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aerobubba(at)earthlink.ne
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 Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 7:16 am Post subject: glued canopy |
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HI All-
I have an update on my glued canopy saga. Life has conspired to keep me
from working on my project, but the canopy is now glued on, cut, filleted,
and the edges are dressed. Along the way I came up with a few data points
I'd like to share. First though I'd like to thank those who've gone
before, especially Billy and Mickey. Thanks guys!
WRT the chemicals used, the cleaner does have a primer element to it. It
is very easy to use and the minimum purchase quantity is several times what
you will need. The primer itself is about double or more of what you need.
The primer forms a very smooth surface for the adhesive to bond to. This
is a fundamental requirement of the process. Somewhere out there in
cyberworld is a recommendation to scuff the primer if you can't get the
adhesive in place right away. This would be a large mistake, as would
adding another coat of primer. Per the manufacturer, the adhesive is to be
applied to the primer within 2 hours. Between 2 hours and about 3 days,
you can simply wash the primer with the cleaner, and it will re-soften it
adequately to apply the adhesive. Scuffing the primer will cause a
significantly weaker bond, as the adhesive won't flow into the 'tooth'. If
you were to scuff the primer, you should remove ALL the affected area and
start the process over with the cleaner. Adding a second coat of primer
would make an unacceptably thick, and therefore structurally weak, layer.
When applying the adhesive, I used perhaps 2 dozen latex gloves. This
helped me to keep the project (and myself!) pretty clean. My wife and I
had no trouble doing the installation by ourselves. It's really pretty
darn slick, and I just can't imagine drilling and using fasteners.
I used Billy's idea of scoring the primer from the inside with a screw to
locate the big cut, then re-marked it with masking tape on the outside. A
die grinder and cutting disc made pretty quick and easy work of the cut. I
did underestimate what the final kerf was going to be, but the gasket will
take care of that just fine.
Once the canopy was cut and removed from the plane, I prepped and finish
glued it. This involved back filling the areas where the spacers had been
and creating aesthetically pleasing fillets. In most places this is easily
done with a gloved finger. For the windscreen base, I used a four inch
diameter ceramic candy dish as a squeegee. It worked extremely well, was
very convenient to grip, and cleaned up easily.
The glue actually had to sit for 2 days before I was comfortable handling
it. After 2 weeks, it is a whole lot tougher.
To dress the 'big cut', I used 100 and then 220 grit self adhesive
sandpaper on both sides of a 1/2 x 1-1/2 x 6" sanding block. I closed the
canopy on the block and then sanded both sides of the cut at the same time.
This ensured that the two cut edges stayed parallel as I cleaned them up.
I final finished them with scotchbrite, and am quite pleased with the
results.
The way I did my installation, two tubes of adhesive was just about enough
to do the canopy, but not the skirt. That will require part of a third
tube. How to seal the leading edge of the skirt will take a little
thought, but shouldn't be too arduous.
As ever, FWIW!
Glen Matejcek
aerobubba(at)earthlink.net
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rv7(at)b4.ca
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| Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 7:37 am Post subject: glued canopy |
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On 8:15:42 2006-05-15 "Glen Matejcek" <aerobubba(at)earthlink.net> wrote:
| Quote: | I have an update on my glued canopy saga. Life has conspired to keep
me from working on my project, but the canopy is now glued on, cut,
filleted, and the edges are dressed. Along the way I came up with a
few data points I'd like to share. First though I'd like to thank
those who've gone before, especially Billy and Mickey. Thanks guys!
|
Glen, i've added your post to the Gluing Your Canopy page on the Matronics
RV Wiki. You can find it here:
<http://wiki.matronics.com/wiki/index.php/Gluing_Your_Canopy>
Feel free to edit if you'd like to add more info.
-Rob
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