HELP! To buy or not...rough 63 aztec for $25,000

david wrote in message ...
I have a chance to buy a 63 aztec in rough condition. It would be my
first plane. Engines have 1200 smoh but one has a cracked cylinder.
(estimated repair, $5000?) Paint is poor. ($5000 estimate?) Interior is
poor ($5000 estimate?). Brand new props. Only 1 nav/com. older avionics.
Auto pilot broken.

What is your long range plan with the plane? Keep it? Sell it? This
will determine whether or not this kind of investment is valuable.
Although there are exceptions it is usually better to purchase a plane
in the condition you want versus buying a fix-it upper and shelling
out $10000s in the repair/refinishing process. However, the $25k
purchase price makes this worth evaluating.

If you completely overhaul the plane and make everything in it new -
depending on airframe time, you probably have a market value $100k
airplane. Skip a bit here/there and you probably have a $75k
airplane, so you have a $50k budget to work with.

Start with a few of the basics: What is the airframe time? Are all
ADs complied with (should look at the SBs too) - did you have an
independent mechanic verify this? It can cost a 1000s if not 10000s
to comply with ADs and SBs. Is there damage history to the plane (and
is it recent?) - if so this will subtract significantly from the end
market value.

A cracked cylyinder probably won't cost $5k to repair, but I'm
guessing these engines will need more work than the $5k to be/stay
airworthy. A safe bet would be to expect a MOH in the near future...
Factoryengines.com lists an overhauled IO540 at $22k each. What are
the compressions? How long ago was the MOH? How long since the mags
were overhauled? How about the ignition wiring and plugs? I think
most Lycomings are a 12 year or 2000hr TBO.

New paint on a twin will be about $10k. Hopefully they will not find
corrosion when the paint is peeled.

A nice interior on a twin will be $10k. $5k if you go with fabrics
only (no leather) and do not replace the interior plastics. New
windows would be $2k installed.

Avionics are a wild card and are up to you. You can easily spend
$30-40k on a panel. However, for the most bang for the buck, you
could add 1 GNS430 for about $10k installed and have IFR certified
GPS/VOR/LOC/GS. The plane would probably need a good audio
panel/intercom, which would be $3500 installed. Autopilots
particularly older ones can be troublesome to repair/maintain - you
may want to consider purchasing a new AP. An STEC-30 (altitude hold)
autopilot will cost about $10k installed. You could look on Ebay to
find a used KX-155 and KI209 as a backup NAV/COM.

New gyros might be a consideration, as would be a reconfiguration of
the panel to a standard T instrument layout. This would be another
$2-3K.

Another thing to consider - expect LONG downtimes during your
refurbishment. Probably a month (at least) for your major overhauls.
A month for the P&I. A month for the avionics and gyro work. Plus a
few more months to get various gremlins worked out. That would be a
best case... Paying $10k/yr insurance plus hangar, plus cost of
capital, plus maintenance bills really sucks when you are not getting
to fly. On that note, it might make sense to only use the plane
privately for the first year while you are doing the rehab. No sense
in paying commercial insurance rates if the plane is going to sit in
the maintenance shop.

Last, you mentioned an $80/hr operating rate for the Aztec. I assume
you mean the fuel only cost. Most light twins cost about 2.5x the
hourly fuel cost to operate.

Good luck!
-Nathan