Panel almost complete!

[robert7467]

Before this plane had power issues. Every time I would fly it, something would go out. The wiring was old and crummy. The intercom had crummy wuhan wiring that was deteriorated and had exposed wire. The radios crackled during the whole trip. Then I met this avionics guru who was an AI, A&P and an avionics engineer/troubleshooter for FedEx. He sold me:

GNS 420 24v

Dynon D2

KX 165 24v

KMA 24

Sandel 3308 with Gyro, Fluxgate Compass

And this thing was going to be IFR ready. Some of you guys are scratching your heads wondering why I didn't get the newer stuff (G5's and Dynon were not certified at the time). He sold all of this for $6500 providing I do the install under his guidance. I learned a lot. My plane is rewired and much more capable. The 165 is roached, it doesn't even have a SN plate. The repair station that fixes these spent 8 hrs trying to isolate the problem before they gave up. Now my Sandel's display is kindof roached, but better than what I have. But my rocket scientist, physicist l, avionics engineer is on a 6 year leave of absence in Costa Rica. Now I am stuck with what I got. Luckily, the people of Mooneyspace is helping me tremendously with the stuff I need to get her to 100% and I thank all of you. Here is the panel before and after. I fabricated the panel on the left using the old panel as a template for outline, screw holes and even instrument holes. I used a band saw, disc sander and free handed all the cutouts by clamping the old to the new with a flush bit router. All I wanted was to be able to get my instrument rating and fly the plane without any electrical issues and have solid radios. I am a few weeks off of replacing the 165 and I can tolerate the sandel until I get an Aspen unit or a better Sandel unit. I still have to fill in the gap above the radio stack, but she is almost complete and I dont have to worry about poor wiring. I practically rewired the entire plane and fixed a lot of janky wiring. The sandals are still giving me some hell. I dont know if it's a bad bulb or what but I am going to take apart the really roached out one to see if I see anything obvious like a misaligned bulb, dirt or a blown capacitor since its already trash anyways. If its something like that, then I will take it to my local FAA repair station for repair and signature. I am excited to get this bird in the air and start on my instrument rating. When the times get good for me financially, then I will start replacing all of this with glass, wass and all the other wants!

Edited May 18, 2020 by robert7467

[carusoam]

Constant small steps in the right direction.... nicely done..!

Are you familiar with our used radio trader?

Often, he has good deals on things you want to replace... as in he has one just like the one you want to replace... only it works... 

He also has some upgrades to what you have if you want to keep updating... (find Alan)

Best regards,

-a-

[robert7467]

Yeah, I bought an induction boot off of him. He is s good guy!

[rbridges]

Having a certified GPS will be nice.  Your panel looks much nicer.  

[robert7467]

2 hours ago, rbridges said:

Having a certified GPS will be nice.  Your panel looks much nicer.  

Yeah, it's nothing fancy, but its 1000 times better than it was before. I didn't even have a working VOR before.