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Hello all,
I am looking for ideas and feedback on interior options for the 750 STOL. I have noticed that Zenair up in Canada has halted production on their kits and I have not been able to contact them as that is who we wanted to go with. We have also looked into Lemke but not sure on their wait times. However the only thing I noticed of Zenair vs Lemke is that the Zenair provides a dash cover in their kit where I don't see it listed in the Lemke. Anyone have any other suggestions. We are looking to purchase an interior kit at any time. Any help or ideas is appreciated. Looking to go two tone grey with a zenith logo on the seats.
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I wouldn't let availability of a glare shield cover affect your choices - it's really simple to DIY on a 750. I just templated the glareshield area and cut out a piece of marine-grade vinyl (UV resistant, obviously!). I initially was going to cover it with a black suede-like material that had a thin foam backing, thinking the flat-black material would cut glare and the foam provide some sound deadening. I then realized, however, the fake suede was a dirt magnet ... any bits of dust, grass, etc. stuck to it whereas the smoother vinyl material could be just wiped off. So, I went with the marine vinyl but backed it with the previously-purchased padded suede material. This turned out great! Nearly 7 years later and no fading (the plane is hangared, however) and the extra material underneath gives it a luxurious feel like a padded dash in a car. The edges around the windshield base can be simply tucked-in and the edge along the instrument panel overhang can be clipped-in-place by the rubber edge trim. Works great!
(Old picture - the panel and instruments have been modified/changed several times over the years, but it's a good shot of the glareshield and trim.)
John
N750A
Yeah, we actually have the material to DIY it ourselves and that doesn't necessarily make the interior kit a deal breaker. What kind of rubber trim did you use for the overhang of the dash?
It's been quite a while, but I'm pretty sure the edge trim was from McMaster-Carr. They have "hollow foam rubber push-on seals" in a number of sizes for varying thickness of the glareshield's edge and various diameters of the hollow rubber bulb. I was able to find one with a grip width to both grip the glareshield edge and the overlying padded vinyl cover. It's a great safety item, too, as an unprotected edge of the glareshield would have the same effect as a meat cleaver if you were thrown forward and hit your head on it!
John
Jared, I have the Zenith upholstery kit side panels you can have if you want to cover shipping from Bangor, ME. I'll never need or use them. I would be surprised and a bit disappointed if Zenith cannot fix you up with a dash cover or at least the material list.
Dave
David
can you email me some more info @ jaredbrown1212@gmail.com ?
Yes, their website is still up but as of March they posted a note that they have halted upholstery.
Just saw that. Dang. They have some pretty nice stuff I hope it starts up again! I was hoping to tackle the interior in the summer sometime.
Yeah, same here I was placing an order right at the end of March and then saw that, I think we are going to go with the Lemke kit.
Zenair has started selling interiors again.
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