You guys are not going to believe what I discovered today. I have a mechanic friend (not an A&P) who shares the same hangar as I do and he loves working on engines. If you remember, back in December, I removed my rear housing and found that my oil pump was dragging and hard to turn. Well, I had another rear housing that I had acquired and was going to be installed as the replacement of my bad one. These housings were laying on the bench for about a week before I installed the new one back on my engine. I did not bother to check the movement of the oil pump gears because I had already done it a week earlier so I simply installed it on my engine thinking all was good to go. Today, I learned that my hangar mate, in the interim, decided he wanted to compare the two oil pumps so he took a look inside the oil pumps. He told me this today as we were working on my engine. I could not believe he had done this and had not told me. When he re-assembled the good pump, he made two huge mistakes. First he sprayed a thick coat of Permatex Copper Gasket sealer on the gasket which was already stuck to the oil pump cover. He also coated the surface area where the pump gears ride which helped attribute to the binding. Second, he over torqued the oil pump cover which in turn compressed the gasket even further causing even more binding. Another lesson learned: do not let anyone work on your engine but you or a certified Corvair person. Gotta love experimental. Just call me the "Corvair Proof of Concept Man" because I have no doubt tested all the bad ways to fly a Corvair. It takes a licking and keeps on ticking.
Mark Jones (N886MJ) Wales, WI Visit my web site: www.flykr2s.com E-mail: flyk...@wi.rr.com
