I'm a brand new owner of a 182C with an O470L that is nearing overhaul time. Trying to decide what to do when the time comes. My L does not have an oil filter. How big of a deal is this? My mechanic says no biggie, just change the oil every 25 hours & look for metal in the screen, no real need for a filter. I see a lot of engines that have had "remote" oil filters added. Should I? Is that even a thing for my engine? Does the O470R have a filter? Can those engines be interchanged readily? Reasons for or against? I've never had a grasp on the differences, pros & cons, of the different 470's, L R U, etc.
What would a timed out L model be worth to sell?
I have just enough testosterone left to REALLY want to Pponk (XP470) it, but budget will be a thing, & I read that the new XP is pretty pricy? And honestly, the way I fly, the stock engine does just fine... don't know that I NEED the extra umph, just think it would be fun.

The oil filter can be added to an L no problem. Personally I would do a filter, cuts oil costs nearly in half which is significant and if you fly often, waiting 25 more hours for an oil change is awfully nice. This of course is in addition to the fact that it removes much more slug from your oil than the screen.

From my understanding the R is one of the most desirable 470s to have, but L is plenty good. If I were you, I would simply overhaul the L and add an oil filter at the same time. The A and J engines are the ones most would like not to have, in which case an upgrade to an R might make sense.

Or pponk it if you want to spend the money

Times change....

I can't think of anyone that would rather have an 'R' today (at rebuild time) than an 'L'. Add the filter and keep on trucking. If the money allows when you get closer, do the 520 with your 'L' and never look back. The cost difference in building your 'L' as a, O-470 vs an O-470-50 is really not all that great IF you are comparing apples to apples. Where people get hung up is trying to add the cost of things they will be required to address because of physical differences, that they might have otherwise cheeped out on if it could have been salvaged an ran on a stock O-470... ie: exhaust, mount, etc... A rebuild done right will put the cost of an 'L', 'R', or Pponk all much closer than most think.


Take care, Rob

Where's the popcorn icon - there are lots and lots of engine options for that platform and the peanut gallery will enjoy watching you spend your money. Maybe first thing is to decide what the budget is...

I'm with Rob, the "L" has the correct crankshaft to make a Pponk O520( the R doesn't). I just converted a "K" that is basically the same as the "L" and it is a way better engine in my opinion. It did cost $3,000 for the engine and airframe STC's so that might be the biggest expense for the change.

NETX wrote:.... I've never had a grasp on the differences, pros & cons, of the different 470's, L R U, etc......

Read the O-470 TCDS.

https://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guid ... _Rev38.pdf

Things like props (including the Ponk 520 conversion) are sometimes approved for one model engine & not another due to differences in the crankshaft dampers.
Sometimes airplanes are approved via their own TCDS for one version of the 470 but not another.
I agree with Rob, keep the L engine, changing to an R isn't worth the trouble IMHO.

Rob wrote:.... The cost difference in building your 'L' as a, O-470 vs an O-470-50 is really not all that great IF you are comparing apples to apples. Where people get hung up is trying to add the cost of things they will be required to address because of physical differences, that they might have otherwise cheeped out on if it could have been salvaged an ran on a stock O-470... ie: exhaust, mount, etc... A rebuild done right will put the cost of an 'L', 'R', or Pponk all much closer than most think. ...

Yes, and no.
My K is pretty high time, so I'm looking at an overhaul in the next year or two.
I've been going back & forth on whether to ponk it or not.
I don't really "need" the extra oomph...but what's that got to do with it?

In my case, my 1993 factory reman K was built with brand new factory cylinders.
Given the number of expensive AD's issued on cylinders,
I think if I overhaul as stock I will look into overhauling the cylinders I've got vs buying new.
But if I go with the 520 conversion, it would require new cylinders.
I figure that's about a $4K difference.
I'd also need to replace my 88" C201 prop, probably with a 3 blade C401.
Sell my prop for $4K, buy new prop for $13K = $9K net difference.
Then there's the STC itself, I emailed NorthPoint asking about that since
they don't have the price on their website, but I'm guessing about $2K.
So there's a $15K difference just with those 3 issues.
Then there's the long term added costs:
I run mostly car gas now, but the XP470 STC specifies 100LL.
At a conservative $1.50 per gallon difference, at 12 gph there's an extra $18 an hour operating cost.
That's $27K over the 1500 life of the engine-- a pretty good start toward the cost of the next overhaul!

