Backside of the overhead

I had a comment on another post about how to mount the panels. And so here are some pictures of my messy backside of the overhead.

I am always impressed with people that are able to keep it tidy behind the scenes. I just have to admit, that I am not one of them.

I started (as also seen on the video) with a wood-frame. But it just turned out to be waaaay too heavy.

So I changed to T-shaped aluminium rails (and L-shaped at the edges). They are about €5 per meter at my local DIY-warehouse.

The panels are mounted in to the flat side of the “T”. The other part of the “T” is for stability. So don’t use a flat rail.

The overhead is then mounted on to two bars that run across the overhead.

It can be a bit difficult to see on the picture. But I have mounted some L-shaped brackets on to the T-rails that then holds on the the crossing wooden bars. This adds stability to the overhead.

Along the sides of the overhead panel I have also mounted a wooden bar that is connected to the forward window frame and the back-wall of the cockpit. Using simple screws the overhead is mounted in to this frame as well to keep it in place.

I hope this can help as inspiration for some of you.

In short:

1. Mount the panels on to T/L-shaped rails
2. Add something that runs across to add stability
3. Build an outside frame to keep the overhead in place.
4. Fasten the “across bars” on to the cockpit as well to relieve weight