1 hr. prepping for the Big Drill...

Checking out the space for the backing strip I need to cut.  It narrows at the top.

I measured about 17mm.

Cutting a 17mm strip.

The trick I learned from others to get the canopy to sit flush with the skin.

Works well!

Before I commit to any drilling I really want to make sure the canopy is well positioned and as even as possible on both sides.  The vertical dash you see toward the bottom of the canopy in this photo is where the jog in the fiberglass is.  With that lined up I counted up 6 rivets and measured from the skin to the edge of the window.  Roughly 50.5mm on this side.

On this side (which is as far back as it can go without cutting the canopy) it's about 51.5mm.  So, within 1mm.  I'm fine with that.

My strips ready to go.  I cut one that is 17mm wide and another that is 15mm since the 17mm was a bit wide for the very top portion.  I'll cut segments of these to use along the back edge of the canopy.  The side strips came with the kit and are already drilled and ready to go.  Tomorrow is the Big Drill Day...

I recently found this useful presentation on best practices for electrical work.  I also posted it on the Electrical Page.

1 hr. putting the canopy on and fiddling with it.

In place.

Right side is pretty much up against the rib.

Left side somewhat less so.  But, I was told by the factory that the jog (they called it a joggle) on the canopy should line up with the skin, which it does nearly perfectly on the left side.  The right side of the canopy the jog isn't really visible to me.

The parachute cable is slightly in front of the slot it goes down on the right side.  OK?

I measured from the front edge of the canopy to the front edge of the firewall strip.  Left side: 30 3/4" and right side 30 5/8", a difference of 1/8".  OK?  Am I overthinking this?  Underthinking this?...

The back edge of the canopy will need to be held up in order to drill these holes.  Others have used a carjack and 2x4 to push it up.  I'll try the same.

I was alerted to a new revision (L) of the Matco wheel/brake manual by BobZ.  You can get it here.  Thanks Bob!

1 hr. on the wheel spats and ground block.

I bought some fiber optic cable (not the type for data usage...) and made a make-shift light pipe for the 4 screws I need to drill holes for.  Using a very bright LED flashlight....

I was able to shine light through the rivnuts to locate the where the holes need to be. :-)  Worked as planned.

Before finalizing the locations I made sure that the space around the wheel was even.  I was going to make it perfectly level with the ground, but that made it a bit tight around the wheel in the back, so I tilted it a bit to make it even spacing.

Pilot holes drilled and you can now see the light shining through.  I want to make sure I ream out the holes in exactly the right place so first I will do something so I can locate the hole centers (maybe put in flat head screws and put the cover on).

I drilled out the other mounting hole for the ground block and put in a M4 rivnut.  Here it's screwed in place.

Last night I spent an hour putting together a one-time-use tool for locating the bracket holes on the wheel spat covers.  Will try it out tonight. :-)

QUESTION: Can anybody think of a reason why I shouldn't put the canopy on yet?  Anything that needs to be done before doing that?

If all goes according to plan I will have the canopy on within a week.  Then I'll be connecting the parachute cables, putting the seat belt reel nuts on, and other misc. work.  After that I'll put the front top skin on and then on to the dash.  Once the dash is in then I can start the panel install. :-)

Quick hour today.  I've pretty run out of things that need to be done before installing the canopy, so this week will be focused on that (and I'll need to arrange for help with maneuvering that around).

I was asked what tool I used for the Dzus fasteners and this is it.  I was fortunate to be able to borrow this, so I don't have a link.

Time to install the ground block on the firewall.

It has a center hole too, but I'm not sure what fastener is typically used because a nut wouldn't fit in there, so I'll have to look into that.

Tidied up the interior since that had gotten a bit messy.  I feel better now. ;-)