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Suggested translation^1,2:

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¹This translation may have been updated from the original suggested translation as a result of the discussions that follow.
²Click on the {verse number} of a translation to see other good translations of the verse.

I know that you do not want to translate the exegesis. However, the suggested translation already does this by adding [true] in the second part of the verse. The problem with literal translation here is obvious, and has been discussed by exegetes: Turning to the قبلة, or to the right direction, is a precondition for praying properly, which is listed as one of the attributes of بر. Also, الفخر الرازي defines بر as the sum total of all obedience and piety:
"البر اسم جامع للطاعات، وأعمال الخير المقربة إلى الله تعالى، ومن هذا بر الوالدين", which obviously includes turning in the right direction.

Taking those issues in consideration renders the literal translation of the first part before the first comma misleading. Or does it? I am thinking that Righteousness (capital R) may actually do the job for "Full righteousness is not..." or "Righteousness is not [merely] that you ..."

This deals with the first interjection [true] in the suggested translation. There is also a problem with the second interjection [in]. Again the exegetes say that the omitted word here would render the meaning: "...و لكن البِرَّ برُّ من أمن" (different from the chosen translation's implicit "...و لكن البِرَّ في من أمن"). Another reading does not require the omitted word: "...و لكن البَرَّ من آمن" which I would translate as: "but the Righteous is one who..."

Please advise (disclosure: my grandfather - who died before I was born - had published an entire book on explaining this verse, the book was called: آية البر. I ran into it while going through my late father's things a couple of weeks ago.)

Poetic, may God bless the soul of your grandfather,

I agree that the two interjections, "true" and "in", do not have to be made. One is redundant and the other forces an interpretation. I also agree with the interjection you suggested, "merely." That is certainly the way I understood this verse the first time I heard it even before I read any exegesis.

The unusual style God uses in this verse also needs to be translated or it would be lost. I'm referring to two phrases:

1. ولكن البر من آمن: In this style, as you noted, God defines a virtue by a person! God is making the point, through a stylish language construct, that virtue is not an abstract notion; it's defined by the people who embody and practice it! To translate it "but righteousness is [in] one who believes" loses the style. I'd rather stick to the style and let the reader capture it, i.e.,
   "But goodness is one who has faith."
2. والموفون ... والصابرين: In this style, God seems to break a grammatical rule, but in fact, it's a praise conjugation (أسلوب مدح). So, how do we translate that style? If we translate the latter part of the verse as "and [those who] are patient ..." then the special praise style is lost in the translation.

I'm not sure about using Righteousness with a capital R. I've seen translations that overuse capital letters. One needs to remember that Arabic does not have any capital letters! I think that a direct use of "righteousness" is the best use.

That said, I wonder if "righteousness" is the correct translation of بِر which, as you mentioned is a word that collects all attributes of goodness, so why not translate it "goodness?" I know that goodness translates خير, but it translates بر much better than righteousness does. Righteousness translates صلاح IMHO.

I'd suggest the following,
{2:177} Goodness is not [merely] that you turn your faces [in prayer] toward East or West, but goodness is one who has believed in God, the Final Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets; and has given wealth, despite loving it, to relations of kin, orphans, the poor, the road-bound, beggars, and toward [freeing] necks (emancipating slaves); and has established prayer and given alms; and the fulfilling of their pledge when they have pledged; and [how about] the enduring in hardship, affliction and during battle! Those are the ones who have been truthful, and it is those who are the watchful [of God].