Well…Today I took no prisoners. I used the ratchet strap method again to squeeze the roll bar. I went past the 2 1/2” mark….Now there is considerable stress on the roll bar. I worked all the way up to squeezing the roll bar a total of 4 1/4”. That did it…I was now starting to see permanent movement of the roll bar.
I am using towels and an old hoodie to lay across the straps in case they snap. It gives some protection to things flying. I finally managed to get the roll bar set to the proper width. Now with things set correctly. I could back drill all 3 remaining holes #40 and cleco the roll bar into place on the canopy deck. I resisted the urge to cut and drill the center windscreen support bar as I’ve heard reports that adjustments might be needed to the angle of the roll bar to suit the slider canopy frame once it gets installed.
Another item I wanted to look at was setting the engine mount in place. It takes up soo much room in the bedroom, I really want to get it mounted to the plane. I decided to test fit it to see what it looks like.