Friday, June 23, 2023

Initial fitting of the WD-643-SS canopy brace - 1.5 hours

 Now to start the process of trimming the WD-643-SS canopy brace. I began by marking out minimum edge distances as noted on the plans (3/8").


Next comes the more tricky part...Getting the canopy brace to fit, but not cutting too much.  This ends up being a very slow process of cutting a little bit with a hack saw, then checking the fit, and then cut and trial fit. After the first few cuts, I could then get the canopy brace into the receiver on the roll bar, however I could see that I need the whole brace to be moved back so I get edge distance on both the front and back of the brace. 


 After more small cuts and fit checks, I had finally cut the bar down the right amount. I did notice though, that the weld between the tube and the tab on the brace make a fillet that interferes with the top skin preventing the brace to sit somewhat flush to the front deck skin.  I used small round files to tighen up the radius of the weld as well a slightly up up the slot in the top skin to allow a better fit. As filing removed some of the powder coat, I touched it up with some primer.