actually
look up. The brakes also had a bit of play in them, so they were rubbing on
the inner sidewall of the tire, so I will be replacing those as well.
The last big thing is the flap torque tube AD. I figured it costs just
as much labor wise to pull it out to inspect as it would to do the
replacement, so I ordered the new part and will have that installed as well.
Since there are alot of little things, adjustments, rebuilding
components with new O-rings, etc. The labor will be a significant part of
the cost of correcting the squawks post-annual (since in my mind the annual
is just the inspection portion), and I didn't get away with as little cost
as I'd like, but it will be put back together and everything will be done,
so next years annual should be pretty straightforward.

--
Louis L. Perley III
N46000 - C152
N370 - PA-23-250