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General C180 questions.

texmex

MEMBER
Hanging Rock, Australia.
Hi guys. I'm about to pull the engine out of my C180J. Along with the windows / windscreen. And dash. Where does it stop?

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Forgive my greenhorn questions, of which I am sure to have many over the next six months, could someone help me with the following.

Why do the magnetos have 'Slick' cast into the housing, but then the stamp on them has Bendix?

My understanding is just buy new mags for an engine overhaul?

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Cessna parts.

The Cessna 180 manual I have for a '74 aircraft shows the pin in the air box that clips the flexible air duct to it has a part number of W98293-3-320.

Using Google to find these I see Cessna has them for $111 dollars. For a nothing little wing nut pin??? But the -360 pin is $9. As it should be. What am I missing here?

The IPC I'm using was downloaded off the International 180/185 organisation, and for the latter models I've found jumbled. Mixed up in the alphabetic index, Figure 72 missing (for example). Does anyone have an uncorrupted version of this.

Many thanks for your patience and answers.
Texmex.




 

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To the airbox duct attach, my own J model had winged quarter turn fasteners but those got drilled out the last time Atlee's repaired my airbox. I suspect those are the high priced fasteners. For reasons unknown to me Atlee's declined to reinstall quarter turn fasteners. Now I use drilled bolts, castle nuts, and safety pins. No big deal.

IPC? What are you referring to? The parts catalog? I have digital files of the service manual, SID manual, and parts catalog for the J. PM me and I can share them.
 
The original owner, that placed the manual on the internet, scrambled the page order to discourage others from selling digital copies. I have some manuals like this and finally copied them to paper to make it easier on me. Maybe find a 13 year old to unscramble the manual on the computer? They seem to be better at that than we are.

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IPC? What are you referring to? The parts catalog? I have digital files of the service manual, SID manual, and parts catalog for the J. PM me and I can share them.
IPC = Illustrated Parts Catalog
MM = Maintenance Manual

Where does it stop?

It doesn't

My understanding is just buy new mags for an engine overhaul?

Yes

Using Google to find these I see Cessna has them for $111 dollars. For a nothing little wing nut pin??? But the -360 pin is $9. As it should be. What am I missing here?

Welcome to the world of Textron anti-GA predatory pricing.


 
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The IPC I'm using was downloaded off the International 180/185 organisation, and for the latter models I've found jumbled. Mixed up in the alphabetic index, Figure 72 missing (for example). Does anyone have an uncorrupted version of this.
There are a couple of places that have pdfs of the IPCs and MMs, including Cessna's support site. This forum will not let me post the links.
 
FWIW I believe Univair sells both IPC's & MM's for the C180. Dunno the price.
PDF's etc are fine but for me, it's easier to work with paper copies.
Of course, you can print out the applicable pages from the e-file.
Re mags, i
f you have a choice between the two, I
MHO a Bendix throws a hotter spark than a Slick.
 
For your Slick/Bendix, do you have a Bendix magneto with a Slick harness? It will have Slick on the harness cap. Not unusual. I think the manual says accessories, mags, carb, and etc., should be overhauled when the engine is overhauled. Replacement/exchange with new or overhauled works too. Here in part 91 ops the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" adage often comes up at overhaul time when said accessories are low time and the owner is cheap---I mean frugal.
 
Bendix mags are almost infinitely rebuildable. Rebuild or exchange for rebuilt is usually the way to go.

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I'm pretty sure the last factory reman I bought, which has morphed into an 0-520, has Slicks and they work fine. Since Continental provided the same spec number engine as what I returned I assume the original engine also had Slicks. I see comments here about Bendix being better and wonder how an average owner/pilot can tell the difference. I know two kinds of mags. Ones that work and ones that don't. As long as they work I don't care what company made them. Why does Slick have a bad rep?
 
Slicks have a bad rap because they have had several years of issues with the points. They put out a SB saying they have fixed the problem, then a year or two latter put out another SB with the same issue. When a slick works they do fine. When they don't the symptoms are intermittent (usually starting) and very hard to figure out that it is the mags.
DENNY
 
I see comments here about Bendix being better and wonder how an average owner/pilot can tell the difference. I know two kinds of mags. Ones that work and ones that don't. As long as they work I don't care what company made them. Why does Slick have a bad rep?
After years of working on both and noting which was easier to repair and more reliable, the choice is Bendix every time.
 
Interesting. I guess I should pull me working Slicks and replace them? Nah. And on that topic, I have a couple of friends who believe I need to toss my Pmags. There's a better chance of that than replacing the Slicks.
 
My advice was to get Bendix because he was going to replace/rebuild current mags. I would not usually recommend replacing a set of good running slicks, but at overhaul/rebuild time get Bendix and be done with all the issues.
DENNY
 
Thanks everyone for your replies.

PM sent thanks Stewartb for the offer of manuals.

winged quarter turn fasteners
Bloody hell. Mine is not broken but there is a fair bit of force on it and I thought I'd be prepared for when it does. $111 USD for such a basic fastener. I need to get my aircraft going and get to a Cessna 180 fly-in to see what every one else does.

