Wow, DejaVu, ( I was the original poster).
Since the engine failure, we bought a remanufactured engine. The old block was completely hosed. Crankshaft and everything.
A couple of answers: My wife Leslie was the pilot. I gave up my ticket years ago for medical reasons. 25 years later she expressed an interest in taking flight lessons and 1 more year later she passed her checkride and I bought her a beautiful 33 yr old Cessna 172.
The crease in the wing was indeed a signpost. Considering some of the alternatives that presented themselves, she figured (rightly) that the signpost was expendable.
Before the failure the old engine was using quite a bit of oil (about 1 qt every 1.5 to 2 hours). We had a rebuild scheduled, but our crystal ball must have had a MicroSoft Windows moment. At any rate, we have about 70 hours on the new (reman) engine and the CHT temps are starting to normalize. During initial breakin #3 and #4 liked to stay in the low 400s, and even mid 400s during climb.
Now we are back where we were before the engine failure. Except that rebuilding the engine is no longer part of the equation. But we are trying to decide if we want to trade this plane in for something that is faster and is already IFR rated, or if we want to put new avionics in this one. Our Garmin 496 is not IFR rated, but my wife will be soon.
Thanks for all of your comments.
