10/19/2005 (1 hour):

I had a little trouble with this step, so I decided to do it in two parts. When I cut the squares for the seat belt reinforcements, I had trouble keeping them square. Then, when I installed them, I couldn't squeeze them hard enough to make them flush with the top surface of the shoulder support without introducing air.

So, I stopped after installing the reinforcements. I laid peel ply and plastic over them, and got all of the air out. They still sit above the foam, but when I glass the outside I'll deal with this by fairing the area in with a bit of flox. I don't mind if they sit a bit proud, as long as they work.

10/20/2005 (1 hour):

OK, maybe it's not two steps. It's three. The text of the plans, and the pictures included, call for two layers of BID over the outside of the shoulder support, and then the step is done. But there's a modification to the plans in response to an accident that calls for 3 layers of UND over each seat belt attachment point. This is only described in the right-hand column, so it's easy to miss. I missed it until after my epoxy had started to gel, and I didn't want to risk pulling the glass off the foam by removing the plastic and peel ply I had on top of it. I decided to let the BID layup cure first, then do the UND wraps tomorrow.

10/21/2005 (0.75 hours):

The UND wraps are straightforward enough. I'm getting much better layup results now that I'm peel-plying everything. I do have one oversight here. There are SO many layers of glass on the seat belt reinforcements that I can barely see the original holes in the wood pieces to re-drill them through the glass. I may have to cut a small hole in the front face of the reinforcement anyway, so I can shine a bright light into the shoulder support to help highlight the holes. If you install the seat belt nut plates ahead of time, as I did, I don't think there's a good solution to this. I'm not really expecting much trouble, though.