N86250 - Yep, I had another look today and yes, a Slick harness cap and Bendix mag. I would never of guessed that.

I pulled the engine out today, so progress.

Thanks everyone for your answers. I guess with the weather your've got indoor time. At my house today it was 36 degrees celsius and it'll be 40 on Friday. (That's 104 F for you lot) :oops:

I purchased 'Steve's Gascolator' today so that's also progress. Avion panel next.
 
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Today's dumb question.

All the little bits, like spacers and stay's that hold cables and stuff into position, I was going to plate or paint.

Some are aluminium and some are steel. I was thinking of Zinc plating the steel. What are everyones faviourite finishes for such?

I'm told a number around here when they rebuild an engine use aerosol cans, I think you guys call them rattle cans, for painting the case, sump, induction etc. That seems incredibly amateurish to me. Is that normal practice?
 
When I did paint an engine I primed with Variprime and top coated with single stage Imron. Neither of my current engines are painted. If it was me overhauling one today? I wouldn't paint it.
 
….. When a slick works they do fine. When they don't the symptoms are intermittent (usually starting) and very hard to figure out that it is the mags. DENNY

I had this issue years ago with the purchased-new-at-engine-overhaul Slicks on my old C170.
Hard starting, then flat ass wouldn't start one day when I was out.
AOG overnight and finally got it running (barely) the next day--
but enough to get it home, 10 miles away.
I was sure it was the mags, pulled them off and had Paul Nyenhaus test them on his testing bench.
Nope, they met Slick specs.
Turned out to be the plugs, which had about 550 hours on them.
I didn't know enough then to actually test the resistance through the plugs with an ohmmeter, so don't know what the actual readings were,
but apparently it was too high for the slicks to work.
Now you can correctly say it was the plugs that were the problem,
but I'd had my previous Bendix mags fire plugs with probably 3 times the number of hours on them and work just fine.
(my IA finally made me replace those old plugs-- "look at them, they're just all worn out")
So as far as I'm concerned, Bendix mags just throw a hotter spark than Slicks.
Maybe not a reason to replace airworthy slicks, but if I was buying new (or at engine overhaul) I'd go Bendix every time.
 
I'm told a number around here when they rebuild an engine use aerosol cans, I think you guys call them rattle cans, for painting the case, sump, induction etc. That seems incredibly amateurish to me. Is that normal practice?
The paint is only there to prevent rust or corrosion. If you are not in an area where corrosion of aluminum is an issue, leave it unpainted for better cooling of the engine. The paint can block some of the heat from escaping.
 
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I hate to sound like a tight a*** airline pilot, but here goes. Aeroplanes do my head in at times.

These rubber bushes or shock mounts that hold or steady the alternator are small simple rubber bushes. But they sell for $115 USD. My IPC shows a part number of J9534-20 and four needed.

Has anyone come across this before or know a cheaper source?

Wireweinie or other electrical gurus?

Cheers,
Texmex.

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Is this Cessna or an aftermarket job? Found under the glovebox on the right hand side, and with a large plastic relay (pulled out before photo taken).

My electrical man who's re-wiring the radios and dash and I were looking at it yesterday and wondering. He's yet to open the books and is not familiar with C180's.

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I have the same issue with the rotted rubber alternator bushings. You did well. Cheapest I found was $215 each! Earlier and later models did not use rubber bushings so I'm making steel bushings.
 
I hate to sound like a tight a*** airline pilot, but here goes. Aeroplanes do my head in at times.

These rubber bushes or shock mounts that hold or steady the alternator are small simple rubber bushes. But they sell for $115 USD. My IPC shows a part number of J9534-20 and four needed.

Has anyone come across this before or know a cheaper source?

Wireweinie or other electrical gurus?

Cheers,
Texmex.

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That's a Lord number. Just do a Google search for that number and buy it as a part instead of an airplane part.

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Is this Cessna or an aftermarket job? Found under the glovebox on the right hand side, and with a large plastic relay (pulled out before photo taken).

My electrical man who's re-wiring the radios and dash and I were looking at it yesterday and wondering. He's yet to open the books and is not familiar with C180's.

View attachment 41488

That's a junction box found only on Cessnas. For connection info you'll need to see a Cessna Avionics book. Or know some one that could send you a scan of that page8). For what it's worth, I never keep those boxes when I do an avionics installation. With newer audio controls and some common sense, the wiring can be greatly simplified.

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That rubber bushing looks a lot like the bushing on my ancient Mustang shock absorber. Airplane parts are often very expensive auto parts with a PMA. Case in point: that nail in the 1934 Ford window crank we use in Cubs for trim - fifty bucks, sealed with appropriate paperwork.
 
How does one do a Google search as a part instead of an airplane part? When you enter j9534-20 in google it comes up as a very expensive airplane part. I too went down this road and only found extremely overpriced bushings.

That's a Lord number. Just do a Google search for that number and buy it as a part instead of an airplane part.

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There are places that list items from Lord Manufacturing. If you can find your part number in one of these listings, you'll get charged for a non aviation part. They are real parts with the Lord number molded in and are indistinguishable from sources like Cessna.

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