The later 180s with O470R and later have an 'extended' dipstick. Anyone with earlier 180 (O470K or L) install the extended dipstick? I was looking in the O470 parts book and in addition to the housing, it shows a different 'oil rod guide' that is pressed into the case. Does that just pull out with a pliers?

Why is a longer dipstick something you want

That's kind of personal......

The 180/185 I believe used them because Cessna went from a large cowl access door (left and right) to a small door (left hand side only).

C180_guy wrote:The 180/185 I believe used them because Cessna went from a large cowl access door (left and right) to a small door (left hand side only).

The 182's went to one small access door in 1959 with the 182B. So there must be a lot of long ones around

I've heard of guys with the later, longer dipstick, swapping to the older one because it's lighter.

Every ounce matters!

That reminds me of when my daughter told me something was wrong with the dipstick on her Chevy Nova......over the phone I talked her through the proper way to use it, and she still didn't see any oil, maybe a longer dipstick would have helped She never suspected it may have been low on oil.

I was under the impression that the early 180's had the option of a "seaplane" dipstick that extended it out closer to the door for at least the K engines. Mine always had the short one.

Reaching in for the short dipstick on a hot engine is like playing the game Operation.

Man is the only creature that will spend hours and hours figuring out how to save minutes. This is a modification that fits that truism, I think.

Now that doesn't mean I'm as guilty as the next person of doing such silliness, but when it comes to even slight modifications to certificated engines in certificated airframes, there's a real point of diminishing returns.

Cary

Cary wrote:Man is the only creature that will spend hours and hours figuring out how to save minutes. This is a modification that fits that truism, I think.

Now that doesn't mean I'm as guilty as the next person of doing such silliness, but when it comes to even slight modifications to certificated engines in certificated airframes, there's a real point of diminishing returns.

Cary

Men (pilots) may on occasion be guilty of that, but they are - at least in this case - guilty of offering an unsolicited opinion on the worthiness of another man's idea when all the latter asked for was technical expertise. Thanks for letting us know that, in your opinion anyway, this is a silly idea.

Dunno of you've already got the parts you need for this mod,
but Jerry Meyers in MT buys & sells used engine parts.
He advertises in TAP.

I cant help you with parts, but when we had our 54 180 I hated checking the oil on it. The best case, you would get your hand oily/dirty. If the engine was hot, you got burned as well.

Any savings in weight from the short parts were nullified by the weight of rags and hand cleaner

My 53 model 180 has been modified from the big access doors on each side to a single small one on the LH side, also to the long dipstick assembly. I can see where the shorter dipstick would be a PITA.