F-745 R&L

[Av8torTom]

Hopefully this isn't a stupid question , but I've not seen any discussions on how to deal with the instrument panel supports (F-745 R&L) when you're installing electronic instruments. Does another support need to be fashioned? Anyone have photos?

Thanks and Happy New Year

[Flying Canuck]

I did what I saw from several others. I needed room for my 10" display, so I trimmed the left rib at the aft face of the subpanel. I then used a piece of angle to attach the cutoff part 3" or so outboard. I "moved" the panel holes out accordingly. The trickiest part was planning my panel cutouts so that the original holes for the brace were covered up or cut out. The top one was easy since that's where my HDX went, the bottom one was used to determine where I was placing my switches.

Like I did many times, I took my inspiration from Bruce Hill's phenomenal builder site. He's got pictures there showing the same approach.

[bruceh]

Yes, just cut them off at the subpanel. Make a new bracket with some angle and move them inward.

Make the brackets first before you cut the ribs off.

Check the angle of the brackets from the back of the subpanel.

The subpanel has a bend across it, so you will need to put a bend in your bracket. You can see how I put a relief cut in the angle where the bend is.

Then you can drill the holes in the bracket and match them to the ribs.

Draw a line on the ribs and then cut them off.

Once you have your panel layout figured out, reposition the cut off aft rib pieces inward. You can draw a line between the prepunched holes on the panel and this will help you locate the new position of the holes on the panel where it gets screwed onto the end of the ribs. Use some clecos to hold them in place and then drill the bracket to the subpanel.

[Av8torTom]

Thank you gentlemen.

Anyone else have pictures/examples of how they managed this?

[sahrens]

I cut the ribs and moved them inboard 5 inches. I wanted to ensure there was sufficient space for a radio stack in the middle of the panel as well as 10" displays.

http://www.mykitlog.com/users/displa...=196313&row=89

There are more photos at that weblog under avionics. Here is the finished product

http://www.mykitlog.com/users/displa...=247819&row=16

[Av8torTom]

Thanks Scott - very helpful