The EFII ignition and fuel injection has a cockpit controller. It arrived with the engine and its time to install the instrument itself.

This is the last bit of real estate on the panel and was planned years ago.

Taking the plunge, I eased out a hole with a smaller diameter hole saw and then the dremel.

It seems almost done. Nope… the armrest is just a bit higher than the bottom of the instrument. I also need room to get to the knob and buttons. It also needs to be on a slight angle to match the panel and be easier to see and adjust functions.

It took a crazy amount of thought to come up with a simple solution. Everything is super tight in that corner. I needed to ensure the stick was going to still work, the stick mount was going to get a secure brace system, the armrest could come on and out easily and a number of other factors.

I eventually made this very careful cut with super thin saws.

I had to make a number of pretty odd layups as I needed to thin out parts of the arm rest. This is two ply with glass to glass at the top. I looked ahead of which bits need strength as parts go in and out for this last section of the build and for future maintenance.

After thinning out the front edge of the removable part, I made a kind of shelf with it. A nutplated bracket was floxed in place for that rear screw fixing.

The instrument needs to sit on a slight angle. That has to be reinforced so the rear fasteners can have something to do up on.

This might make more sense on what I am doing with the needed angle and stepped front of the arm rest for finger access.

This again may make it clearer. I have the two slopping wedges and a front nutplate.

I also needed the second nutplate embedded in the armrest for a second screw.

That round top hole had another nutplate on the control stick back plate. I needed to lock that in so it is rock solid. A super important fixing. This also secures the armrest and the cover-plate that holds the stick boot and stops things from falling into the stick area. The cloth boot needs a little adjustment by the upholsterer later.

Here’s the overall look. I can’t wait to get power to the EFII monitor and then light up the whole panel after all this time.