[SCOTI]

Well... One step foward, 2 steps back. I worked on the front shock brackets Friday after work & Sun afternoon, but ran into issues.

Because each of the brackets is hand cut & trimmed independently, there were subtle variations on each. Those variations were causing problems w/alignment or positioning when trying to determine the optimum placement.

I could tweak their position, but then when I placed the top covers on them, the covers were not consistent from side to side & looked like butt (not very square & didn't 'flow' well). I was going to try & have my GF's company laser cut some consistent brackets based on my template but they're busy & I didn't want to be a wrench in the works. Instead, I'm going to use some of the RideTech 'universal' weld-on units & I'll tweak from there. They will be a more consistent starting point so I'll end up w/a better finished result.

So.... Sunday evening I played around w/my vent window frames. I wound up grinding the 2 rivets off the pivot bracket which will allow installation of the window frame seal. I used small beveled seat machine screws in place of rivets for re-assembly (just verifying they'll do the job). I still want to blast the vent window frames & get them in black epoxy before re-assembling everything.

After that, I started making a reinforcement plate for the gauge lens I used in the modifed cluster. The OE lexan/plastic gauge lens was a bit flimsy w/all the holes poked in it. When installed in the housing, it was 'ok', but I felt it could be improved upon (cheaply). I used some steel (0.060 I think) & made a backing plate for the lens. I'll panel bond the 2 together & it should work well (seems more solid just flexing them when not installed). A little more weight, but not so much it will be an issue.