Hi Tom, welcome to the Cherokee club.

1. I don't think you need electric trim, I've certainly never missed it on
my 140. It's also yet another thing to break, freeze, etc. I assume you
have the overhead handle. You'll get used to it.

2. By dash I assume you mean the bit above the instrument panel. You can
find plastic replacement parts at www.planeplastics.com. If you mean one of
the side panels, you can find those at places like www.airtexinteriors.com.

3. & 4. These go together in my mind. Don't know what the cost is to go to
T-style, but most avionics shops will be able to give you an estimate. It's
usually just a matter of cutting a new template. You can go to places like
www.avionicswest.com to look at some custom jobs as well as get a quote.
Your avionics shop can replace the fuses with breakers. While you're at it,
and depending on what you're upgrading to, you'll probably want to get an
avionics master installed, if you don't already have one. If you don't have
an avionics master, then you most likely have all your fuses on a single
bus, while you're getting the fuses converted, you might as well get the bus
split to make adding the avionics master easier.

cheers,
mark

"Tom Nery" wrote in message
news:KBS1b.237076$o%2.108564@sccrnsc02...
Hi all,

I just signed a P & S on a 1966 Cherokee 180C. Initially I thought it was
tight in the cockpit (I'm about 6'2" and 240lbs) but when I flew it, I
fell
in love.

Anyway, I'm assuming the prepurchase inspection will go good and in a
couple
of weeks be the proud owner on it. But now on to my questions:

1. Can electric trim be retrofitted (and do I really need it)?

2. Part of the dash (under the front window) is ripped, are there any
suppliers of fitted dash covers?

3. I plan on upgrading the avionics (I think they are circa 1966) and
wonder
if I should also replace the panel to a T style (although I had no problem
with the original panel)? If so what is the approx cost?

4. Lastly, can the fuses be replaced by circuit breakers and does this
need
to
be done by an A&P or avionics shop?

That's it for now, but I'm sure in the future there will be many more.

Tom