One piece panel

[Adam Frisch]

Morris is not happy over my panel being one piece. Says it's a nightmare to service anything in there should anyone need to. I can't really see that being the case and I'm eager for the cleaner appearance of a one piece, but at the same time I don't want to make it so hard to work on it's a hassle either... What say you?

[Jeff Johnson]

Id assume it's only an issue when something breaks

At which point Morris will be very happy to take your money in time and labor.

My 500s comes in 4 parts and I was hoping someday to make it a much cleaner single piece of metal. 

They layouts are not confined to the old way of thinking. 

I might take it 1 step further and have a mounting point for electronics and then a removable front facade panel to trim it out.

Then everyone is happy

Just my 1 cent

Jeff

[donv]

I went with a one-piece panel. I don't know what you would need to get back there to service, but I agree that it would be more of a hassle. So far, in 6 years, it hasn't come up as an issue.

[ghancock]

I agree with Morris.  I have had to go into mine a few times now to upgrade or fix stuff.  Being able to take things out and remove the center section was a huge help.  Having to remove the entire panel to get to something on the upper stack would seem a huge downside.  What does the avionics shop say about it?  Since they are the ones that most likely will be taking it apart soon to fix stuff they broke :-)

Glenn

[JimC]

I put in a new panel recently and specifically asked that it be 3 piece, for ease of servicing. My shop thanked me.

It was cheaper, too.

[Roy]

Having been lucky to "shadow" Morris back in the 80's, I'd say #1: listen to the advice of Morris; it is highly valuable; #2: I've been the guy digging into these panels in that era (Commanders and other), when I was a much younger (35 years), more nimble and ~80 lbs lighter than I am today. A typical Avionics or repair shop will make you pay for the time they put into getting in there. By the hour. And if it takes 2X the hours, you or the next owner will pay, one day, sooner or later. 

I realize aesthetics and "pretty" is a nice thing to have, but if you were on the other side of this maintenance coin, you might re-think.

Not sure my $0.02 is worth $0.01, but thought I'd throw it in.

Roy