Back to basics

[av8or]

Hey guys,

The fact of the matter is that you can take my knowledge of airboats and put it in the thimble and have room left for a glass of water. I know what looks neat and what sounds good, but what do I really need. Most of my fishing will be in the streams and flats of the gulf coast, in the great bend area. There are oyster beds and rocks in the shallow waters that need to be considered. I also have the swuannee river in my back yard. So, my question is, what would be the best hull for me to be looking at. Glass, or metal.....length.....width......ect. I am not looking for speed, more so stability. I will be using a subaru ea-81 with an amax 2.1 to 1 redrive, turning a 66x32 tennessee prop I used on my gyro......flew good.
I weigh in at 220 and plan to take one other person with me. Feel free to ask for any other info to help in the decission making process. Thanks for your help.

John

[David]

if you get a aluminum you can beat the dents out if you get fiberglass you can fiberglass it

what hulls are looking to get a mini hull or a full size hull cause I have a place where you can buy either

Question is are you planning on running over the oyster bars or going around them or letting the boat bank up next to them

oyster bars are rough on both hulls

and with a mini I think poly is out of the question with weight issues being to much

[av8or]

Definately going mini......chucks aluminum mini is what I have my eye on. I think it would be a good mach up

[Spyda-Ryda]

Without a doubt I would go with aluminum. Oyster shells are not too forgiving on fiberglass. Poly isn't totally out of the question on a mini. We have always run 3/16 on our Spyda hulls. Although being that thin tends to cut and wear much faster than thicker polymer. I'm actually thinking of moving up to 1/4. It seems to lay & "STAY" down much smoother than the 3/16 poly. Also keep in mind the temperature on installation will be one determining factor on how your poly will look after several months. The last time I installed polly on a hull, I had installed it in late february-early March. I thought that we had warmed it enough upon installation so that it would settle just right. Upon completion it layed down perfectly. However, in this past summer when I was repairing the fibergalss hull, I noticed that the poly had stretched and started to buckle a little between the bolts. Not to a drastic point, but to a point that became a concern to me on if it was going to affect the performance of the boat. I have also seen people install it when it's too hot or cold and end up cracking out the ribs on their hull.

[Spyda-Ryda]

Av8or, I was just wondering if you were still considering your boat to be a mini, considering it will be powered by an automotive powerplant? Subaru motors are what we typically use in our mudboats here in LA. The most popular being the 1.6L & 1.8L motors, wich came factory in the early to mid 80's model subaru brat. 1.6L=ea71, 1.8L=ea81, 1.8L Dual Overhead Cam=ea82

[chuckitt]

Hey av8or, after puting some though into boat, Spyda-Ryda is right, with
the Suburu, I would go with the RD2 hull and stiffen the hull with 1/4 inch
polymer UHMW. The engine would carry the extra weight and you would
have the extra protection. A hull jack can be added if needed. What do you
Think? Chuck

[David]

Hey av8or I didnt see where you was using the subaru for your power plant I would use the aluminum hull with poly

[av8or]

He guys,

Thanks for the input, was on the road the last few days and just got service back. I thing the rd2 will be just the ticket. I came thru papee's neck of the woods getting here and see that the river is still up there in his area. Hope to touch bace with him before I head south again. The first thing I did when I get here was to go into the garage and look at my engine and turn it over a few times. Everything feels good, but will still pull the heads and change fluids before I put some spark to it. My modivation levels are right up there and hope to be doing some business with chuck this fall when I get bck in Florida. Thanks again for the help, has helped get me settled as to my goal.

John

[ASHORN]

Av8or,

The Subaru Engine has my interest, I was thinking a rebuilt EA-81 from a place in Co.
I think they also have the newer dual overhead cam also, want simple.
Darn engines these day with all the electronics drives me nuts.

The price is right and it looks like it could be bumped up to 100 HP or so.
It is going to be one Subaru or VW, or Harley still trying to decide.
I have run VW before, easy to work on, can overheat and die.
Staying away from 2 cycles, been there and done that.

I read on some posts they put another cam in and shave the heads
of the Subaru engine.

Would like to hear your thoughts on the engine, redrives.

I want to start my boat but I am going to build around the engine !!

Thanks
Andy
ashorn

[av8or]

Andy,

Well as things would have it, I ended up with a complete boat including a vw engine with a cam and duel weber carbs on each side. I had to rebuild the carbs due to sitting a lot longer then the previous owner seemed to remember.....but boy was the price right. I tore down my Subaru to see how things looked and found it had a bad head gasket, so it was worth the trouble. It is on the bench as we speak awaiting assembly. It has an Amex redrive from Australia. It is a 2.1 to 1 ratio and has a Tennessee 66 26 prop. I used it on my gyro plane and it would cruise comfortably at 55 mph all day long. I used a vw rabbit radiator because of its superior cooling ability for longer ground and pattern operations. If I find that I like this air boat stuff then it will likely be going on one of Chuck's rd2's in the future. I would have him set it up to have the proper weight and balance as well as attitude and axis of engine to compensate for P factor.

I found after much research and practical applications by others in the gyro community, that the ea-81 1.8 was the best bang for the buck and power to weight ratio. There have been a lot of advancements in engine technology since that package has been put together. It did have electronic ignition when I got it and went back to points, plugs and condenser. I got rid of the intake manifold and made as nice clean smooth intake with chrome molly and put on a nice little holly carb to satisfy it's thirst. It has a separate sleeve for the water jacket and a remote thermostat. Everything was done to make maintenance as simple as possible. I have been happy the past performance and would recommend it as a solid platform from which build a boat around. If I can answer any questions feel free to ask. You have found a great forum to learn from and a great group of people that are always willing to help, even if you are not buying from them. Their main interest is to keep everyone safe and to promote the sport as a hole ( of course the mini is king here).

John

[chuckitt]

Hey av8or, John O'Neal from Swamp Bug Airboats put 1/4 inch polymer on one of the RD2 hulls and rigged it out with a 35 HP Briggs. It ran 30 MPH and got on plane with ease. He is building some kit boats for me to sell.
I think it will get up and go with the ea-81.
Thanks, Chuck