OK, Jim has a point, in that I made my opinion known without having
numerical data to back up my opinion. I retract my comments to
whatever degree is appropriate based on that alone. My "attitude" in
my last post came from two equal directions. First, as Jim and others
said, I wasted a tank of gas and felt like someone was being less then
forthright with me. But second, when I posted originally, I got flamed
for being a cry baby, or a whiner, or a spoiled brat, and NONE of
those nasty comments were deserved.

Yes, I saw a beater and I was really ****ed off about it, and so I
ranted a little. However, what remains is that I found an airplane
that I SUSPECTED was either unairworthy or very close to it on several
levels. I feel that a less-educated or less-experienced person MIGHT
have been taken for a ride, so I figured that (personal irritation
aside) it was worth mentioning. If my post made ONE airplane buyer
look a little more closely at an airplane he was buying, then I stand
by my words in a Nomex tuxedo.

Another underlying point I was trying to make was that even though I
am willing to rely on my own un-licensed, "eyeball" judgement, I
recommended that buyers beware and that it is a good idea to get a
real pre-buy inspection if you can. Obviously Jim or any other good IA
would know a lot more than I.

I truly wish that I had taken the time to (learn which, and then)
bring the right drill bits and have the numerical information with me
that day, and so I could have posted that this particular airplane
was/was not within the limits. My position was that if it was even
reasonably average, I would have bought the airplane and then restored
or upgraded it over time while I was flying it.

I will issue an apology to the seller if it is found that the seat
rails were within legal limits, that is, if I were willing to even
speak to him. I will issue an apology to the newsgroup(s) for being a
cry baby, and I'll offer an apology to Jim Weir if I poked back at him
a little too quickly. I'll offer an apology to the manufacturer of the
T and Z drill bits as well while I'm at it.

The experienced Cessna mechanics I have spoken to assure me that
replacing the seat rails is a real pain in the ass, and is far more
difficult than others in the newsgroup have assumed. I have not
replaced Cessna seat rails, so I can't say from experience. I
understand that it is a very painful and awkward task to get at the
backside of several of the rivets, and many shops use Cherry rivets or
other blind rivets to do it out of necessity.

If I misunderstood or was uninformed about an AD on the flap tracks,
then I will issue yet another apology. In my personal un-licensed and
apparently foolish opinion, you should not be able to wiggle the flaps
up and down an inch, hearing the rollers thump back and forth in the
tracks. One Cessna-experienced IA told me that you should not be able
to put more than one business card thickness between the roller and
the track. I am sure that there is some official feeler gauge
measurement, but I didn't have that info with me either.

I also would have bet that frozen aileron pushrod ball joints are not
considered airworthy. I was trained to rotate the ball joints a few
degrees each way with your fingers on a pre-flight inspection, to make
sure the joints are not frozen. I was NOT of the opinion that you
should need a wrench or needle-nose pliers to rotate the ball joints,
finger pressure should be enough. I am not aware of any numerical
measurement on that.

I was trained as a brand new student pilot that the controls should be
"free and clear", observed by BOTH moving the control surfaces with
finger pressure AND the lack of excess friction at the control yoke.
There was no numerical measurement that I recall, just good old common
sense and average mechanical aptitude.

Silly me, I also ASSUMED that you should NOT be able to move the
pilot's side control yoke up and down vertically twice as much as the
copilot's side.

That 175 MIGHT have been legal to fly, but it was a worn out beater
and there were significant maintenance concerns that would have been a
major issue either now or at some time in the near future. Period.
Somebody should have bought it for five or ten grand, trucked it home,
and restored it into a "Classic Era" Oshkosh champion.

Adieu, newsgroups, now I remember why I left in the first place.

Bill