Best 1st upgrade for a vintage Mooney!

[0TreeLemur]

Shortly after joining MS, while pondering a panel upgrade, I posted a question about what to do with the magnificently large EGT selector switch.   This switch, besides being magnificently large, was seemingly the most important thing in the panel of the 1967 C, based on its position, right next to the AH.   In reply to my thread, which is linked below, the Dean of Mooneyspace, @carusoam, hit me with this bit of elegant reasoning:

On 1/27/2018 at 3:05 PM, carusoam said:

Dump ancient engine monitor for decades newer modern technology...

The four selector switch is just a nightmare for pilot cog overload or a reason to ignore the data...

They invented the graphic engine analyzer for a reason.  It does all the switch turning, graphing, and delivers the results...

They also come with things like FF, flight recorder, and OAT...

They also have the ability to download data to somebody for help with an engine challenge...

even a decade newer used device doesn't cost very much...  even if you have to mount it in front of the copilot...

I took his advice, and it has proven to be the best advice.   Going with a certified primary engine monitor allows you to get rid of SO MUCH old, hard to read, poorly placed instrumentation.  I'm happy to see this category.   Now if we only had a FAQ section to post the golden nuggets of the Dean's wisdom

Nice article on the JPI in the March 2022 edition of P&P Magazine, written by our fellow MS-er @Pasturepilot.

 

 

[Pasturepilot]

@0TreeLemur oddly enough, your panel project thread was one of the first ones to send me down the path of modernizing my panel. 
 

When I pulled my old Garwin cluster (that’s now in the hands of a man whose father was my Mooney’s first owner), the oil pressure line was original to the airplane. It was a sobering moment, realizing that brittle old hose wasn’t far from creating a really bad mess.  
 

The presentation of clear data by modern instrumentation is such a leap forward in awareness of our birds’ health that it really is difficult to communicate without flying at least a short hop with one. 
 

JPI, EI, et al. have their strengths and weaknesses but any of them is better than trying to manage your engine using a gauge cluster that may not be giving you any useful data. I’m pretty sure my only reasonably accurate indication in the cluster at removal was oil pressure. 
 

With apologies to Nike, the only other words needed for anyone on the fence: Just Do It.