Hinged instrument panel

[SP1]

Hello All,
I"m looking at modifying the stock instrument panel so that it hinges, as many people suggested. Just a few questions:
1. Did your hinge go all the way across the bottom or just a subsection of it? I'm trying to understand if going all the way to the ends will cause interference at later steps
2. I'm assuming you your hinge where there is a 90 deg bend in the aluminum. Is that right? Or do you have the entire hinge on the instrument panel face
3. A aluminum angle is necessary to stiffen the "deck" now that the panel face is no longer connected to it. Where did you put it? In the front near the hinge? What angle size did you use?
4. I'm thinking of using rivnuts. did you use 10-24 or 8-32? I'm assuming it's got to take the same load as the CCP42 rivets.

Appreciate your guidance!

[Scott Todd]

This could have been in General or Avionics. Here is what I did on my Onex. The original builder did a good job of making the panel removable but it used a ton of screws and nut plates. And once the wiring was in place, it wasn't practical to remove it. I wanted to change the panel but leave most of his hard work there. So I cut the original panel, leaving as much as I could, after I had laid out the new one in CAD. I printed templates to cut the old one with. It got completely re-wired. BTW, it had never flown. I'm just finishing it now. He was about 90% done with the panel when I got it.

I used two hinges with about a 4 inch gap in the middle. The pins are inserted from the middle. The missing rivets on the left that you can see in the reflection are to clear the UAT. The hinge is on the 90 degree bend. Its arranged so it folds on itself if you know what I mean.

I didn't need to 'stiffen' anything because most of the original panel was still there including the cross member maintaining almost all the orignal strength. I riveted a piece of angle up the back of the middle post section. You can see the rivets behind the crutch. I know Sonex wants it all secured. I just used countersink solid rivets at about 2 inches. Once you get a few in, you realize how strong it is. There really isn't much load on it. I used 6-32 screws and nut plates on the top to hold it in place. You can see one in the photo. I leave it finger tight while building.

The crutch, a scrap piece of hinge, is used when I'm working on it. Sometimes you lean or bump it and the original strings were not cutting it. I consider the strings safety straps now but try to use the crutch and clecos whenever I open it. If I have to open it on the road for any reason, the safety strings will hold for temporary work. You can guess why I used 2 ;) Hopefully all this helps.

Scott

[mike.smith]

I didn't "hinge" the center panel, but I did use 4 sections of piano hinge, with each being inserted from the center, so I could fully remove the center panel. It's been a God-send for working behind the panel all these years!

First try:
http://www.mykitlog.com/users/display_l ... 156&row=37

Final try:
http://www.mykitlog.com/users/display_l ... 7931&row=7
I realized I did not need the extra fasteners up the sides of the center panel, so they were omitted on this one.http://www.mykitlog.com/users/display_l ... 7932&row=6

It's also described in my YouTube video, at 10:13:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbgek8-X14o