Time: 2 Hours
My girl and I took this last weekend off went camping in northern Wisconsin to see the fall colors and relax. So I was excited to get back to build this morning refreshed after a great weekend. The big task at hand was to get the canopy cut since I received the back ordered parts from Vans. The parts that were in play for today was the two front rollers and the aft pin retention block. The rollers were easy to assemble and I put them in place pretty fast.
The retention block was a little bit of work as you need to measure and drill for the two holes that will allow it to be screwed to the bulkhead. I used the pin to align the block as needed.
After the block is in position with the frame all the way forward you make a couple measurements and drill aft from the bulkhead. Since the space in this area is pretty tight the plans call for you to counter bore the block on the aft side for two nuts to be pressed into. This will hold the nuts in place and you can screw from the front side.
Now that I had these parts in place I could move on with the canopy. That means the big cut, separating the mind screen from the slider canopy. I used a cardboard cut out, slid between the roll bar and the frame, to help define the line that needs to be cut.
So I sat and stared at the line for almost an hour double checking all the marks and measurements. Then I took a deep breath and started the cut. Like most things that seem extreamly scary ended up being not so. It took just a couple of minutes to make the two sided cut. It went perfect and was pretty easy.
Wow now I have a slider! This was a big day!