I bought a former trainer that had been sitting on the ramp for a year. It had 1600 hours plus on a FREMAN O-200. The paint was poor, interior just OK. I flew it for a year until two oil samples came back indicating excessive bearing wear. That was fine with me. I wanted to start out with a freshly overhauled engine so I would have a good idea of what was out in front. I held my breath and started writing checks. Engine overhaul. Other associated stuff. Then the paint. I wanted to see the Temptress naked. I looked her over after all of the paint was stripped off and had every trace of the inevitable surface corrosion taken care of. Next, nice paint with all new mounting hardware for the control surfaces. Now I've got a pretty good idea of how this 40 plus year old looks inside and out. It cost far more than I could ever sell it for to do all of this (and continue to do,) but I don't feel like I'm waiting for some sort of failure every time I fly.
Russ, I know what you mean about getting deep into this. After reading posts on this forum over the past two years or so, I know we're not alone.
