I ended up getting a reconditioned but virgin cylinder (no welds)
plus
new everything else (except rockers.) The total (minus the charge
for
magnafluxing my old cylinder) came to about $500 including labor to
rebush the rockers.
I priced about every option I could find and, like everyone says, if
I
were going to go with new cylinders I would get the Milleniums. The
main reason I didn't was the lead time. I don't remember the exact
price but if you get them from Superior you're looking at about $800
and if you go with someone like AERO you'll be at about $750. Add to
that another $25 for a new piston pin plus figure a few bucks for new
rocker arm bushings (if they need it.)
In my mind the best thing about the Milleniums is the fact that
they're investment cast. I work in a Titanium foundry which does
investment castings for about every commercial aircraft in the world
(minus some Soviet ships) plus about every fighter the U.S. has and
can tell you that investment casting to sand casting is night and
day.
One thing that spending the dough really made me appreciate is my
flying habits. No more chopping the throttle and over-cooling the
engine! Did that a lot when I was practicing emergency landings and
I'm sure it didn't help the crack growth in my cylinder!
I also keep a real close eye on my engine temps and especially on my
exhaust stacks. Any looseness will heat those cylinders up in a
hurry.
FWIW if anyone wants a cracked cylinder to weld up and get a few
hundred hours out of I've got just the thing I'll let go real cheap!
Joa
N94432 "Hoping those other three cylinders don't go crackin' on me!"
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