Finding the right dzus fastener

StinkBug

StinkBug

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The oil dipstick access door on my Mooney is held shut with 2 dzus fasteners. I find it annoying that I need a tool to check the oil and would like to change these out for the ones with the little butterfly handle on them, but I've been having a hard time figuring out what will work. The part numbers and descriptions are rather difficult to decipher.

Here's a picture of the head on the current one. They have a tapered head so they are flush when snapped in place.
 

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I say it would be easier and more aesthetically pleasing to buy one of these for six bucks.

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Silvaire said:
I say it would be easier and more aesthetically pleasing to buy one of these for six bucks.
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It would be, especially if the OP's cowling is like mine. My mooney has the "butterfly" style 1/4 turn fasteners and they don't line up with the slipstream. They are at 45 degree angles, causing extra drag.

It is nice to not need a screwdriver to open the access door though. :)
 
Silvaire said:
I say it would be easier and more aesthetically pleasing to buy one of these for six bucks.

05-03439.gif
Click to expand...

What do you think I'm using now? :rolleyes2:

I like to check my oil frequently, as in every stop. If I'm flying multiple legs in a day I may not sump every time I stop for 10min. If there wasn't water to start with and I haven't filled up, there's not gonna be any now. However I could have been blowing oil out enroute and not known it. It's annoying to have to go get a tool for something so simple. I could care less if they dont look as good, or they add some minuscule amount of drag. I just wanna be able to easily check my oil. If you wanna fumble around with a pocket knife or walk around the wing to the baggage door to get the tool, that's great. I'd rather just open the damn hatch.
 
StinkBug said:
What do you think I'm using now? :rolleyes2:

... If you wanna fumble around with a pocket knife or walk around the wing to the baggage door to get the tool, that's great. I'd rather just open the damn hatch.
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It was just a suggestion, you don't need to get wound up over it.

Also, as the owner of the aircraft, I don't know how many times you'd go to check the oil before remembering that you needed a screwdriver (or a dime) to open the "damn hatch" then have to "walk around the wing to the baggage door". Wouldn't you just bring it with you in the first place when you wanted to check the oil? :dunno:

Just my opinion but after all the effort Mooney went to - flush rivets, countersunk screws, it seems kind of a shame to have a couple of wingnuts sticking out on the cowl.

But absolutely, it's your airplane so do as you please, I'm just tossing in my two cents.
 
Silvaire said:
Just my opinion but after all the effort Mooney went to - flush rivets, countersunk screws, it seems kind of a shame to have a couple of wingnuts sticking out on the cowl.
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All that trouble and they couldn't install a recessed button latch on the oil door?

The windshield on an M20C sticks out like sore thumb, no one will notice winged quarter turns on the oil door.
 
Silvaire said:
I say it would be easier and more aesthetically pleasing to buy one of these for six bucks.

05-03439.gif
Click to expand...

:yeahthat: Seriously, you're going to dirty up a Mooney? I think if you put the wing nut type Dzus in there, the Mooney Club comes and takes your plane away.
 
bnt83 said:
All that trouble and they couldn't install a recessed button latch on the oil door?

The windshield on an M20C sticks out like sore thumb, no one will notice winged quarter turns on the oil door.
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If it makes Google Earth, someone will see...:lol:
 
Henning said:
:yeahthat: Seriously, you're going to dirty up a Mooney? I think if you put the wing nut type Dzus in there, the Mooney Club comes and takes your plane away.
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That's nothing! Ugly on a slick new airplane?

Try the overwing refueling bonding points on Embraer 505. A headphone jack screwed into an extrusion nailed to the wing skin x2. Just hanging in the breeze ready to catch bug guts or the occasional avian variety. I'd hate to hit my head on it.

 
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bnt83 said:
That's nothing! Ugly on a slick new airplane?

Try the overwing refueling bonding points on Embraer 505. A headphone jack screwed into an extrusion nailed to the wing skin x2. Just hanging in the breeze ready to catch bug guts or the occasional avian variety. I'd hate to hit my head on it.
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What is the reason for this?
 
I use my "DUZ ALL" tool. It has two bits one works the big cowling fasteners on the Navion and the other end does the little ones on the fuel doors.
 
Silvaire said:
Also, as the owner of the aircraft, I don't know how many times you'd go to check the oil before remembering that you needed a screwdriver (or a dime) to open the "damn hatch" then have to "walk around the wing to the baggage door". Wouldn't you just bring it with you in the first place when you wanted to check the oil? :dunno:
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I dont forget, I just dont really like having to carry a screwdriver or that fuel checker around with me everywhere I go. Maybe you wouldn't mind having that thing in your pocket while eating lunch, but I leave mine in the plane. A dime is about double the thickness of the slot, so that doesn't work either. Most of the time I'm approaching the plane from the front, so I walk straight to the cowling and check the oil, then walk around and get in. Is this really so hard to understand? I swear you cant post anything on this board without a whole group of people going off on a tangent and telling you you're an idiot. It's a 1/4 turn fastener guys. It's not that big a deal.
 
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You should carry a cordless screwdriver. Zip those dzus fasteners open right quick.
 
StinkBug said:
?..I swear you cant post anything on this board without a whole group of people going off on a tangent and telling you you're an idiot. It's a 1/4 turn fastener guys. It's not that big a deal.
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I think your question was answered as to where to find a fastener, the rest was just alternative ideas and opinions. Nobody called you an idiot.
 
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