Here I have chopped off the aft ends of the front skirt sides at that longeron bend point. I also chopped off the "ears" where the canopy transitions from behind the skirt to on top of it. Those ears are bad news, at least in my opinion.
After sizing the skirts for length, I cut and filed the tapered rear ends.
I want to paint the gas strut mounting hardware, so I removed them tonight. I didn't mention it a couple of days ago, but installing the rear ball mounts is real ball buster...but it's not that bad once you get the technique down. I used a piece of masking tape covering one side of a box wrench.
The nut is held in there, and you can just barely reach up and behind the canopy rail to hold it in place while you turn the screw. It's tricky at first, but then you get the hang of it. The one on the left side is definitely much harder, because the tip-up canopy latch mechanism (side latch and pushrod) really get in the way. But it's doable without any modification or having to remove the side latch hardware, just keep at it. I imagine people must dremel out chunks of the bottom flange of the side rail to get access, but it's definitely not necessary.
Paint. I hate it. Can't live without it.
