I am willing to listen to the arguments both ways, hence the original post, but if there is something to be gained it strikes me as worthwhile to investigate.
On the principle that the a/c needs a re-paint anyway, if there are any airframe mods to be done, I would like to get them done first, and then if the speed gains can be made, there is a cost saving involved on the running costs in addition to the ability to get somewhere quicker. The "good engine" is going to wait until the existing one reaches TBO (or maybe with a little extension) as that's a particularly expensive mod to make. The rigging will have to be passed to the maintainer, but as he has owned his own Arrows in the past, and currently runs a PA28-180, will trust that he knows how to get this right.
The sellers arguments goes along the lines of "the original was built to a manufacturing price and has thus not been cleaned up" and "it wasn't thought out as well as it could have been in the first place"
I've already spoken with Major Projects at the CAA (and very helpful they were too), and as the stuff I'm looking at is all STC'd, hopefully this will make the whole process easier. Nevertheless, including new paint and windows, the whole job is looking around 6k sterling, so I'd like to make sure I get it right- preferably the first time!
Thanks for your comments and thoughts
[ 12 July 2001: Message edited by: IFollowRoads ]