Top Speed 2 what happened to you.

[dirtnsnowrider]

I picked up this Top Speed 2 and have been slowly working on it and I have made some progress in its rebuild and figured I would share the fun. DSCN2137.jpgDSCN2144.jpgDSCN2148.jpgDSCN2152.jpgDSCN2154.jpg

This started as a nitro boat and then somebody did a FE conversion. Not sure what they had but it was not pretty. There is globs of fiberglass resin all over the hull and the canopy had been cut for an on off switch and had 3 holes for antennas. At least the bottom of the hull was trued. She is not pretty but she will be.

[dirtnsnowrider]

DSCN2134.jpgDSCN2135.jpgDSCN2138.jpgDSCN2139.jpgDSCN2142.jpg A few more showing off the work that needs to be done.

[dirtnsnowrider]

DSCN2213.jpgDSCN2214.jpgDSCN2215.jpgDSCN2216.jpgDSCN2268.jpg

A lot of sanding was done to get the resin globs off and get rid of the gel coat stress cracks. Some areas such as the sponson tip have to be cleaned up for fiberglass work.

[dirtnsnowrider]

DSCN2269.jpgDSCN2270.jpgDSCN2271.jpgDSCN2272.jpgDSCN2276.jpg Lay in the cloth and spread some resin around, let dry and guess what? We get to sand some more......Yeah......

[dirtnsnowrider]

DSCN2300.jpgDSCN2301.jpgDSCN2302.jpgDSCN2303.jpgDSCN2304.jpg

So we find ourselves sanding away and get a few layers of primer shot so we can start sanding the hull down yet again. At least we are now in the home stretch. Re-building this one did not happen overnight. This has been for the past 2 weeks in between re-building my Miss Vegas. I am now ready for paint after getting the body nice and smooth. The only problem now is deciding on a color.

[tlandauer]

Looks exciting! I missed this thread yesterday. The primer looks smooth, it will look great once you pain it over with whatever color you choose. I will watch close at your build/rebuild! Now I know the bottom is completely different: Where as the TS2 has steps on its sponsons, it lacks recovery pads, they were an after thought, AC made wooden ones for owners to add them on. The TS3 does have molded/FG'ed in recovery pads, but the sponson is plain jane like. Wonder how all this differentiates the riding character of each hull.

[dirtnsnowrider]

Looks exciting! I missed this thread yesterday. The primer looks smooth, it will look great once you pain it over with whatever color you choose. I will watch close at your build/rebuild! Now I know the bottom is completely different: Where as the TS2 has steps on its sponsons, it lacks recovery pads, they were an after thought, AC made wooden ones for owners to add them on. The TS3 does have molded/FG'ed in recovery pads, but the sponson is plain jane like. Wonder how all this differentiates the riding character of each hull.

The TS3 sponson has a more dramatic riding angle and is much sharper. I will snap some pics of each hull when I finish painting the top speed 2. I decided on Chrysler Big Bad Green. The paint used is Nason Ful-Thane 2k Urethane automotive paint. This paint coats more smoothly than the acrylic enamel automotive paint I have used in the past. When I spend a lot of time doing body work I want an awesome paint job. No offense to rattle canners but you do not get the wet shine look out of a can. I have to do some wet sanding but here are a few sneak peek pics of the paint job. I have another coat to spray and then its time to finish this build.

DSCN3028.jpgDSCN3029.jpgDSCN3030.jpgDSCN3031.jpg

[dirtnsnowrider]

DSCN3032.jpg

The fiberglass box is just a set up I am toying with. I have a wood box configuration as well but it is still being put together and not sure if I like the direction that it is headed.

[dirtnsnowrider]

DSCN3042.jpgDSCN3043.jpgDSCN3044.jpgDSCN3045.jpgDSCN3046.jpg

Finished the paint today. Here are some pics of the bottom and without the canopy.

[dirtnsnowrider]

DSCN3050.jpgDSCN3051.jpgDSCN3052.jpgDSCN3053.jpgDSCN3054.jpg

Now its time to figure out the layout for the electronics.

[tlandauer]

That looks real good, I missed this thread for a couple days, I like the paint, wish I have more knowledge with these automotive paint, did you do the layup for the FG box? I see what you mean about the riding angle. I like the splash guard---is that what's called, the extra''fence" in the front of the sponsons , some of the nice wood kits have that, the TS3 by comparison has a more pedestrian look.
Looking back to post#1, IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT IS THE SAME HULL!

[Heaving Earth]

Looks nice man. I did the same thing with a vs1 once. I love taking disasters and bringing them back to life -)

[dirtnsnowrider]

The fiberglass box was an extra from a Prather Lap Cat I vintage hull I picked up. I am looking to cut and extend the radio box to fit the cut out in my hull. I am also looking at picking up a Hyper Performance angle drive. Unfortunately that particular drive is out of stock and has been for a while and finding a used one is going to be a task. I like the scale look of the Pro Boat Stiletto OBL but maintenance on it is a real pain. I need to figure out the look for the window in the canopy and attach some UL-1 mirrors.

I really like the look of this hull and had been looking for one for a while with no success. I came across this TS2 hull for a sweet deal and picked it up. All it needed was some body work and paint. I planned on my own paint job anyway so why get a perfect hull if i have to prep and sand it. Sometimes you can get killer deals if you do not mind having to put some work in.