Well, its good you did that. My implementation in the JS branch was tied to the refactoring of the equipment (so OXPs could add new equipment, not just missles), so isn't portable to the trunk.
i like the idea of damaged equipment. in HardWar, your dashboard showed physical damage until it was repaired : would this be doable in oolite? if for example i did three HUDs, one fine, one w/ slight damage and one well knackered, would there be a way of scripting which one was shown?