Thanks guys, just the sort of information I was hoping for. I love this website! I thought I remembered reading that the L model has the correct crankshaft for Pponk.
I have not used auto fuel yet, but I have ethanol free auto fuel available at my local airport, and even cheaper at a local station in town, so maybe I'll look into that STC? I do believe I will skip the K idea and roll with the L, and probably add an oil filter at overhaul.
I've been flying a tired old 175 for a long time, glad to finally move up to this 182, which I hope to keep for many years. I have a long list of things I would like to do to it over the next few years, but we will see what's "reality" and what's "daydreaming" as we go along. All depends on how the finances go.
Bigger tires & fork
Sportsman
MT prop
XP 470...
... are the big ones. First, I need to learn to "really" fly this thing as is, as has been suggested so much here. I plan to look for a good back country / 182 instructor for my next BFR
Thanks again
-Brad

NETX - congrats on the bird man! Not to derail this thread, but I think I saw that plane advertised on controller/tradeplane, right? Show us some pics.....I also have a C model with a 470-L and love it.

Speaking of ponking....i emailed the new holder of the 470-50 STC, North Point Aviation,
asking as to the price of the STC for what they now call the XP470.
Got an email back, detailing what's done to the engine, and their price for doing so,
but nothing about the cost of the STC itself.
So I asked again, didn't get an answer that time either-- just a list of approved engine builders.
Apparently they'll only sell the STC to the shop doing the conversion, to be added to the bill for the overhaul/conversion itself,
and they will or at least can restrict the sales to their list of approved shops, of which there are only 15 in the US.
The gentleman was nice enough to inform me that the nearest authorized shop was in Palmer AK....
even though they list an approved shop about 50 miles from me here in WA.
FWIW all in all, I wasn't too impressed with them.

Does anyone have any knowledge or experience with Lycon sprinkling their magical fairy dust on an O-470?

I'm hearing amazing results in the lycoming sector, hearsay, I know.

hotrod180 wrote:Speaking of ponking....i emailed the new holder of the 470-50 STC, North Point Aviation,
asking as to the price of the STC for what they now call the XP470.
Got an email back, detailing what's done to the engine, and their price for doing so,
but nothing about the cost of the STC itself.
So I asked again, didn't get an answer that time either-- just a list of approved engine builders.
Apparently they'll only sell the STC to the shop doing the conversion, to be added to the bill for the overhaul/conversion itself,
and they will or at least can restrict the sales to their list of approved shops, of which there are only 15 in the US.
The gentleman was nice enough to inform me that the nearest authorized shop was in Palmer AK....
even though they list an approved shop about 50 miles from me here in WA.
FWIW all in all, I wasn't too impressed with them.

We paid $3K in April 2020, direct to us, but we had the IO-520 that could be converted without all the heavy work needed by a shop. If you are asking about a 470 that has to be modified by a shop, that might be why?

We paid $2550 for the XP-470 STC on a O-470R conversion in May 2020.

It cost me 1,500 for the engine and 1,500 for the airframe STC's in July 2020. I had to have the Phase 1 crankcase modified on my O470K and the counter weights on the crankshaft along with different connecting rods with bigger bolts.

180Marty wrote:It cost me 1,500 for the engine and 1,500 for the airframe STC's in July 2020. I had to have the Phase 1 crankcase modified on my O470K and the counter weights on the crankshaft along with different connecting rods with bigger bolts.

It's my understanding that the 470K & 470L both have the same counterweight arrangement (four 6th order dampers) as required for the XP470. Did you have to modify the counterweights themselves on your K?

Did you have to modify the counterweights themselves on your K?

Pretty sure I was told the back two were changed to maybe a 5th and 4th order. I am taking my 470U down next week to be modified to Pponk/470XP if the crank and case are good. I will find out if anything on the crank has to be changed since I believe a U has two 6th,one 5th and one 4th order CW's. Also, going to be interesting if the rods in the U can be modified for the bigger bolts that are needed.