Slider Side Skirt Gap

I am fitting my side skirts to the frame and I have about an 1/8" gap here:

Is this normal? can someone post some pictures of their finished slider so I can see how this area goes together when complete. I am glueing my canopy so I have some leeway to lower the skirt.

Thanks everyone.

Smaller

I think this gap can be as narrow as possible, so that when you slide the canopy aft it does not interfere or scrape along the top surface adjacent to the rails. Mine is probably half that.

More importantly, I think you should have the slider canopy installed, and at least the windscreen final fitted (not necessarily glued) before fitting side or rear skirts. Maybe you do?

What DBRO172 said, also remember clearance for paint.

RV7AJeremy said:

I am fitting my side skirts to the frame and I have about an 1/8" gap here:

Click to expand...

I found this area to be challenging on my -6A slider (also Sika'd). One difference is that I fit the skirts after the plexi was attached to the slider frame. It will do a couple of things that will affect clearances w/regard to the skirt:

- The plexi goes between the frame and the skirt
- The plexi will "pull" the frame to be slightly wider.

Both of these mean that fitting the skirts without the plexi in place will be fairly difficult.

Another point to consider is that as the canopy slides rearward, there is a slight tilt induced as the rear of the canopy slides up the track for the first inch or two. If the clearance between the skirt and the canopy deck is too small, there will be interference and binding as the the canopy is opened & closed.

All other fitting is done first, canopy to frame, rear and side skirts, closure, skirt stiffeners, the whole ball of wax. THEN notch the side skirt as required to just clear and parallel the deck. Do not use your notch as an index. Otherwise, proper skirt fitting will be next to impossible as you're dealing with a slight compound curve for all skirts, the metal will shift considerably during fitting, and the notch clearance will slop around. The notch is a trivial feature to implement once all else is done. I highly recommend you get fresh material and start over.

This procedure requires removing the skirts (un-clecoing)if you want to slide the works open, but so be it.

The windshield is fitted to the final canopy position, shimmed as required. Do not install it until the canopy is completely fitted.

John (Six Sliders) Siebold

If you want to get real confused, look at how I did mine, I fliped the side rail gap strip around to allow for an 3/16 silka fill, and don't forget to trim the front tubes where the rollers slide in or you will retrim the front of the side skirt where it goes over the fuse. I also silka the rear skirt on.

Thanks for the pointers guys. I will fit the plexi first. I took the day off work today to get covered in plexi dust.