Wheel pants . ….Deal breaker

daedaluscan wrote:I don’t even want a 180 and I want to buy that.

LMAO!! I was thinking the same thing! That is a sweet looking 180! Not a fan of the interior color, but that wouldn't stop me from looking at it if I were looking for a 180.

Mapleflt wrote:I'm not so keen on the mix of brown and maroon interior colors, I'll wait a bit longer.

Daniel at Sport Aircraft Seats can cure the maroon seat issue! Daniel’s seats are the BEST

Several planes I looked were at top of market for their pricing but had indications of needing an overhaul in the near future. At $35k just for the engine, it could be $45k+ which blows it past the realm of reasonableness. So many planes had an overhaul 25 years ago and 100 hours since, kept in a humid area of the country. Too many people I know burned by that. A couple that were crashed (prop stoppages) then not inspected correctly or at all. A couple others that weren't broken in correctly and overhauled wouldn't warranty a new buyer.

For this plane the owner had all the right answers. I knew quickly it was something to go after. Still a couple things to tweak, but overall very happy. How did they overhaul it, who did the work, how do they think about maint, do they have paperwork and real log entries. You name it, they had it.

I wasn't looking for a creampuff, but have some wants for what I consider basic maintenance that weren't up to snuff. It can be a slog. That 180 at Indy looks awesome.

TR wrote:.... IMO, going into the deal knowing you are replacing the existing engine removes much stress in both the purchase and future flying as you will now know the history of your overhauled/new engine and care for it appropriately. That is big "piece of mind" in my book...

The down side is that you are looking at anywhere from 4 -8 months to get that engine overhauled,
and about the same lead time for a new/reman replacement.
Plus whatever time is required for the actual installation-- maybe including overhauling the engine mount, exhaust, etc.

FWIW this 55 180 at my airport just (finally) sold, reportedly for asking price.
Nice airplane, a good performer, a little lacking in the radio dept but otherwise ready to go.
So they are out there.