The cellphone said 74. The thermometer in the hangar said 79 and the car thermometer said 81, so I figured I could get away with drilling holes and using the Dremel to make the cutouts to accommodate the rollbar support brace, the idea being to drill the corners of the notch to make up the radius and then use the Dremel to cut out the notch and knock off the corners.
I used a Dremel sanding drum for initial shaping and then sanded with 220, 320, 400 and 600 grit sandpaper.
Then I refit the window. My once concern is the forward hole -- #2 on the plans -- has an edge distance problem because of the cutout. I've sent Van's the details as follows::
"The instructions had me notching the window to accommodate F-1232B-L & R, the inboard most hole on each side as indicated by #2 on figure 1 is either not going to have window material underneath it or is not going to be able to accommodate the 5/16" edge distance warning on page 38iS/U-12 (right after step 10).
"I can't -- and don't want to -- pull the window back because the front edge nicely aligns with the aft edge of the front of the rollbar per 38iS/U-12 step 8.
"Guidance?"
We'll see what they say. I fiddled around with the fit, making some concessions for edge distance issues, and clamped it while awaiting Van's guidance.
Patrick and I will originally going to drill this on Thursday, because it's supposed to be warm. But I don't have the right size Plexiglass drill bits. You need a #40, #36, #30, and a #27 and I only have the ones I got from Avery Tools when I built the 7A and they are fractional sizes of 1/8" and up. So I've ordered bits. Hopefully they'll get here soon before the last of the summer weather is gone until next year.
I still have to think about whether I want to drill this with the tail cone clecoed on. Is it possible that there'll be a slight alignment change when I rivet the tail cone on?
[Update from Tony Kirk:]
The front edge of the window should not align with the aft edge of the F-1231A-FL & -FR at this stage, it should be forward of the rollbar front halves aft edges, where you get the measurement (38iSU-12 Step 8) to determine how deep to make the notches for the F-1232B-L & -R (plus 1/32) in Step 7. After notching the window to fit perfectly around the F-1232Bs (be precise with your marking and trimming!) you should still have enough material for the screw holes (yellow below), and the forward edge of the window should be very close to the proper position. Also be sure to read Page 13 Steps 4-8 for final trimming of the forward edge of the window.