Today worked out better than expected. While I whipped up one new canopy latch, for now it seems the ones I’ve already done are lining up a lot better than I thought. So I have a standby if needed.

After tweaking the temporary tube lengths I cut the real ones to size and made good the ends.

A simple rivet and all is secure.

All the in between tubes needed a thread which is just a little time in the vice and a hand tap.

It all lined up pretty well in the end and with the temporary nuts finger tight it is starting to feel like a canopy latching system.

Here’s the next challenge. I’ll be grinding out these hardpoints so the latches have free movement. Then I’ll need to grind a little further for the hardpoints to accept the male side of the latches.

Tomorrow I’ll go slowly on the first latch, get it in free rotation and then decide how best to make the receiving section. There is still a bit to do on this canopy hardware fitting.