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It's been almost a year since Ken sent this Vision tunnel home with me to build up for him, and I'm FINALLY getting around to getting it done for him. Had a couple of weeks working on it now. Figured I'd post some pictures.
Have the transom drilled/tapped for the lower unit. Ken gave it to me drilled up with pilot holes, so I just opened them up and tapped them for 8-32 screws.
I spent some time putting a lip around the inside to brace the cowl. I am NOT a big fan of this cowl arrangment and would much prefer a radio box with a standard removable cowl, but it is what it is. Should save a few ounces of weight I imagine. Has to be taped on, however, so I provided some interior support by epoxying on some carbon strips to provide the backing...
Custom fabbed up a servo mount, similiar to what I did for my Lynx. Trying to use as much composite and no wood for this one, so I use some carbon angle I made for the mounts, and made a mounting plate from G10. All of the stainless screws are directly tapped into the carbon, where I added doublers to increase the grip area. All secures nicely. Since this isn't something you take in and out and in an out, this arrangement holds up nicely.
Rigging is a 4-40 sized Dubro pull-pull kit. I use 60lb sized stainless fishing swivels through the threaded 4-40 sized clevis pins (through the threaded shaft section) rather than loop the cable through, as this holds up better and also provides a break-away point should the system fail in a flip/crash. Just replace the swivel head and you are back and running, as opposed to snapping the cable. Did this on my Lynx and it has been working exactly as designed. Blew over several times while attempting to set the 2-Lap record at the Nats last summer and was able to get back up and running in just a few minutes each time.
Made the transom plate at the back of the cowl using some carbon plate I laid up. Made a pattern using some tape and cutting it out with an Xacto knife. Cut and fitted the plate, and then set it in place with CA. Used a layer of Carbon fiber weave laid up on the inside of the cowl to secure this piece in place.
Wire exit ports are made from black fiberglass/carbon tubing. Wire extensions for the motor wires are held in place with heat shrink and tie-wraps, and stay part of the boat. This lets you remove the motor or ESC without having to reseal the transom.
Cable pass-troughs are sealed using a set of Pro Boat bellows from a BJ55. I ran them inside the boat, just to keep it cleaner looking, and CA'd them in place. Should provide a decent seal, especially after Ken has it painted/decaled up and puts some light grease in them.
Also, as you can see in the third picture here, I had to fab some spacers to raise the steering arm up to clear the transom. No biggy... some thick-walled aluminum and longer screws did the trick...
Now that the rigging is all set, I just need to glue in some water passthrough tubes for the ESC, and then install the radio and power system. Will hopefully have it ready for testing by Memorial Day weekend.
Have the transom drilled/tapped for the lower unit. Ken gave it to me drilled up with pilot holes, so I just opened them up and tapped them for 8-32 screws.
I spent some time putting a lip around the inside to brace the cowl. I am NOT a big fan of this cowl arrangment and would much prefer a radio box with a standard removable cowl, but it is what it is. Should save a few ounces of weight I imagine. Has to be taped on, however, so I provided some interior support by epoxying on some carbon strips to provide the backing...
Custom fabbed up a servo mount, similiar to what I did for my Lynx. Trying to use as much composite and no wood for this one, so I use some carbon angle I made for the mounts, and made a mounting plate from G10. All of the stainless screws are directly tapped into the carbon, where I added doublers to increase the grip area. All secures nicely. Since this isn't something you take in and out and in an out, this arrangement holds up nicely.
Rigging is a 4-40 sized Dubro pull-pull kit. I use 60lb sized stainless fishing swivels through the threaded 4-40 sized clevis pins (through the threaded shaft section) rather than loop the cable through, as this holds up better and also provides a break-away point should the system fail in a flip/crash. Just replace the swivel head and you are back and running, as opposed to snapping the cable. Did this on my Lynx and it has been working exactly as designed. Blew over several times while attempting to set the 2-Lap record at the Nats last summer and was able to get back up and running in just a few minutes each time.
Made the transom plate at the back of the cowl using some carbon plate I laid up. Made a pattern using some tape and cutting it out with an Xacto knife. Cut and fitted the plate, and then set it in place with CA. Used a layer of Carbon fiber weave laid up on the inside of the cowl to secure this piece in place.
Wire exit ports are made from black fiberglass/carbon tubing. Wire extensions for the motor wires are held in place with heat shrink and tie-wraps, and stay part of the boat. This lets you remove the motor or ESC without having to reseal the transom.
Cable pass-troughs are sealed using a set of Pro Boat bellows from a BJ55. I ran them inside the boat, just to keep it cleaner looking, and CA'd them in place. Should provide a decent seal, especially after Ken has it painted/decaled up and puts some light grease in them.
Also, as you can see in the third picture here, I had to fab some spacers to raise the steering arm up to clear the transom. No biggy... some thick-walled aluminum and longer screws did the trick...
Now that the rigging is all set, I just need to glue in some water passthrough tubes for the ESC, and then install the radio and power system. Will hopefully have it ready for testing by Memorial Day weekend.
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