Before I could start drilling the canopy to the frame I needed to make sure the tracks were set properly and the canopy would actually move fore and aft. The plans call for using AN508 screws to attach the tracks so I drilled the initial #40 holes to #18. I did run into a little snag when I realized that the aft most hole on the left side would possibly nick the longeron when enlarged, so I made a jig that would allow me to have a drill guide when I made the hole. Worked like a champ.
As soon as I drilled the holes to the final size and inserted the screws I realized that the screw heads would prevent the wheel bracket from rolling past the screw. What to do? I decided to use flat-head srews instead, so all I had to do was countersink the holes and move on. Unfortunately my countersink wouldn't work due to the shape of the track, so I took a little time to fabricate a tool with a piece of rigid tubing and a 1/4" tap.
With all of that done, I quickly found that attaching individual washers and nuts to the screws would be about as painful as my experience with the roll bar bolts, so I borrowed an idea I found on another RV blog and made two aluminum strips with nut plates that matched the hole spacing. Although the attach strips took a little time, in the end it made the job simple. Finally on to drilling.
