Getting closer

Still a little bit to do but I made good progress again today by fitting the cabin top plastic, the new screen and the instrument panel. And in the process, demonstrated yet again that in reality, fitting a Weedhopper screen is really a two-man job.

The problem is that with the screen in place, your arms aren’t long enough to hold the bolts or setscrews that attach the screen and panel to the pod on the outside while tightening their nuts, that are inside the pod. And single-handedly drilling fresh holes in the screen and panel top through the existing holes in the pod is a simple enough job but is also a bit of a nightmare because ideally you need someone to hold the parts steady to stop them moving while you’re drilling.

But I managed to do it today, apart from getting the last screw secured on the left hand side of the panel because there was a bit of a gap left and the only ones that I had were all a bit short. Again, I could probably have done it with a helper pushing and holding everything together but I’ll have to get hold of a longer screw tomorrow to finish the job off. But 28AAD is looking more and more like a complete ULM at the end of every day, as the following shots show.

So what’s left to do? I need to finish installing the panel and connect all the wiring, fabricate and fit two new doors, finish installing the fuel system, connect up the throttle and choke cables and re-do the timing, as I remembered today, because when I fitted the new stator I disturbed the ignition pick-ups. Then aside from making up and fitting the wings, the job will be more or less complete. However, its back is now broken, as is mine nearly also, from climbing in and out of the cabin backwards to put Mole grips on the under-panel nuts, and barring any unforeseen problems or mishaps, I’m hoping that it might all be done by the week-end. Too optimistic? Well, here’s hoping, anyway 😉