I kinda followed Van's instructions although I had more help thanks to Dan's site and also Richard Horan's (Dignity) and Walter Tondu's.
That said, I had no problem cutting the side, or the back, or the front, or the big cut.
The reason, I think, is that I didn't go for broke on every cut. You CAN cut the side down a bit. Certainly not all the way to it's final location. In fact, you sort of have to in order to eliminate the corners, which often make the front sit "up" higher than it should.
But, in the end, I probably made 6 separate cuts in the front, maybe another half dozen on the side, and probably 8 or 9 on the back before I got it just right.
I made the big cut on Van's schedule and so far haven't had any problems.
I do need to add my voice to the chorus of those who really don't like Van's design for the canopy frame. Granted, where it doesn't fit quite well is my fault -- in the end I was off just a bit -- maybe 1/16 to 1/8" -- where the hinge "ear" hole was drilled...but enough to make a bit of a gap in the front left frame (the 716).
There's got to be a better way to build the canopy, tho' I'm too stupid to know what that is.
For all the chatter I'd read over the years on what disk to use, I also just went with Van's method. Cutting disk they sent, cheapo die grinder, typical compressor...no problem.
The best advice I got in the whole process came from Darwin Barrie who advised me to "grow a pair."