Didn't work on Sunday. Awesome weather so Becca and I headed to Busch to get our coaster fix. We finally got to ride Verbolten. I now have a new 2nd favorite ride. Griffon is still the best, but Verbolten is a real kick. Loved it.
I rearranged the canopy slide to drop the aft bow a bit for better alignment. Had to slide it back maybe 3/8 to 1/2". Much better fit.
Sides after tweaking the slide. Dead even with the aft deck.
Once I was done with the initial fitting of the slider canopy, it was time to start on the windscreen. Getting ready to trim the front edge. Lot of trial and error here - the geometry is pretty weird with the curves of the forward skin and the plexi. Hard to visualize what a cut is going to do.
Used my engine crate for a lot of the trimming. The inside width was nearly perfect for the canopy to keep it from splaying out. Made trimming much easier.
Test fit after some inital trimming. Still have some big gaps on the sides, and the sides are too tall back toward the roll bar.
Right side marked for trimming. Getting ready to trim about 1/2" off the lower edge and round the forward corner quite a bit. Big cuts with the cutting wheel in an electrid drill - fine tuning with the belt sander and a 120 grit belt.
Getting close at this point. Had to keep taping everything down and standing back to see the overall fit.
Getting ready to trim the edge where it butts up against the slider. Easily done with a belt sander.
Test fit after trimming. I left it at about 3/32" to 1/8". If I get any tighter the plexi hits when I close the latch. The gap will be covered with fiberglass later in any case.
Pretty close to done.
Had to add a couple of clips on the left and right sides to tighten the plexi down. Otherwise a good fit everywhere else.
Gap is reasonable as well.
I used from scrap clips to lift the frame level with the windscreen so I could drill the rollers to the correct height.
Starting to work on the aft canopy attach blocks. Pins in the aft frame socket into the UHMW plastic and hold it firm.
