From cracked windshield to new panel

[Cruzjessew]

So a few years ago I purchased what I believe will be my forever plane. A 1979 M20k, I planned to slowly upgrade the airplane. After being parked at the ramp in Van Nuys for 3 days my Mooney had a 3 in crack in the windshield starting from the center bottom. New windshield was ordered from a cheaper unnamed website and after not receiving it for over 3 months I switched to LP Aero-plastics and within a couple weeks had a new windshield. It was not easy to remove, after removing it there was so much access to the rear of the panel. Not wanting to ever remove the windshield again, I opted to wait for finances to line up allowing for an upgrade to a new panel before reinstalling the windshield. 

 

Fast forward almost a year and I have ordered a Dynon HDX system with the D30, transponder, ADSB in-out, Engine monitor, COM etc. It will be paired with a GPS 175 and  PS Eng PAR200 COM/Audio panel. The Century 41 Autopilot works great so the plan for now is to keep the vacuum system with Attitude and HSI to drive the autopilot. It will be installed in the cutout for the 10inch screen for now.

So now its time to work on the Layout. Below is what the panel currently looks like. Does anyone have a CAD file of a J or K Panel? Any suggestions on layout?

 

Thanks Everyone

 

[Schllc]

You asked for opinions so here goes mine…

I personally would not leave at 30year old autopilot with iffy support. 
If a panel is opened up, it’s best to do everything you plan to do at once.  
Adding the autopilot, or any other upgrades later, will be exponentially more than it would be now, plus the downtime.  
Budget is of course a concern for almost all of us, but I don’t believe doing half the job will serve you well…

Either way, best of luck and please post your pics!

[ArtVandelay]

I agree with above but you’ve seem to have already made a decision.

A couple of things:
Looks like your ram mount is for a phone, if so consider moving it with a mount on the glare shield. See pix, the wide angle shot distorts the size of the phone.

Also, you may want to get rid of the annunciator, replacing it with lights where required.

I would lose all legacy instruments and the vacuum pump, I think the K is useful load challenged.

[Cruzjessew]

I agree and wish Dynon's autopilot was approved but not sure when that will happen. We will be running all the wiring and have the control plate cut out. I got the idea from the J Bellow. 

@ArtVandelay Thanks for the Ram mount idea, yours looks great!

1 hour ago, Schllc said:

You asked for opinions so here goes mine…

I personally would not leave at 30year old autopilot with iffy support. 
If a panel is opened up, it’s best to do everything you plan to do at once.  
Adding the autopilot, or any other upgrades later, will be exponentially more than it would be now, plus the downtime.  
Budget is of course a concern for almost all of us, but I don’t believe doing half the job will serve you well…

Either way, best of luck and please post your pics!

 

53 minutes ago, ArtVandelay said:

I agree with above but you’ve seem to have already made a decision.

A couple of things:
Looks like your ram mount is for a phone, if so consider moving it with a mount on the glare shield. See pix, the wide angle shot distorts the size of the phone.

Also, you may want to get rid of the annunciator, replacing it with lights where required.

I would lose all legacy instruments and the vacuum pump, I think the K is useful load challenged.

 

 

[ArtVandelay]

I agree and wish Dynon's autopilot was approved but not sure when that will happen. We will be running all the wiring and have the control plate cut out. I got the idea from the J Bellow. 
[mention=11849]ArtVandelay[/mention] Thanks for the Ram mount idea, yours looks great!

 

I like what they did, having the panel moved up as high as possible, I did the same. Trying to minimize head movement .

But where is the annunciation lights/panel? Gear down, Gear unsafe are definitely required? Edit: I see it’s on the glass panel.

[Schllc]

How is it that the annunciator panel can be removed?

Where do all the other notifications appear like alt air, static, boost pump etc?

[201Mooniac]

27 minutes ago, Schllc said:

How is it that the annunciator panel can be removed?

Where do all the other notifications appear like alt air, static, boost pump etc?

Depending on your model you can get down to very few.  My last upgrade got me to just the gear so I put an Eaton style annunciator in place for that and removed the annunciator panel.  I never had alt air or boost pump annunciators.

[ArtVandelay]

How is it that the annunciator panel can be removed?
Where do all the other notifications appear like alt air, static, boost pump etc?

Most are just simple lights, there’s some smart circuitry for low fuel, low vac, hi/low voltage, but if you have no vacuum and a certified engine monitor will replace the others.

[Schllc]

2 hours ago, ArtVandelay said:

Most are just simple lights, there’s some smart circuitry for low fuel, low vac, hi/low voltage, but if you have no vacuum and a certified engine monitor will replace the others.

I guess low fuel, gear, alt air, boost pump, low voltage,static, pitot heat. Probably a few others weren’t covered in the legacy g1000. The nxi had no annunciator panel…

[gevertex]

On 8/30/2023 at 6:27 PM, ArtVandelay said:

I like what they did, having the panel moved up as high as possible, I did the same. Trying to minimize head movement .

But where is the annunciation lights/panel? Gear down, Gear unsafe are definitely required? Edit: I see it’s on the glass panel.

Very cool that Dynon supports those indicators on certified aircraft. Garmin has it too, but only on experimental.