"Flipping" Engines?

MarcoDA40

MarcoDA40

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Marco
Example:

Someone is selling a Continental O-470-4 near TBO but apparently still running when it was removed.
The engine is being sold an a really low price.. think a few car payments worth.
I did a quick search on parts for the engine and seems that it could be rebuilt for maybe half or even less of what a recently overhauled similar engine sells for.

I dont even know how much labor itself would be(lets assume I have ALL the components and it "just" needs to be put together) . Still, I believe after everything, I could flip the engine for a profit.

Could it really be that "simple"?
 
MarcoDA40 said:
Example:

Someone is selling a Continental O-470-4 near TBO but apparently still running when it was removed.
The engine is being sold an a really low price.. think a few car payments worth.
I did a quick search on parts for the engine and seems that it could be rebuilt for maybe half or even less of what a recently overhauled similar engine sells for.

I dont even know how much labor itself would be(lets assume I have ALL the components and it "just" needs to be put together) . Still, I believe after everything, I could flip the engine for a profit.

Could it really be that "simple"?
Click to expand...

Who is signing off on the work? You've gotta pay that person to do it.
 
I think that would be a good opportunity for someone that needed an O470 and could do the work themselves.
OR, it might be a good opportunity for someone in the business with experience and established channels for sourcing parts and selling engines.

But I think it would be a huge risk if someone like myself tried to do it.
 
mondtster said:
Trust me, it’s not that simple.
Click to expand...

Exactly. There are also inspections for parts that need to be sent off to specialty shops for proper inspection, =$$. Could you possibly do an inspect-and-repair as necessary, and have a pretty decent engine that isn't a by-the-book overhaul? Yes, but it won't be worth anywhere near what a properly documented OH is worth.
 
Questions?
If it is still running, who says it needs work?
If you can buy low and sell high why would you mess with it?
How do you know if any of the rebuildable parts are good enough to rebuild again?
You might just save the data tag.
 
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