{"id":917,"date":"2010-08-13T17:11:20","date_gmt":"2010-08-13T17:11:20","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2017-12-05T07:46:33","modified_gmt":"2017-12-05T07:46:33","slug":"started-canopy-frame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jasonbeaver.com\/rv7\/2010\/08\/13\/started-canopy-frame\/","title":{"rendered":"Started Canopy Frame"},"content":{"rendered":"

I reassembled the subpanel along with the hinge blocks and clecoed on the top skin.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/center>I drew a centerline down the aft tube on the canopy frame. \u00a0This will be used to ensure the holes drilled through the top skin will go into the center of the tube.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/center>Several other builders have commented that some of the welds prevent the skins from laying down properly. \u00a0The instructions mention this, but a picture is much more clear. \u00a0Here you can see that the weld would push the skin up about 1\/32″ or so.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/center>30 seconds with the vixen file and the weld is nice and flush with the angle.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/center>The instructions also mention that the flange needs to be filed square with the face of the forward channel through the center. \u00a0A few minutes with the vixen file also took care of this. \u00a0Sorry for the blurry picture.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/center>I clecoed the skin to the forward channel of the canopy frame and drilled most of the aft tube (the one I drew the centerline on). \u00a0I’ve seen a number of other builders have a problem with these holes not lining up with the centerline, but mine was almost perfect.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/center>I fit the canopy frame for the first time, but almost immediately I had an interference problem. \u00a0I couldn’t get the canopy frame far enough forward. \u00a0I had anticipated interference from the hinge spacers, and a quick check with a mirror confirmed that was the problem.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/center>I pulled the spacers (which involved climbing under the subpanel and removing the hinge blocks which was a pain in the ass). \u00a0I trimmed 3\/16″ off the back edge.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/center>I reinstalled the hinge blocks and spacers and then reinstalled the canopy frame. \u00a0Another builder commented that using a strap helps pull the skin down tight.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/center>That resolved the issue. \u00a0I now have almost 1\/8″ clearance between the hinge arm and the spacer. \u00a0Do yourself a favor and cut at least 1\/8″ off the back of these spacers from the dimension Van’s specifies. \u00a0It will save you a lot of headaches.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/center>With the hinge spacer interference resolved, I could get the canopy skin almost all the way forward. \u00a0I’m still getting some interference somewhere because I can’t seem to get these skins any closer. \u00a0I have almost 1\/32″ on the left side.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/center>On the right though, I have almost 1\/16″ gap. \u00a0I need to determine where the interference is so I can pull these skins tight.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I reassembled the subpanel along with the hinge blocks and clecoed on the top skin. I drew a centerline down the aft tube on the canopy frame. \u00a0This will be used to ensure the holes drilled through the top skin will go into the center of the tube. Several other builders have commented that some … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-finishing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/jasonbeaver.com\/rv7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/jasonbeaver.com\/rv7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/jasonbeaver.com\/rv7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jasonbeaver.com\/rv7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jasonbeaver.com\/rv7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=917"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/jasonbeaver.com\/rv7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2995,"href":"http:\/\/jasonbeaver.com\/rv7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917\/revisions\/2995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/jasonbeaver.com\/rv7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jasonbeaver.com\/rv7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jasonbeaver.com\/rv7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}