Graham, Texas, United States
Over the years I have found lots of worn elevator and rudder bushings on fabric covered Pipers. Luckily Piper made these bushings replaceable unlike some other manufacturers. The bushings are common to all the fabric Pipers as part number 80022-045 for the short at $1.02 and 80022-044 for the long at $.85 from Univair. I used to use a punch type tool to drive them in and out but it seemed to mushroom the ends of the bushing a little and made it hard to get the hinge pin in. That led to the design of the tool I now use which actually pushes the old bushing in while installing the new one. Several people have asked me recently about obtaining one of these tools for themselves so they can replace their own bushings so I dropped the tool off with my machinist friend yesterday. He got back to me with a price and thought I would put it on here if anyone was interested in a tool for themselves. All you need to operate the tool is a 3/16" Allen wrench and a 7/16" wrench. The price will be $30. I am trying to get an idea of how many to make before I order the metal and cap screws so if you would like one please let me know. Thanks.
