Darin's ProBoat Miss Elam Race Prep

[detox]

I like that hull color. What color is it...Fluorescent Red or Fluorescent Orange? Have you found a match yet?

[Darin Jordan]

I like that hull color. What color is it...Fluorescent Red or Fluorescent Orange? Have you found a match yet?

I'm not sure... I haven't looked yet... I've been trying to do everything I can to protect the factory paint and not have to repaint anything. The ride-pads, for example, will get left either as they are, or painted white... I'd prefer not to paint them at all... just adds weight and drag to an otherwise very sharp surface... I don't really care what the ride-pads look like... If you can see them, you have bigger problems than looks...

[detox]

White is a good idea...maybe Flat White will break up the surface tension a little?

[Darin Jordan]

Ride pads are finished...

They turned out very well, with one slight issue... The right-side pad slipped under the tape slightly and dried just a tough to the right of where I wanted it... Easy to deal with... I just sanded down the outside edge to get it straight with the hull, then sanded a bevel into the inside edge, which will act as a non-trip while the hull is sliding through the turn. Ideally, I'd have liked it to be flush and square, but I don't anticipate it being an issue.

Once I removed all the tape, I used a block sander and scuffed the surfaces and sanded the edges to get them square and sharp. The pads a very flat now and solid.

At the tops, the epoxy combined with the tape-down method I used blended them in almost perfectly. A light sanding here and it's good to go.

Next I'm going to work on making a new turn-fin bracket.

[Darin Jordan]

Just a few more shots to show the finished results...

[Darin Jordan]

Here are the finished angles...

[Jeff Wohlt]

I was thinking flat black would look good. Nothing slick. Alot of the hydros and drag boats have that on theirs but it is a special coating of something.

[Darin Jordan]

I don't think I'll be painting anything until I find out if it works first... there may be some fine-tuning that needs to be done.... Much easier to do if you don't have to get through the paint first...

If I do paint them, it'll be flat white...

[Ub Hauled]

Why do you want the inner sponson with more angle then the outer?

[Darin Jordan]

Why do you want the inner sponson with more angle then the outer?

Without getting into too much technical detail, which would likely give someone the opportunity to call me out on being totally wrong... it helps the boat track straighter and corner faster... Most of your fast Nitro riggers are done this way as well... and some even use toe-in on the sponsons...

Maybe someone who knows more about what they are talking about could chime in and give more detail...

[Darin Jordan]

I initially set out to just modify the existing turn-fin assembly to give it more rigidity... I added a piece of .060" carbon fiber to the bottom of it and drilled it up. This bracket is PLENTY rigid and would work great...

However, with the stock turn-fin mounting with only a single bolt and way up at the leading end, it flexes some laterally from this point.

I decided to make an extended bracket and will drill up the turn fin for a second mounting hole at the top. This should firm it up.

The stock turn fin should work well. It's very rigid and made of stainless. Just needs to be sharpened some and I think it should be up to the task. I'm not really that fond of curved/bent turn-fins, but I'm going to give this one a shot.

The bracket I made is from some 7075 T6 aluminum angle pieces I had laying around. I got the stuff from Boeing Surplus, and it's INSANELY rigid... especially for being so thin...

I think this new bracket may be overkill for most, but I'm going to do it anyhow!

[Ub Hauled]

Without getting into too much technical detail, which would likely give someone the opportunity to call me out on being totally wrong... it helps the boat track straighter and corner faster... Most of your fast Nitro riggers are done this way as well... and some even use toe-in on the sponsons...

Maybe someone who knows more about what they are talking about could chime in and give more detail...

that's what I thought Darin, but I always thought it was on the outer sponson?!
Hmm, I'll research a bit more on that...

[Jeff Wohlt]

No, inner sponson from all that I've seen. Darin hit the reasoning pretty well.

[Darin Jordan]

I made some more progress...

Got the turn fin assembly ready mounted. I used some JB-weld to affix a piece of .090" carbon fiber to the new turn-fin bracket, then drilled up the sponson to fit. We are in luck guys... the ProBoat Miss Elam has an aluminum backing plate across the ENTIRE width of the sponson transom, so I just had to drill it up and tap it accordingly. I tapped it for 3mm screws so I the wrenches would be consistent.

I decided for now to stick with the stock turn-fin. It's made of stainless and is actually VERY rigid. I sharpened it up a bit more and it's like a kitchen knife now. We'll see how it works before putting time into something else.

For now, I'll also just leave it mounted with the single bolt, but I may add one additional in the future. I may also brace the bracket with a brace to the non-trip, but we'll see if it's needed...

[Darin Jordan]

After mounting the turn-fin, I found that the sponson has a fair amount of "flex" to it. This part was a pain to execute, but I layed in some 5.5oz Carbon Fiber cloth into the sponson the best I could. I cut one piece to go into the turn-fin area, and another to lay down the side, then epoxied the heck out of it. I may put down some more tomorrow, depending on how rigid it feels when I'm done.

No magic tricks here, just a struggle and patience.