Taking care of the business end, the propeller

With Tim off with the engine I set out to find a shop that could overhaul the propeller.  It just made sense to do this whole thing as completely as possible and the propeller hadn't been overhauled in a while.  There was some definite leading edge pitting from the IMC flying especially when you are in the clouds and in the rain.  I called two prop shops and it's interesting how I, as a consumer, made immediate decisions about the shops by how I was greeted and talked to on the phone.  The first place required a bit of probing to get the information and wasn't all that detailed on how things would get done or how long it would take.  When I asked the price he said it's about $3,000 but it could be more and they didn't do governors (this is basically an oil actuated valve that twists the propeller blades).  When I asked how much the governor would cost he said he wasn't sure but I could call another place they would recommend to find out. When I called the second prop shop, AC Propeller, (http://www.acpropeller.com) it was a different story.  I ended up talking with Mike Worden, the owner and he was very specific on the details and they did do governors.  The price was $2400 for the prop and $900 for the governor.  He also asked me when I needed it by and said he would try to accommodate whatever I wanted. I really liked the attitude and it ended up being an excellent choice.

Bead blasting the paint off all the parts before some precision measuring and balancing.  

If the parts met the specs then they were reused.

This is how I knew I picked a good shop.  Look at the pattern of the grinding, that's attention to detail.

Polyurethane paint in a traditional McCauley pattern.

Final product ready for pick-up.

Back at the hangar waiting for the rest of the engine.

I took the spinner and repolished it with NuShine products just as I had done a couple of years ago.

The most efficient polishing occurred with just the right amount of polish, patience and a lot of elbow grease.

After 4 hours, not even a fingerprint.  Surprisingly this finish seemed to hold up pretty well for two years after I polished it the first time.