Avionics Upgrade and Other Misc.--pulling out the guts

After a couple of years of light flying, we're finally beginning our final phase--the panel upgrade. The goal is to have a beefy IFR platform. (I'm forcing myself to earn my instrument rating now!) I'm glad my partner is a computer design engineer. He took on the weighty task of planning this project and now he's been fine tuning the design of the panel. It will include the addition of the following pieces of new equipment: 

•Garmin GNS 650 Nav/Com/GPS

•ICOM A210 Nav radio

•Garmin A340 audio panel

•Garmin G5 EFIS

•JPI EDM 830 (this is a digital upgrade from the JPI 700 which includes oil pressure, tach, and manifold pressure). 

•Brittain B-11 (simple 2-axis auto pilot; handy in IFR flying)

Our goal is to be finished in mid-January (2018). Time to get busy!

Along with this project, we will attempt to fix a pesky right wing fuel leak, fairly common in the old Mooneys. As I am finding out first hand, this is a labor intensive task.

During our annual, the mechanic pointed out that the Ram Air duct developed holes. I wonder how this happened and how long they've been there? This is not crucial, but it does allow unfiltered air and dirty air particles in the engine. Now extracted, the replacement part is on order. Now our oil and engine will last longer.

This is the fuel tank accsess panel. It was sealed back in  March '17, so the fresh glue is particularly hard to pry loose.

To expose the screws under the black wing-walk required paint stripper. I also applied some paint stripper to the seam to begin loosening the grip being careful not to ruin the paint, then followed Don Maxwell's instructions and used a sharpened paint scraper to penetrate the seem.

After a lot of cussing, the seem finally gave way and I was able to work the panel loose with the help of a rubber hammer tapping against the paint scraper.

These are the avionic guts left behind after the aluminum support panel was removed.

It doesn't look like the auto pilot will fit where we had chosen because of the tube framing behind it, but we have a new and better spot.

It's a complete mess right now, but it's going to look pretty when we're done. Stay tuned!

For the upgraded engine analyzer, we'll need to add sensors for the oil pressure, tach sensor (at the magneto), and manifold pressure (just behind the MP guage).

While the underbelly panel was off, we found a leak at the hydrolic valve. It looks like it's the hose right above the cable where it joins the valve box. We may have to send it off to be rebuilt.

The latest iteration and most likely the final panel design. Notice the vertical AP on the left side.