[Kenn]

Yesterday my brother and sister helped me bolt the drivers-side FRP to the frame. I called 3M and talked in detail about how to prep the steel frame and the FRP. I sanded with 80 grit and then used air to blow off the dust and then whipped it all down with isopropyl alcohol. I then put the tape on the and used a small roller to press it to the frame. With the FRP 5" from the frame it was hard to see in some areas. We slid the FRP in on the guide pins and installed the 49 3/8 bolts. I used welding clamps in the window openings and rigged up some long strong-backs to us wedges behind. The long frame members had about an 1/8" gap between the frame and the FRP and the wedges took care of that. The 3M tech told me that the VHB tape takes 72 hours to get to full strength so I will leave it clamped until then. All in all it worked pretty good, but I did manage to cross-thread one bolt. When I tried to remove the bolt it spun the nutsert. I drilled out the bolt and drilled, tapped and installed 1/4 bolts on either side of the drilled out bolt. I think I made the right move switching to the tape because the time it took to get all the bolting and clamping done was longer than the Sikaflex glue would have allowed. Next up is to start prepping the passenger side so we can bolt it on this weekend. A side note, I got my variance approved for the carport and I ordered it on Monday. I should have the drawings next week and then apply for the building permit.