On the other hand, this should have been simple and straightforward, but it wasn’t. First of all, I had already installed the original latch when I built the roll bar but I needed to remove it as part of the retrofit for the new canopy closed switch. Removing it was easy and I set it aside. The replacement piece had two extra holes for the mounting of the switch. I did all of the tapping and drilling without problem. I attached the nylon guide piece before I noted (only in the retrofit instructions, not in The Book) that the tongue of the plate is to be bent forward 1/8”. Fine. I drilled out the rivets holding the guide piece and proceeded to bend the tongue back 1/8”, then re-riveted on the guide. Did you catch that? Specifically, did you catch the direction that I bent the tongue? Back; not forward. By the time I realized that, I had already done some work on the guide blocks that required the use of a #19 drill bit. I didn’t check my drill and used that to remove the rivets again. After I beat the tongue into the forward direction, I discovered that you can’t set #30 rivets in #19 holes.
Luckily, all was not lost. To be precise, I had not lost the original latch plate. I used the ruined one as a template, drilled the new holes, tapped one and shaped the other. I had a spare piece of nylon as well, so I just re-carved a new one. This time, all went as planed and the latch plate installed without problem. Finally. I think.
Blurry picture of Latch Plate and Latch Plate Block
Latch Plate and Canopy-Closed micro switch
The wires for the eyeball light will be glued into place with tank sealant sometime soon. (I’m making a list of all the places to use tank sealant and will do all those chores at one time.)
9/27/14
I finished installing the canopy & latch a few days ago and completed positioning the switch so that it activates properly when the canopy is closed and latched.
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