Heat Shields

It's all about preventive maintenance!

In fact, I can honestly say that one problem in particular was evident in over 95% of our new annuals or new customer aircraft. This problem was the beginning of, or in many cases, was a full-blown maintenance emergency! The problem is that the heat from the exhaust pipe burns the paint from the engine mount, and corrosion inevitably sets in. Tubing damage is usually pretty obvious, but sometimes it is painted over. For deeper inspection remove a little paint with chemical stripper, or a wire wheel, then inspect the exposed steel tubing underneath. It is hard to believe that many mounts are actually filled in with paint over the deep rust pits. This allows the corrosion to continue all the way through the tubing wall. Corrosion of the engine mount can be a very dangerous condition.

Engine mount tubing wall thickness is fifty thousands of an inch thick .050 on standard Cessna engine mounts. According to Cessna technical representatives, "Damage of ten percent or only five thousands of an inch into the engine mount tubing wall results in an un-airworthy condition." That's about the thickness of a match book cover. The cost for labor to remove and reinstall an engine and mount, plus the cost of an engine mount repair or replacement, can easily run into the thousands.

You may wonder why your mechanic has never noticed this before. There are many different levels of proficiency and thoroughness in the maintenance industry and I can proudly say that as an A&P I have extremely high standards. I want to help you save your mount from further damage or if it's already in need of repair, to make sure that it never happens again.

I offer a simple low cost and FAA approved solution to help you avoid some major financial pain. Our heat shields protect your engine mounts from exhaust pipe heat damage. The shields can be installed in about 15 minutes once the cowling is removed. The complete kits include installation hardware, instructions, and a copy of the Supplemental Type Certificate. OAD heat shield kits are complete, fit perfectly, and they are guaranteed to work.

Over 4500 of our STC'ed engine mount heat shield kits have been installed since 1998.

Also, take a look at your intake shields for cracks around the rivets and for broken tabs; we offer a much nicer heavy duty PMA'ed version with de-burred holes and polished tabs.