Been working most recently on the cockpit panels that go around the driver and passenger. I had the opening contour cut in a 'stitch' pattern on the water jet to maintain the panels 'alignment' while I was doing the shaping to fit the bulkhead contours. It is my intention to fit the panels to the bulkheads, then form a wire edge configuration, install a #9 gage wire, shape it to the contour and then rivet it around the openings. Then to cut out the 'stitched' area and hand form the opening edge around the wire edged forms giving me a 5-layer of materials to maintain the opening configuration and provide strength for getting in and out of the speedster. Some of the pictures show the SoldiWorks drawing of the closing die before the stems are welded and the side cut away. There is a 6" wide Pullmax die that results in a 'P' shaped section of metal. The lead in and exit ends of the 4 ft. long segments are poorly done in the die and will have to be cut off. I pre-formed a 135 degree edge on the panel to put the 'P' contour in because it was too small in width to maintain straightness and the formed edge made it MUCH easier to feed straight and push thru the die. Once the edging has been done, I will fit the ends of the panel to the bulkhead and then trim and install a joggled edge to make allowance for panel overlaps at each end. The panel rolls were done with the rubber tire in an old nglish wheel frame.
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