Prather Lap Cat I. Vintage Hull, new build.

[dirtnsnowrider]

I picked up this vintage Lap Cat I hull and thought it would be perfect for an electric set up. So here are a few pics of the hull when I bought it. It came with 2 radio boxes. I ordered the cowl from Hyper Performance since my hull did not have one.
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[dirtnsnowrider]

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So starts the process of the body work. I was pretty lucky in the fact that the 2 halves of the hull were joined fairly evenly. I had very little sanding to eliminate the offset lip. After which I grabbed a can of primer and begin a cycle that seems like it never ends.

These raw fiberglass hulls have a ton of holes. Literally thousands of tiny little pinholes that need to be filled in or the paint will look like it needs some pro active to get rid of all the blackheads. (damn infomercials still haunt me)

[dirtnsnowrider]

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Had some extra ride pads laying around from the top speed 2 build (more extras) and decided they should have a proper home on the bottom of this hull.

[dirtnsnowrider]

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So I got my body filler out and spread it over the areas that had the pin holes. I then wet sand the hull till smooth. Dry the hull and examine in good light to see all the pinholes I missed so I can spread the body filler and sand it all over again.

[dirtnsnowrider]

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Cut out some fiberglass cloth the size of the ride pads and mixed up some resin and laid a thin layer of resin followed by cloth followed by resin followed by the ride pad. This will make sure that the ride pads will stay on the hull in the event of a disaster. Sanded down the seems of the ride pad meeting the hull for a smooth look.

[dirtnsnowrider]

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So here is where we are at now. It needs the final primer layer and a final wet sand and the it is ready for paint. Trying to figure what color to paint these boats can be more time consuming than all the body work (not in this case). I had started the process of filling the holes and grew tired of it. After starting the paint on my top speed 2 I gained a renewed interest in getting this hull finished. Just kind of hard to get into another tunnel hull build when I have a VS1,TS2 and a TS3. I guess I caught that Tunnel fever that has been going around. Time to add another boat to the current list of builds.

[tlandauer]

Looks great! love to see your progress on the build, excuse my ignorance: is this hull still in production?
I like the cockpit, knowing you there will be some very nice details there! :buttrock: :popcorn2:

[grsboats]

No Prather is not making hulls for years but they did great ones in the 70/80's like the Spitfire's (outboard riggers .21 and .45),Piranha (inboard rigger) and of course tunnels and mono's.Gill

[dirtnsnowrider]

Ran into a problem with the Lap Cat today. I have no way to get to the underside of the drivers cut out to mount the mirrors I bought for a scale look. I can always epoxy them but they wont stay on after a flip. I am working on a dashboard since I located a drivers steering wheel. Now to find a good looking driver. I am looking for a more modern looking driver. The orange cloth vests are not my cup of tea.

These hulls can be picked up from Hyper Performance in California. They bought the rights to Prather and stock a lot of Prather products. They had a canopy for my hull and shipped out pretty fast.

[tlandauer]

No Prather is not making hulls for years but they did great ones in the 70/80's like the Spitfire's (outboard riggers .21 and .45),Piranha (inboard rigger) and of course tunnels and mono's.Gill
Meant to thank you for giving me the info. Wish I got into this hobby earlier!

[tlandauer]

Ran into a problem with the Lap Cat today. I have no way to get to the underside of the drivers cut out to mount the mirrors I bought for a scale look. I can always epoxy them but they wont stay on after a flip. I am working on a dashboard since I located a drivers steering wheel. Now to find a good looking driver. I am looking for a more modern looking driver. The orange cloth vests are not my cup of tea.

These hulls can be picked up from Hyper Performance in California. They bought the rights to Prather and stock a lot of Prather products. They had a canopy for my hull and shipped out pretty fast.
I met the guys at Hyper Performance during the RCX in June, they do have a FG hull, a bit pricy, I took it in my hands and really liked how it looked/felt though.

[Fluid]

Actually the Hyperformance hulls are not that "pricey" at all. The 27" Lap Cat I is $160, right in line with quality American-made fiberglass hulls like the Aeromarine Predator .21. True, compared to the Chinese stuff it seems high, but the quality is much higher than a $100 Asian special. Current Hyperformance hulls are no longer made from the "holey" epoxy (like the OP's) but feature a smooth primer finish - at least the hull I bought from them last year did.

A tip for finishing epoxy hulls with all those pin holes - use the "spackle" sheet rock filler from home stores. Slather it on and sand off - it sands very easily. Once covered in paint it becomes waterproof.




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[dirtnsnowrider]

I would be willing to part with this hull. I have it ready for paint. Just trying to come up with a color. Maybe I should post in for sale and put a price for it painted and let the buyer choose their color.

As for the pin holes I use Bondo spot putty and put it on with a spackle knife to remove the excess to make sanding a breeze.

The Hyper Performance hulls come finished in a white gel coat. My hull has no gel coat so it will never get those nasty stress cracks that all gel coats develop over time. The reason I was excited to pick this hull up. Other than my hull not having a gel coat they are identical as Hyper Performance bought out Prather and obtained all of their boat molds. They are much better quality than the China hulls. My friend has a Lap Cat I with a Stiletto OBL and a custom made canopy. here is a pic.

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He has a 1800kv pro boat motor with a Turnigy 120esc on 35c 4000mah 5s. His boat is well beyond fast. It is purely a drag boat as he loves his straight line running. We both picked up our hull at the same time. He built his without testing a few things out and now it is here at my shop getting a complete rebuild.