Nice planes.
Flew them for a living in Alaska, would love to have one for fun.
Dear Santa..

If it floats, flies, or fornicates, rent it.

I bought a Piper Cherokee 10+ years ago. Runs on auto gas, fixed gear but performance to haul 4 persons with gear and long XC legs. Its been great.

The bad, I am currently overhauling the motor and its $30K and rising. You wouldn't think a USED crankshaft would cost $10k on an air cooled motor but its better than $25K new

I've owned my 185 for just a year now. Test flew the factory new engine this morning. I didn't see that one coming, but it is a hazard of ownership.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My take on a lot of the lower end 1960-1970 vintage planes is that they are more like cars. Figure they will have zero value in 10 years.

With the value of a Cherokee 140 being max $30,000, I would have looked at a used engine or considered parting out and buying another one.

If you intend to keep the plane, overhauling the engine is a great way to buy a lot of peace of mind. Financially it makes no sense at all, but flying behind an engine you trust 100% is priceless.

Never seen an engine in my life that I trust 100%

10K is def on the high side for a used lycoming O-320/360 crank. 30K is def on the high side for an O320/360 overhaul, unless you're doing all accessories too on a high faluting name-premium shop to new limits. I'm with the gallery on here, on a vintage cherokee (140/180/basically anything fixed gear hershey bar wing), you're better off swapping the motor for another used one or doing a more aggressive shopping for a field overhaul. But your money, your circus. At least you don't have angle valve cylinders like I do. Pricey. I'm an IRAN guy though, I have a lot more risk tolerance to running Lycomings on-condition. To each their own.

Take a look at the Vans RV's. Faster, aerobatic models, much cheaper to maintain and you can do all the maintenance yourself. Fantastic community and always someone to help!

Get sonething fun! Low, slow, and capable of some Gs. Citabria or a Decathalon. Do some rolls and loops and spins on your way to the cheeseburger and coke. Remind yourself that your feet exist for more than just applying an occasional top rudder and toeing the brakes.