Odds and Ends on Canopy

TLDR

• Sealed windshield gap
• Installed the door strut
• Installed door hinge cover

Details

Today I worked on a bunch of small tasks to finish up the canopy. There are still a few things left, but the canopy is 99% done.

Sealed windshield gap

I laid a strip of painter’s tape around the windshield and canopy boundary, and spread a new layer of Sika 295 UV.

The previous layer covered the gap mostly alright, but there are a few bumpy spots. Besides, I figured the windshield will probably be hitting water/rain/cloud etc in IMC the most, so I decided to double down on the Sika 295 sealing.

Door strut

This one turned out to be easier than I expected.

The two struts came with the kit are clearly labeled as 300N. I honestly don’t know if this is too much or too little or just right for the Sling doors. From youtube videos a lot of builders had to release gas from the strut to adjust the force, and my strut doesn’t have a gas release valve.

So I just went ahead and installed the strut per the instruction. It turned out the force was just right. The door now opens/closes smoothly with the gas strut “whoosh” sound. Pretty cool!

Door hinge cover

With the door’s moving parts all installed, I installed the hinge cover. The install was just smearing Sika on the hinge and the cover and glue them together.

I cleaned both surfaces using 99% alcohol, and dry fitted the pieces. Then I applied Sika 295 UV around the edges. I laid some heavy objects on top of the cover to make sure the entire cover is glued to the hinge.