In the end, I wound up buying an old Aero Commander 520 from 1953 beginning of this year. I'm sure she will give me plenty of headaches and sleepless nights. She did perform well during the ferry from Detroit to California so there's still hope, but I'm already contemplating getting a 336 as a backup for when she's in the repair shop...
I wish all the Skymaster owners and the helpful people on this board the best of luck and hopefully I will see you around the airfields. I will always wave at Skymasters.