Are there any regulations or physical limitations for moving instruments around the panel? For example:

Does the FAA prescribe that certain instruments must be placed: high/low, left/right or center?

Do certain pitot-static instruments have to be placed on the same side of the panel, as the pitot-tube/static port located outside on the fuselage or wing?

Do navigational instruments need to be located within so many inches of the Nav/Comm rack or GPS display?

Can dual instruments, such as airspeed indicators, be mounted apart, yet share the same input source?

How much slack wiring / tubing is normally available behind a mounted instrument?
Does this normally need to be replaced in order to re-locate that instrument?

Thanx, Dave.

P.S. - I've seen so many different instrument panel set-ups, but, wanted to know if location is truly just a matter of personal preference?

Other than some regs regarding IFR GPS placement, I'm unaware of any requirements regarding where the instruments are placed.

I can tell you this...moving instruments is a SERIOUS pain in the ass. I moved some stuff around when I was upgrading really old instruments and adding IFR stuff...just a miserable experience. The number of instruments you have to remove to access the instrument you want to actually get to varies, but unless you have some magic airplane where you can access the back of the panel, everything below the target instrument probably has to be removed just to get your hands on it.

As to how much wire or tubing you'll have to work with...your guess is as good as anybody else's.

My turn coordinator is failing (again), and it's at the top of the panel, so I have to pull four instruments just to get my hands on the damn thing. I'm happy to spend the money to replace it...it's the week laying on my back with my arms up under the panel I loath. I put a band aid over the top of the instrument so I can still use the ball...

I rearranged the panel in my 57 C-172 to replace the original Gyros with new ones that worked all the time, and to put the basic 6-pack in the panel instead of Cessna's original arrangement. If I had to do it again I would start over with a blank panel instead of trying to rearrange what's there.

In the installation instructions for the Garmin G5, I recall that you have to retain the original configuration of the instruments and install the G5 in the same spot as the AI or DG that it's replacing. I bet that there is a rule, as it seems that there always is, but during the "proverbial ramp check", I don't imagine the official will have a factory copy of the cluster layout. The owners manual may show an illustration, but there were enough variations due to factory installed options for IFR etc, that it wouldn't be very specific. You very likely can do what you want without worry.

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When my AI and DG both failed a few months after purchasing my airplane (they were OEM circa 1962), my IA asked if I'd like the panel rearranged into the standard 6 pack orientation instead of Cessna's "throw them at the panel and see where they stick" configuration, typical of older Cessnas. So since he had to take out a bunch of stuff to replace those two instruments and the clock, that's what he did. It sure would make it easier for IFR, instead of having to concoct a new and different instrument scan than I'd been using for the previous 30 years. I hadn't yet flown the airplane in IFR, as its pitot/static system and transponder weren't IFR current, but I'd flown it in the dark, and it wasn't a pleasant panel. Rearranging it made it pleasant.

Cary

As noted in the first post, there are a lot of different configurations out there. Basically as I understand it, unless the layout is mandated in the aircraft TCDS or in an STC for the instrument itself, you can do what you like. I've seen some pretty wild stuff but never anyone say it can't be done that way.

I varied from the standard 6 pack a little bit in mine just due to clearance issues - I have a "6 pack" with the G5's in the center doing the usual AI/HSI/DG functions, but to make it all fit in my old panel space we had to go with 2-1/4" instrument holes left of the G5's. I wanted to retain 3-1/8" for airspeed and altimeter so those are right of the G5's, and someday when I make it IFR-legal I will put 2-1/4" turn coordinator and VSI left of the glass. It's a minor deviation from "typical", but I'm fine with it. This is also in a brand new panel, not hacking this stuff into the original pieces.

Before and after in my 182H. Ancient inops, then my vacuum pump disintegrated, so, I had a local shop cut a new left side panel from my poster board mock up. Fit first time to my surprise. Covered it with 3M dull carbon fiber peel & stick. Dynon D100, as the panel is pretty large. That's the Ifly 740 in the center that I've been pretty happy with, as I've also been with the JPI 830. The upper left is the new Aerovonics AV-20, pretty much just a bonus, I think that their new products are really neat. I'd have waited for their AV-30, but even though I'm just a VFR guy, I didn't want to wait for who knows how long for FAA approval and I was having trouble finding enough "inop" stickers for everything.

Your panel looks nice. How hard was it to cut the peal & stick carbon fiber? Also, did you do peal & stick on the right side?

It was pretty easy. I used a hair dryer to warm up the edges, etc. Yes, I covered the royalite plastic on the right side so it would match, until I cut a new aluminum panel on the right side.