Grumman panel cover replacement

SixPapaCharlie

SixPapaCharlie

May the force be with you
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Aug 8, 2013
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I'm looking into replacing the plastic covering on my 72 traveler panel.

A friend recommended I ditch it, and just cover the metal behind w/ 3M carbon fiber wrap. He showed me his (RV-10) and it looks really sharp. I'd like to adopt that look

Questions:

1. Am I legally allowed to do this?

2. Is it straight forward or am I asking for trouble? All of my gauges are screwed in through this plastic cover so there is no way around removing all of those screws. I wonder if they are going to fall out or if they are held in by other brackets. I've not looked behind the panel before. In addition to gauge screws, I see additional screws on the right and left side of the panel that I suspect may be doing more than just holding the plastic in place.

I dug through all of the AA5 videos online and found little showing panel updates aside from just some before and after shots.

Is this something better left to the professionals?



Thanks in advance.
 
Might try a search on Grumman Gang archives for "panel overlay" or some such. Remember there being some discussions of same within past few years. After the archive search an inquiry on the active list would NO DOUBT yield some useful responses.
 
I emailed the group but am unfamiliar w/ the archives.
 
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It's hard to guess until you get a look behind it.

When I replaced my panel I had them fabricate new aluminium in 3 sections so future changes would be easier. The structure behind the panel had been "modified" several times and they needed to fab up some extra braces and supports to put it back together solidly. [That was the least expensive part of the upgrade]

I went back and forth on graphite vinyl. I like the look but I read about scratching and peeling around the screw holes over time. Had my self convinced it would be fine to replace it every few years if it started looking dodgy or if the appeal of the look wore off. In the end I painted it to match the exterior.

The closer your current panel is to factory the easier it is likely to be.
 
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