Phil Thomas Stealth Sport 20 FE Build

[mojoracer]

August 23
My new Phil Thomas sport 20 arrived August 23rd via FedEx. First time FE boat build with a bare hull. I have been involved with FE racing for 1 year now. This boat will replace my UL-1 Aquacraft boat. This boat is going to be built as a LSH (limited Sport Hydro) to race in NAMBA club races. Power is going to be stock UL-1 2030 kv motor and UL-1 speed controll. Batteries will be Hyperion 4000 mha lipo. Hardware recomendation from the manufacturer is Speedmaster brand strut and rudder. The skid fin was purcased with the boat, and was made my the Virginia Craftsman. Hull comes in bare epoxy glass, cowling, and a small instruction sheet. One thing I did notice was the front sponson decks both had low spots in them. I scuffed up the glass, and filled with bondo.

[mojoracer]

Wedensday 8/24/11

Ballast:

The instructions advise you to put lead ballast in the sponson tips. Thomas says to put in 9 ounces. 5 on the left and 4 on the right. I used 50 caliber musket balls that weigh about 11 grams each. I weighed out 4 oz of lead on the left and 3 oz on the right. This may have been a mistake, because I think my resin weight estimate was low. I poured in a little resin in the hulls access holes and then dropped the lead balls in. After all the lead was in, I poured some more resin so that the ballast was covered. Set it asside to dry!

[mojoracer]

Prep and Prime!

8/24/11

The resin on the hull has many pin holes that need to be filled. Use automotive body supply "Spot Putty". I sanded the hull with 220 grit wet paper so that the spot putty and primer will stick. I sprayed the boat with a 2 part hardened filler/primer automotive paint in a tan color. The primer goes on thick, and help fill imperfections. I put extra material on the bottom! The bottom between the sponsons was pin hole infested! After the primer dried, I wet sanded everything with 320 paper. This will expose the pin holes and low spots in the surface. A rubber sanding block is a handy tool for this operation. Once sanded, I applied lots of spot putty. Once the putty dries, sand it down and apply more primer.

[mojoracer]

8/25/11

Finding Balance:

The instructions call for a center of gravity 15.5 to 16 inches from transom. I set all of my parts in to check on this. It looks OK, and the boat should balance out.



I also drilled the holes for the rudder and strut. The strut is of course centered. The rudder is on the left side 2" from center. The hardware kits from Speedmaster come with #6 stainless bolts and nuts. Make sure the strut and rudder are square to the boat bottom.





I also drilled and tapped the right sponson to mount the Virginia Craftsman turn fin. Same thing, make sure it is square to the bottom of the sponson! Phil Thomas puts a small plate of aluminum inside the fiberglass of the right rear sponson. I used the supplied socket head bolts, and ran a 6x32 tap through to cut threads. I had to modify a old tap handle to get in this tight spot!




All of the external running hardware is installed and looks like this:

ATTACH=CONFIG]58579[/ATTACH]

[mojoracer]

Drive Line Installation

8/26/11

Time to cut the stuffing box slot and bend the tube. Phil Thomas scribes the center of the engine well floor to help out the process. I decided to mount my motor plate about 11" ahead of the transom. I installed a scrap piece of flex cable to mark the spot on the floor to end the slot. Then I drilled two 1/4" holes through the bottom along the center line.



Next, I used a air auto body saw to connect the slot openings. Then I used a short piece of 9/32" diameter brass tube to use as the stuffing box. The longer main 1/4" tube will pass through this. I used a dremmel type motor tool with a 1/4" sanding drum to taper the slotted hole. This is done to get the propper angle of the hole. Once it is right, you will have perfect alignment. Grind and test fit. I also used a 1/8th inch drill bit in the motor flex hex fitting to use as a alignment tool. Take your 9/32 piece, and slide a piece of 1/4" tube inside. Then stick a short piece of teflon liner into this series of parts. Slide the assembley through the slot, and onto the drill bit. See if your motor mount sits flat on the deck, and in your desired position. If not grind the slot to get the perfect angle.




Now it is time to make your brass 1/4 tube. I laid out my length, distance from strut to outer bottom (7/8" on this particular boat), motor mount angle, distance from motor mount to end of strut on the work bench. See the following photo. Now you have a "model" of the layout flat on the bench. Figure out where you want to bend the tube and mark the start and stop points with a sharpie. Heat the tube with a propane torch to soften it up. Once the tube is warmed up, I used a small round can of a similar radius and bent the tube. The bend came out smooth and kink free! Be sure to wear gloves whil doing this. The tube will be hot!


