Day 186

Today we have been working some more on the canopy hatches.

We have the right hatch door’s latch cover just about finished. Our M5 rivet nuts showed up today so we were able to get those installed in each door for the rear latch hooks. Now that these are in place we can finish hooking up the latch system, then complete the covers.

Today we started fitting the side windows. This has proven to be far more difficult and tedious than expected. We started by setting the window over the right hatch and secured it with a pair of clamps. (Lightly so as not to damage either the door or the polycarbonate, but enough to Keep it from moving around) Then with tape we went around the window, tracing the outline of the frame.

We then went through a few different techniques trying to find the most efficient and effective way to trim it.

We first tried using a band saw. The hope was that we would be able to follow along pretty close to the tape line. This however did not work as envisioned. It was slow and required more pressure than we would have thought to cut through. And it did not track as easy as we would have thought either.

Next we tried a Dremel tool. The thought with this was we would have more control. It however was too small and was still difficult to cut.

After the Dremel we tried a router tool. This worked fairly well. We were able to cut all the way around the glass, staying about half an inch away from the tape line. This was still problematic though because it was difficult to keep the cut straight, and it made the edge very rough. It did work though to at least trim off a large portion of the excess.

Lastly we used a disk grinder to smooth out the rough cuts and edges. With this we could get within a 16th of an inch from the tape line. We had far more control using this technique. Not sure if it was because I have far more experience using this tool or what, but it worked well. This is probably how we will do the rest of the windows. Very glad we started with the smaller windows before trying the front windscreen.

With it being so close to the tape line we were able to then take some 80 grit sandpaper and a sanding block to straighten and smooth out the rest.

We have fitted it several times to the door frame and are very close to having it fit just perfectly. It is a tedious process, but am confident that we will get better as we do them more.