Fabricated Canopy Frame Wedges

Because of the angle the side frames meet the forward canopy weldment, there is a gap between the bottom flange and the splice plate flange.  To fill this, you have to fabricate a wedge out of aluminum.  This took probably one hour to make two of these, but it wasn’t as bad as other builders made it out to be.  The plans specify that it should be 5/32″ thick at the forward end, but fortunately my gap was only 1/8″, so I could use some scrap I already had on hand.  The scrap already had a radius on one edge that tucked nicely into the radius on the bottom flange of the forward weldment.

After fitting the wedges, I laid out and drilled four holes along the bottom flange.

Finally, I deburred all of the canopy frame components.  Next up is to countersink a bunch of the rivet holes and then start riveting this puppy together.  After that, it’s time to start on the canopy itself.  I was really hoping to get the canopy cutting done during August while it’s still pretty warm, but it looks like it’s going to stretch into September.

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