Help! slider frame adjustment

Trying to get the slider frame adjusted (bending into submission) but the measurements that vans instructions give just aren't making sense to me.
I have the front by the roll bar ok. What I am having problems with is the rear bows. When I get to where the rear bows meet the side bows, they are welded 3/16" in from the side bow. I can possibly make the side bow and the rear bow the same distance when they are welded like this.


So how closely does the rear bow have to match the skin? At what point do I stop measuring? Is the 1/16" inset for the side bows the most important?

Thanks for the help and any pics. The plan is to sika if that makes any difference.

Jay

On mine the frame was a perfect fit out of the box, you do want the rear bow to match the curve of the fuse, otherwise you will have gaps with the skirt. also take into acount of the canopy thickness for the rear bow, and the thickness of just sheet alluminum for the side skirt. And then calculate how much the whole thing will flex outward when the canopy is attached, I forget but I think it is about an inch that the canopy will pull the frame outward. and another hint, do not drill the top slide guide untill you are done with the canopy and skirt, this way you can slide it forward or rearward to adjust the rear ht. for a tight fit of the top rear skirt. Or just forget all this and do a custom FG skirt

Bret is right on about the fiberglass rear skirt. It hides many sins.

I knew after all the reading that I didnt want to spend all the time getting the bows in shape like others had so I made sure my side fairings would come out ok and quickly moved on built a fiberglass fairing. It blended the mismatch perfectly and gave me a lot of confidence in my fiberglass skills!


http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cbk42fxLifM/U2ZhITBQMNI/AAAAAAAAAsw/mn6yZCt6vwA/s1600/20140417_072610.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eaYlzJjtGvc/U2ZxaCfv_PI/AAAAAAAAAto/lp9o2DXrnvA/s1600/20140420_094728.jpg

Sorry bout the large pics! Im still learning how to post!

I was leaning towards a fiberglass skirt because I like the look, but now it sounds like the better way to go. Still building an engine fund so a little extra time won't hurt. I just got the Sam James video for fiberglass. It's a skill I would like to learn.

Has anyone made a fiberglass rear skirt, and then fiberglassed over the aluminum side skirts? A little heavier, perhaps, but it would give a very smooth continuous look. Another downside would be removing the side skirts, if the canopy ever needed to be replaced.