Jon Kraus wrote in message . ..
My new partner and I are looking at a 1975 Mooney M20C. It is a nicely
upgraded IFR plane with a 400 hour O-360 engine. It is a rather high
time airplane (7000) hours and the price reflects this fact. It is being
sold by the owner of the FBO we fly out of for one of his friends. They
just finished up an annual inspection on it.

A Mooney is a pretty hard plane to get a good pre-buy on. You really
need to go to a Mooney specialty place. There are great hidden places
underneath where fatal rust can hide from all but the good specialist.
You also need the tank sealant inspected. Some leaking is normal but
you are concerned with the condition of the sealant. A reseal will
cost around $9000. You are looking for pealing and flaking of the
sealant. Pin holes are normal. A good AD search should be done on the
gear actuator. The AD is VERY complicated in that some actuators are
covered and others not. Sometimes the inside is the same. You at least
want to be sure the actuators are lubed really good. Very few A&Ps
know how to do that. You need to "exercise" the gear in a special way
to allow the grease to work in. The donuts should also be checked.
They are your only suspension. When they wear out you will start
leaking fuel from the tanks pretty quick because it causes the tank to
flex on landing when they are worn out. You also need to have the
preload checked on all the gear. There is a special tool to do that. 1
in 2 A&Ps don't know how to use it (I went to a Mooney maintenance
semenar where several A&Ps who had been working on Mooneys had to be
shown how to use it).

Don't let this run you off. There really aren't many planes out there
as great as a Mooney. I should know, I have one myself.
-Robert