UL-1 Overhaul

[CatBoi]

Well,

always thought it was a great little hydro but needed some mods, so here they are...

Will be done in my traditional Cat-Boi Racing Marine color scheme with some changes.

water cooling, drive line, layout and paint.

[CatBoi]

Starting with decal removal, then onto the bay. I added a drive tube support made from an alu spacer and epoxy board.
Holes are drilled next to mounting area so I can inject Aeropoxy between tub and hull bottom to stiffen this area.
Aeropoxy will not run or pool, so it works great for this. (BVM Jets sells it )
Next I added larger diameter s.s. cooling lines and glued them into place both sides to seal the tub area.
A carbon tube thin wall will act to hold the bellows for pushrod more securely and watertight. Trimmed to about 10mm.

[CatBoi]

A better shot of the cooling lines with support.

Ready for primer and taped off. I decided to shave the fins and add these carbon filller plates which will be exposed and clear coated over in the final finish.
shaved the exhaust and mirrors as well. Next up- modified battery tray and placement, rear motor support and few more little mods...

[CatBoi]

Sponsons were blocked flat, slight cup in them.

[CatBoi]

Ok, got the black laid on. Now to wetsand, add graphics then clear coat.

Using Dupont Nason system. Graphics will be the Cat-Boi logo in hot aqua over the black.

Simple color scheme this time, b/w with graphics.

[CatBoi]

Batteries are re-positioned over the sponsons and up front. Carbon fiber pad is glued to floor in 3 places with stand offs made of thin scrap to allow velcro to slip underneath for straps.
also, holes in tub floor made over mount points are filled/injected with epoxy to bond both floors together in those spots.

[Tails Up]

Looks nice!

[Mitch S]

Beautiful work.

[CatBoi]

Ok

Onto the last finish tweaks. Pads are sanded using 1000 grit as not to take too much paint off, only level it gently. The first photo shows the un-sanded pad and you can see the orange peel in the new finish, even though the primer was wet sanded, this process must be repeated. If I cleared over the pads, this would add a lot of weight to the bottom and be much harder to achieve the flat pad I am looking for. Sanding in one direction, running with the pad is also key. In full size hydro/tunnel boat racing we always sanded the running pads with 400 so they loose their grip on the water. the straight sanding lines release the water quicker in short over a glossy or orange peel finish.

Deck areas are wet sanded with 500 grit paper.

next-apply graphics and clear decks.

[CatBoi]

Graphics added, ready for clear coat.

[CatBoi]

cleared, ready for final tweaks and assembly.

[CatBoi]

The motor mount has a major issue, flexing up and down with the weight of the motor. So I added this support, slots are cut through the floor tub then filled with glue. the mount is then dropped in with motor and bolted up. Once dry the motor is frozen in its final lined up position.Both floors are joined.

[CatBoi]

Replaced deans connectors with 6mm bullets.

[CatBoi]

The finished boat... ready to run again.


Das Ende !

[properchopper]

Tight & Tasty as Always