Airheads new find

[Papee]

Airhead's new hull

[attachment=0:1r23vmjy]DSCF0249.jpg[/attachment:1r23vmjy]

[Papee]

Cool find! I think I would just cut the back off that at the recessed transom and put on a new transom ending up with about a 14 foot hull by the looks of it.

[airhead]

Papee, Anything works for me. Building my first airboat is where i was but whatever you feel is best.

Thanks for all the help, Jim

[Papee]

May as well start out here clean.

[Duane Scarborough]

Airhead,

It sure looks like it has potential. I can hardly wait to see what you do with it.

Good Luck, and keep us posted.

Duane

[Sandman]

Airhead.. who's little plane in the back ground?

[airhead]

Sandman, I tried to pm you. I'm not sure it went thru but that's one of mine and for sale. But i want to keep that off this site. I didn't realise it was in the picture until it was posted. If you are interested please pm me.

Thanks, Jim

[airhead]

Hoops are made and i can now post pictures

[airhead]

I've been doing a little cleaning on the engine. But it's not near finished Now if anyone wants one of these props, i hold the patent

[Duane Scarborough]

airhead,

The hoops look nice and uniform from that angle. Tell us how you did it. Bending mine kicked my butt.

The engine is looking clean as well. Looks like it's almost ready for some double nought top secret stealth paint.

The prop may need a little work though.... I think the nail holes are unbalanced....

Nice work !

Duane

[David]

What kind of thrust numbers are you looking to get out of that prop O and if you use some of Duanes special top secret stealth paint it adds 5 more horse power

[buster]

Duane,

You never told me that I think I'll give mine a couple more coats tomorrow

Dave

[River Rat]

Hey, yea Airhead, is that fine prop borrowed off the plane?
Going back on the plane, right?? :P :P

On a serious note... Engine is looking good! Gettin her clean
Do you plan to paint the aluminum or leave bare?
I don't know how much difference it makes, but I was always told painting aluminum takes away from its ability to dissipate heat - that the paint holds heat in. I think "rough" (non-polished) finish also helps with heat dissipation, but again, not sure how much.

Hmm... I have sparked my own curiosity with this post
That means I'll have to drag one of our metalurgists at work into a quick, for personal gain, conversation to make sure I didn't dream this

Keep them pics a comin!

DT

[Sandman]

I'd be interested in the paint/heat pro's n con's
But the 032 I have almost looks like the block was powder coated when it was made. It's hard to imagine the aluminum casting was so perfect that it left no visible signs of the casting process, aside from the seams.
I say, "when it was made" because my motor is from 1968... did they even powder coat back then?
Not trying to hijack the thread... but I would like to see what a metallurgists would say.

[airhead]

Well darn I thought the prop was ready. I think it will do until the new one gets here. Now for the painting. My security clearance has expired so i had to buy another kind but it is close. As for the deal with painting the engine; it is cleaning up pretty good so i probably will not paint all of it. I think the cylinders will disipate heat better if the cooling fins are not painted but I don't know if it is enough to really matter. I am interested in Rat's findings on this. I really do like the black and since the hull is white it will really stand out.

Later

[airhead]

Duane, I just realized that i didn't tell you about how the hoops were made. I can not tell a lie, i used a tubing roller

Jim

[Duane Scarborough]

Duane,

You never told me that I think I'll give mine a couple more coats tomorrow

Dave

Buster,

That part was supposed to be a secret. Now David's let the cat out of the bag and everyone knows. Be careful though, too much, and who knows what'd happen...

Airhead,

I thought that I had a guy lined up to do mine with a tubing roller, but when it came time to do it, he'd changed jobs.

Airhead and Sandman,

I ain't no expert on these things, but I've always been lead to believe that black dissipated heat better than any other color. Think about copper radiators, wood stoves, etc. It will be interesting to hear what you learn Sandman.

Thanks,

Duane

[Duane Scarborough]

Here's a couple of examples of why you may want to paint the cylinders and case.





Everything that "looks" to be rust free aluminum isn't neccessarily so.

I just painted the entire engine, beacuase I'm lazy.



Plus, according to David, it added 5 HP.

Duane

[Sandman]

it's purty!
I like the all black Duane.

[buster]

Duane,

I guess I'm not gonna get too carried putting more coats of paint on it. After all, I can't afford to go to a four blade prop

Dave