8/13/2006
I finished drilled the F-817 side rails. Then I fabricated the two F-856 spacers. These go between the WD-808 seat back weldment (the white roll bar looking thingy in the pictures above) and the F-817 side rails (the blue thingys above).
I positioned the WD-808 seat back by measuring the distance from its front hole to the F-807 bulkhead. A really easy confirmation of this is how the F-807 sits in the cutouts in the side rails. I clamped the seat back, spacers and side rails together and to the seat back attach plates. With a centerline on the F-856's and with them in position, I match drilled them and the WD-808 through the side rails.
I made the F-816B angles that sit under the front part of the side rails. My brain must have been out to lunch because it took me three tries to make just one of these (Van's can expect an order for more angle stock). The front part of F-816B is bent 67 degrees. When I did this bend on the first attempt it was too sharp on the inside radius and I ended up with cracks on the outside radius. See the pricture above left. The second time I tried this I put some scrap 1/8" bar that I had radiused one edge into the vise and this time it I could bend it with no cracks.