NLG Bungee Failure and Parts Search

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I have a 1982 TR182 S/N R18201807. Durning annual inspection my A&P noticed that the nose wheel did not snap back to a straigt position when the nose wheel was lifted off the ground by pushing the tail down. He disassembled the NLG steering assembly to troubleshoot the problem first suspecting a rigging issue with the rudder control and steering assembly. Upon disassembly it was discovered that there was an issue with the bungee component of the nose wheel steering assembly. As I understand, the shaft that connects the steering bungee assembly to the copilot rudder control bar did not rotate freely in the assembly. This is the same rotation enacted by turning the rudder trin control that adjusts spring tension in the bungee assembly. When my mechanic forced the rotation of the shaft all the way until the shaft was removed from the assembly, a small metal shaving coil (see "photo 1" attached) dropped out indicating that metal to metal binding inside the bungee assembly was causing the inability to rotate the shaft connected to the rudder trim.

There were also indications of wear on the face of the bungee assembly that the shaft inserts thru and on the barrel nut conntecting to the rudder bar. We are speculating that this entire assemble had too much play after years of wear that contributed to the overall failure of the bungee assembly.

The real fun began when we were not able to locate a replacement part for the part numbers highlighted on the attachments, particularly the bungee assembly. We cannot locate the late model R/TR182 bungee assembly (the design was substanially changed from S/N R18201799 and on). The challenge is that this part is unique to only late model R/TR182 which is a small number of aircraft. There is no cross compatibility between bungee assemblies for any other single engine retracts (cutlass, centurion, etc). We are seraching salvage yards with no success to this point.

Any information or leeds on potential salvage or part resources to locate obscure parts like this is greatly appreaciated. It really highlights a challenge of owning older aircraft models no longer in production.

Part numbers needed are:

2260108-13 Bungee Assembly
2260010-1 Barrel Nut
MS16624-3075 Snap Rings
2260114-4 Copilot Rudder Pedal Bar

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