After placing the canopy on and fitting it one last time with tons of duct tape and Bekah’s help to hold it down tight. I went ahead and using PLEXI BITS drilled the plexi holes to full size (5/32nds) the first time. (i.e. no pilot hole..) I did this because I found that drilling a fresh hole never cracked or splintered the exit of the plexi, only when I first drilled a smaller hole, then followed with a bigger bit did it pull and tug and provide small fractures on the exit. Drilling this way I was able to hit dead center on each #40 hole in the frame and come away with perfect holes in the canopy. I started at the top back putting in clecos as I went, and skipped a couple holes the first pass as I moved down and to the front. I came back and drilled out all other holes after the canopy was pretty much locked in position. It all worked great! I removed the canopy and ran the debur tool slightly over each hole to get a smooth edge.. Next step is to countersink the holes in the canopy for the #6 screws and open up the holes in the frame to #27.
After drilling the canopy, I then finished drilling the center section of the canopy bow. Making sure that it was snug up against the canopy and clamped before drilling, then removing the canopy. I also was able to drill on the canopy center locking assembly that I had fabricated about a month ago to the center of the bow.. So far everything has turned out well.. Next steps here is to back rivet the center “bow” section so I can move on.. Before unclamping the bow, I closely measured the width at the base so I can make sure to get it exactly the same when I back rivet it. I want to make sure to get as smooth a canopy fit as possible. J That’s all there is to it !
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