Hi Ben, I finished the canopy fibreglassing & removed the canopy last week. I left the struts in place. When it comes to removing the completed canopy, it is only the small part of the fibreglass skirt FORWARD of the pivot bolt which may foul the aluminium. I loosened the pivot bolts a couple of threads so the canopy arms could move sideways a little if needed & with a helper raised the canopy slowly, keeping an eye on those forward pieces. There was a little scuffing of the 2 layers of tape, but no damage to the underlying aluminium. With the canopy raised fully, (and thus the struts extended fully), remove the aft strut bolts, then the pivot bolts & lift the canopy off. I had carefully applied boot/saddle wax to the plastic tape before applying fibreglass & found little problem getting the canopy to 'unstick'. A popsickle stick sanded to a flat point helped. Cheers, DEAN.
|