lithium366 Posted March 17, 2021 Report Share Posted March 17, 2021 Who knows why our Mooneys have this weird “step” in the panel? Anyone has an experience making it flat? I guess the shape of the dash needs to be changed as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carusoam Posted March 17, 2021 Report Share Posted March 17, 2021 1 minute ago, lithium366 said: Who knows why our Mooneys have this weird “step” in the panel? Anyone has an experience making it flat? I guess the shape of the dash needs to be changed as well? Ilya You mean bend? Yes, a new panel removes the bend... Make sure you account for the instruments that were on an angle... they probably need to be adjusted for the 0° tilt... Or do you mean the pilot’s panel is on a couple of rubber mounts and there is a step down to the rest of the panel... Either way, the whole panel can be updated... to meet your requirements... post a pic. PP thoughts only, -a- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lithium366 Posted March 17, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2021 (edited) 6 minutes ago, carusoam said: Ilya You mean bend? Yes, a new panel removes the bend... Make sure you account for the instruments that were on an angle... they probably need to be adjusted for the 0° tilt... PP thoughts only, -a- My panel is actually flat but in the co-pilot area it’s a bit in the front of the upper dash because it’s bent and this drives me nuts because I can see all the avionics and wires inside the gap. I also wonder why Mooney decided to to this tilt? Edited March 17, 2021 by lithium366 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carusoam Posted March 17, 2021 Report Share Posted March 17, 2021 I think there are two good examples of short body Mooneys updated with flat panels the whole way across... @Bob_Belville’s M20E... Visit their pics in their profile... It’s been a while since I have seen either... so it is much of a guess on my part... Paul is still around here currently flying a K... Bob will be much more difficult to contact... Check the pics first to see if I got that right... Best regards, -a- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lithium366 Posted March 17, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2021 Yeah I think you get it right. Not sure it is a bend, more like a tilt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carusoam Posted March 17, 2021 Report Share Posted March 17, 2021 An example of Paul’s M20C I grabbed from a different post earlier... Definetly showing the step... But, done correctly... the sheet metal is complete.... so the SIC isn’t seeing behind the panel... Paul was using this to discuss the fancy yoke he installed... that takes some extra effort... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBDiagMan Posted March 17, 2021 Report Share Posted March 17, 2021 I think the step is there because the panel to the left of the radio stack is shock mounted. At least it was on my C. I haven’t seen evidence of that in my F. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Lloyd Posted March 17, 2021 Report Share Posted March 17, 2021 6 hours ago, lithium366 said: Who knows why our Mooneys have this weird “step” in the panel? I've never seen it anywhere but suspect for the first decade or two, Mooney used surplus gyro instruments that cost little. Huge amounts of surplus stuff was available. My 1965 had a drum DG and the great big AN horizon. Gyro instruments are mostly built for either a 0 degree or 8 degree tilt. I suspect some of the cheap inventory was for 0, some for 8. Hence, build panel to use what they had. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
47U Posted March 17, 2021 Report Share Posted March 17, 2021 8 hours ago, lithium366 said: My panel is actually flat but in the co-pilot area it’s a bit in the front of the upper dash because it’s bent and this drives me nuts because I can see all the avionics and wires inside the gap. You need the wedge. Pretty easy to make. LASAR sold me a ‘panel install kit’ that had the isolator mounts, extensions, and the wedge. After install, I leveled the aircraft and measured the panel tilt... 8 degrees. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lithium366 Posted March 17, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2021 I was in hope that I can just replace the top part of the dash, not sure what it’s called. The one between the windshield and the panel where you put your cheeseburgers on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcraft938 Posted March 17, 2021 Report Share Posted March 17, 2021 Converted to flat panel. No problem seeing the instruments on the right and a little easier getting to switches, breakers, etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Posted March 17, 2021 Report Share Posted March 17, 2021 Hmmm . . . . My panel doesn't have this gap or different angles between sides (just had the overlay removed on the right). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carusoam Posted March 18, 2021 Report Share Posted March 18, 2021 8 hours ago, lithium366 said: I was in hope that I can just replace the top part of the dash, not sure what it’s called. The one between the windshield and the panel where you put your cheeseburgers on MS is good for spelling and vocabulary... 1) instrument panel = dash board... 2) Dash board diner... glare shield diner Also notice the center stack of radios that has a slant to them... The offset or slant comes out as GPS and modern shorter boxes go in... -a- 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lithium366 Posted March 18, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2021 On 3/17/2021 at 9:42 AM, Tcraft938 said: Converted to flat panel. No problem seeing the instruments on the right and a little easier getting to switches, breakers, etc. Where did you get a new glareshield (thanks, @carusoam)? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carusoam Posted March 19, 2021 Report Share Posted March 19, 2021 There is a fancy leather shop in TX run by a guy named Hector... The company is called Aero-comfort... They do all things related to aircraft interiors... They are skilled with leather... Send the old one, get it back as if it were new... Works the same with seats... Like magic! Brand new Mooneys use the same resource... Best regards, -a- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheriff23 Posted March 19, 2021 Report Share Posted March 19, 2021 On 3/17/2021 at 10:28 AM, 47U said: You need the wedge. Pretty easy to make. LASAR sold me a ‘panel install kit’ that had the isolator mounts, extensions, and the wedge. After install, I leveled the aircraft and measured the panel tilt... 8 degrees. Does LASAR sell the wedge on its own or only part of the kit? I have the wedge with the new dash, but I am missing the wedge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
47U Posted March 19, 2021 Report Share Posted March 19, 2021 Call Dan at LASAR. He might sell one separate, but the whole install kit was only about only about $30, as I remember. The wedge is measured to fit the hardware in the install kit, so you might need to incorporate that hardware into your panel mount so that the dimensions are correct and the wedge fits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lithium366 Posted March 19, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2021 Here is my flat panel where it is in front of the glareshield on a copilot side 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
47U Posted March 19, 2021 Report Share Posted March 19, 2021 1 hour ago, lithium366 said: Here is my flat panel where it is in front of the glareshield on a copilot side Oh. You don’t need the wedge, you need an upholsterer. Thanks for the picture. Hector surely can fix it up for you, but you’ll have to send it to San Antonio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raymond J1 Posted March 19, 2021 Report Share Posted March 19, 2021 Tilt the dashboard so that the axis of the driver's average field of view is perpendicular to the plane of the panel, this to avoid parallax defects (not all digital instruments have this correction). There were exceptions, however, such as the orthogonal gyro indicators, which had to operate on a vertical plane, hence Mooney's choice to partially abandon the" T basic " and to move attitude and directional indicators on the vertical fold of the pilot. Mounting on "silentblocks" is to avoid fatigue of gyroscope bearings with vibrations. The original silent blocks are worth nothing, the fatigue resistance over time is good but it is the metal rubber adhesion that does not tolerate maintenance interventions with removal. It is possible without major changes to adopt the M5 metric standard and get approved... For those who want to keep this original montage. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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