Apr 11 2004 - I finished up the canopy trimming, with the bottom edge cut to final length and the front gap evened up all the way around. That about does it for the plexiglass dust!

The front windscreen has the rollbar holes tapped and the windscreen countersunk for the #6 screws. Likewise, the canopy frame holes have all been drilled to #30 and the canopy holes drilled to 5/32".

As I mentioned earlier, the bottom edges are the only areas that do not align well. I'll have to spend some time with the fiberglass here. Next up - paint the frame, install the canopy with some keeper rivets, and then on to the skirts.

Apr 14 2004 - I pop riveted the canopy on with some keeper rivets and started on the side skirt. The fit is so bad at the rear that I am going to chop it off and reposition for a better fit. I thought the new parts that come already split down the back center fit better, but evidently not.

Apr 29 2004 - Dissatisfied with the alignment at the bottom of the rollbar, I decided to mold a filler of epoxy and cotton flox to make the outside of the windscreen exactly match the canopy. This required close to 1/4" at the very bottom and the result is that the fairing that will be molded later on will not have to fill such a huge difference in the surface level.

If you are fitting the windscreen, leave the bottom long and outboard until after the canopy has been fit to the sliding frame. Then match the windscreen to the canopy.

Compared to the shot a few pictures earlier, the level fore and aft of the gap are now exactly even and the fairing will be much better.

May 2 2004 - I installed the glare shield covering and edging (from Cleaveland) and then glued the windscreen on.

Here is a side profile of the spacers mentioned earlier. I glued these to the rollbar and glued the canopy to the spacers. The unfinished epoxy/flox will be cleaned up before I mold in the glass fairings.

Another view of the spacer looking forward.

I have also been spending a lot of time making the canopy skirt fit. I'm getting close here but the number of slits I cut and glassed is depressing!

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