Now test fit the tube in the strut. If everything looks good, it is time to install the 9/32 stub permanently into the hull. First score up the exterior of the stuffing tube with rough sand paper to make your adhesive stick. I also wiped mine with solvent to get a better bond. I used dura-glass auto body filler to glue it in. This suff is like a resin with short hairs of fiberglass mixed in. Fill the slot and stuff in the stuffing box. Smooth the filler around the tube to get a good seal! Once the filler is dry, sand and smooth it out.

[mojoracer]

Inside of view of completed stuffing box.

[mojoracer]

Motor Mount Preperation

8/27/11

The boat has a inner and out hull. The floor area wher the motor monts go needs to be stiffened up so the through bolts will not crush the inside floor. I also am adding a 1/8th" Plywood doubler under the motor mount. This will distribute the load to a greater area of the hull. Once I maked where the doubler goes, I drilled some 3/16" holes aroud the area. I used a large syringe to to inject finishing epoxy resin into the floor, and foam core that resides in between.


I made sure the hull was pretty level so the resin did not run away. Once the resin dried, I epoxied the motor doubler onto the bottom of the well. Scuff the fiberglass up good so you get a good bond! Now it's off to paint land!

[mojoracer]

Paint Time:

I sanded the hull with 360 grit wet paper. Once sanded, I applied a final coat of 2 part primer. Once the primer dried, I wet sanded the entire hull with 400 grit wet paper. Now we have a nice smooth surface to apply the color.

I used Dupont Chroma base coat to cut in the nooks a crannies with a air brush. These are the areas that are hard to get to with a bigger spray gun. I used a board wrapped with plastic sitting on saw horses to hold the boat while painting. I wetted my filthy old garage down with a hose to keep the dust and dirt away while spraying.



I then painted the bottom of the boat and top hatch with my new $9.99 Harbor Freight spray gun. Once the bottom dried (30 min), I flipped the hull over and painted the topside. Total yellow paint used was ony about 4 ounces. No major problems with dirt, nice smooth coat of paint. I like my new bargain spray gun! The boat will dry overnight and be readied for the accent color (Smokin Joe Purple).

[ray schrauwen]

Very nice. Thanks for the build thread.

[detox]

Great job so far. I think you did good by mounting your turnfin on the inside of bracket, but you may have to bend it more inward for best results. Look at this link: http://www.blazermarine.com/Instruct...rnfinsetup.pdf

I also think maybe your stuffing tube needs a more gradual bend (less sharp bend) for best results.

Homedepot sells the 3M brand Yellow electrical tape. I think the 3M brand is the best for FE. I hope it does not cause the paint to peel when removed. Walmart sells a clear electrical tape, but it has less holding ability.

[marko500]

Looks great, Nice build thread.

Mark

[mojoracer]

Late night spray job:

After about 2 hours of masking (and watchin NASCAR), the boat was ready for the 2nd color. 11pm out in the garage with the spray gun. My wife thought I am nuts to be painting this late. Gotta get this thing done! The purple laid down pretty well.

[mojoracer]

Windshield and Fins

8/28/11

I masked off the windshield area of the cowling with 3M fineline tape. Phil Thomas molds windshield and frame lines into the boat, but after all the priming and sanding they were pretty vauge. I sprayed the black, and set it in the sun to dry. Once the black paint was dry I masked off the frame around the windshield and sprayed it silver. I also sprayed a set of UL-1 fins to go on this model. Paint was sprayed with air brushes.

[mojoracer]

Thanks for the good turn fin information!

Great job so far. I think you did good by mounting your turnfin on the inside of bracket, but you may have to bend it more inward for best results. Look at this link: http://www.blazermarine.com/Instruct...rnfinsetup.pdf

I also think maybe your stuffing tube needs a more gradual bend (less sharp bend) for best results.

Homedepot sells the 3M brand Yellow electrical tape. I think the 3M brand is the best for FE. I hope it does not cause the paint to peel when removed. Walmart sells a clear electrical tape, but it has less holding ability.

[mojoracer]

Unmasked!

I pulled all of the masking paper, blue tape and fineline tape to reveal the design. Most of the edges came out great! A few spots has some purple sneak under the tape. Some spots I sanded out, others I touched up with my air brush.



Pin Stiping!

I added a few narrow accent stripes with leftover tape from my Titan 29 paint job last spring. I am pleased with the results!