M20c panel facade replacement

[rwabdu]

I was hoping to replace the covering / facade for the panel of my recently purchased M20c. It's falling apart, loose and some of the lights don't work. No plans to change anything on the actual panel other than maybe de-fog my manifold gauge. Purely a cosmetic upgrade. Any recommendations on where to get a replacement and kind of cost I would be looking at? I'm sure there are lots of threads on this topic, but all I can find are the panel upgrade discussions.

[Marauder]

I was hoping to replace the covering / facade for the panel of my recently purchased M20c. It's falling apart, loose and some of the lights don't work. No plans to change anything on the actual panel other than maybe de-fog my manifold gauge. Purely a cosmetic upgrade. Any recommendations on where to get a replacement and kind of cost I would be looking at? I'm sure there are lots of threads on this topic, but all I can find are the panel upgrade discussions.

Hopefully Hank will come along and tell you what can be done with this model’s panel. My 75 F has some sort of Naugahyde and when it started to peel, it looked like crap.

Maybe the covering can be removed and the panel underneath can be powder coated.


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[Hank]

53 minutes ago, Marauder said:

Hopefully Hank will come along and tell you what can be done with this model’s panel. My 75 F has some sort of Naugahyde and when it started to peel, it looked like crap.

Maybe the covering can be removed and the panel underneath can be powder coated.

The only thing I'm aware to do is remove the cover, clean it well, repair the backside and paint it. Or check Vantage Plastics for a new one or salvage for a used one in better shape. Maybe someone has a CAD file for this that could be used to make a new cover, or at least to print off a scale pattern that you can use.

My 1970 C has a standard layout rather than your shotgun arrangement, so I can't help you directly. But I am building a new cover for mine from cherry veneer, multiple layers with different grain directions. 

Powder coating is good for many things, but it will not work on these plastic cosmetic cover pieces.

Good luck, and let us know what you do.

[DCarlton]

Vantage Plane Plastics should have your overlay.  Your pilots side looks like mine.  It takes some notching and trimming to get them to fit properly.  I used their products, painted them with black Krylon Fusion, moved the panel lights over to the new plastic and installed placards.  It takes a lot of hours but it's inexpensive.  I'll post a pic soon. 

Edited November 22, 2021 by DCarlton

[rwabdu]

Thanks so much for the options!

[DCarlton]

20 hours ago, rwabdu said:

Thanks so much for the options!

Here's a couple of pics of my '67F panel with the newer overlays from Plane Plastics.  Like I mentioned, it's a lot of work, but for these older panel layouts, I think it looks pretty decent.  [Note I have the left interior panel out for restoration.]

Edited November 23, 2021 by DCarlton

[hammdo]

Here is a pic of mine. The previous owner did the Carbon Fiber on the right side - it looks great! I'll do the left side after all my planned updates are done... 

-Don 

[1964-M20E]

remove the plastic and see what looks better plastic or natural aluminum behind the plastic.  Go for a spartan look. 

[MMsuper21]

To give you an idea about the spartan look I am in the same boat. Currently trying to figure a cost efficient way to not scare the hell out of passengers when they get into the ship.

Doing some upgrades and my panel is a cluster .... For now I will just trace the panel onto a piece of something not sure if plastic or aluminum cut it out and overlay for now. You can paint or wrap it with some sort of fancy carbon. I will post picture after upgrade. 

[Hank]

15 hours ago, 1964-M20E said:

remove the plastic and see what looks better plastic or natural aluminum behind the plastic.  Go for a spartan look. 

It's not quite that simple! This is what's behind my sad plastic--more "battle damage" than "spartan look." 

[DCarlton]

20 hours ago, MMsuper21 said:

To give you an idea about the spartan look I am in the same boat. Currently trying to figure a cost efficient way to not scare the hell out of passengers when they get into the ship.

Doing some upgrades and my panel is a cluster .... For now I will just trace the panel onto a piece of something not sure if plastic or aluminum cut it out and overlay for now. You can paint or wrap it with some sort of fancy carbon. I will post picture after upgrade. 

The right side is the easiest side to fit up using the Plane Plastics overlay.  I'll probably go metal at some point but the plastic piece works if you have the tools and time.  

[Utah20Gflyer]

I am in the process of trying to fabricate some parts for my plane by building a thermoforming vacuum table and forming sheets of textured ABS sheets into the wanted parts.  It might be possible to do the same with your panel overlay by using the old panel as the form and forming 1/16 inch thick ABS plastic over it.   Maybe too much work but thought I would throw it out there as a possibility.  

[Prior owner]

Carefully remove the plastic panels, clean them thoroughly and scuff with scotchbrite, then paint with black wrinkle paint. They will look 300% better, and it will save you some bucks. Oh, and your tach and prop RPM placard don’t correspond with one another after someone painted the tach glass with a solid green stripe..! Either the tach or the placard is wrong.