Corky's Build

[Corky]

Well guys it's just about that time...I've been gathering parts and pieces all summer for this build and since my work is slowing down a bit I figured I'd get the thread rolling...
Basic overview:

The hull is going to be a 14 foot aluminum using 1/8th inch 5052...
Engine is a 4A084-4 {new in the crate}

I've got the shop set up for boat building now with lots of room...I bought the Eastwood 175 mig welder{220V} with the spool gun using the .035 wire and a heavy gauge 50 foot cord to reach around the shop...And have learned my first lesson about putting gloves on using the spool gun...Even just a quick first session gave me a nice "sunburn" on my hand and wrist!! Yes, I know better but did'nt give it much thought for how little time I spent dialing knobs and gas pressures...

Anyhow here's 2 pics of my dusty engine in the crate and the starting point of the build..And yes the pics will get better from here on.....

[aerokirk]

Here's one way to get the excitement going fast .... strip off all the unnecessary stuff from that engine until it looks like an aircraft engine! That'll really get the build juices going

[Corky]

Hi aerokirk Happy New Year !!! Yes, that's on the list for tomorrow...Unfortunately I ended up working longer than I'd hoped today but I did get the engine paint today and have a few tricks up my sleeve for after the engine teardown and I'll post them as I go...The engine should look pretty slick if it turns out like I'm hoping...I have the aluminum sheeting in the shop waiting on me but I want to do the engine first so it's ready for the placement when the hull is done...I'm getting excited and hope I can get the build done before our next big site developement project at work or my free time will come to a screeching halt....Supposedly it won't have final approval until march/april so hopefully I get some down time till then...

I'm going to have alot of questions along the way so I hope everyone tunes in on this build to help me out as I go...

[Corky]

Well, I made some progress today...I disassembled the engine and ended up with the usual pile of left-over parts....I was going to put the engine on an engine stand but the bolt pattern is too close to fit my stand...Now that it's tore down I'm thinking I don't really need the stand I can just lift it with the engine hoist for the paint and prep...Here's todays progress...Now it's on to the detailing and painting...

[Corky]

Hello everyone , well it's been a while since I've posted so it's time for an update...What I found while prepping the engine for paint was the fact the green coating was'nt adhering to the engine all that well...There was a light coat of oil on the machined surfaces and although the green "paint"{it's actually an anti-radar reflective coating}seemed to be on there if you hit it with an airgun nozzle the paint would just lift right off....So off it came followed by a wax/grease remover...Here's a pic of the prep in progress...

[Corky]

While investigating the intake joint I found a bunch of casting flash in there so I cleaned it up for the proper airflow...Here's a pic of the finished intake...

[Corky]

And after a few weeks of detailing here's the finished product !!!

[Corky]

I fabbed up some spark plug wiring holders,gave them the mirror polish to compliment the valve covers and intake runners....Then used the original rubber grommets for the insulating duties... If you look closely the intake runners have a number stamp for each cylinder as do the magneto body and the spark plug wire nuts...So it's a no-brainer when disassembly needs to be done...

[Corky]

And the last engine pic for now is with the air cleaner housing installed...Back into the crate it goes for now until I'm ready for it again...Now it's on to the hull fabrication...

[froghunter]

well i suddenly dont want to show off my engine paint job.....


very, very nice work sir.

[Corky]

thank you !! .......I've been following your build and you've been doing a great job...I bet you're getting excited to get your boat on the water reaching the stage you're at now...

[kent]

Hi Corky,
The engine looks good... Should sparkle in the summer sun !
Ok... get busy on that hull...
kent

[Corky]

Hi Kent,

I'll have some updates after the weekend ...

[Papee]

Well having the oldest ugliest boat around does have its advantages, I don't have to compete with builds like this! I don't have much competition at my end of the spectrum, not too many going for the beat up ugly look. Nice work Corky hopefully I'll be feeling well soon that can get a look at it in person.

[Corky]

Hey Papee...Glad to see you posting a little...Hope you get back on track soon....I would'nt say your boat is all that bad think of how many years and mods it's been through... All the info you have gained with that old girl have been the inspiration for so many builds both on site and ones that have'nt posted...



Well, I built myself a table for the hull building ceremony...Around 4 ft wide and 12ft long...And it's split down the middle so I can make cuts and work alone without too many problems...I've collected a few goodies for the aluminum cutting that I'll share so anyone doing this has a reference...I'm cutting 1/8th inch thick aluminum sheeting with a circular saw...I'm using a Diablo non-ferrous blade...The whole key to keeping the metal cutting tools in good shape is a stick wax to keep the blades lubricated,cool and not clogging the blades with aluminum....Aluminum is'nt like steel it'll weld itself on the blades very fast if the tool gets overheated...

[Corky]

Here I'm getting ready to cut the 20 inch sides with the circular saw using an aluminum 10 ft guide rail...Simply clamped in place...I've used some duct tape on the foot of the saw to keep it from marking up the aluminum...I run a few feet at a time and then do two things...Reapply some stick wax and blow the chips off the work area......I do apply a bead of wax to the actual line being cut as an added precaution for lubrication...The results are an arrow straight,perfect cut...

[Corky]

OK now I'll show what I've done for the bow curve...

The front of my boat will have a 2 inch {inside diameter} schedule 40 aluminum pipe...I've seen what appears to be 3 or even 4 inch pipe on a regular sized airboat and I'm not going that big and heavy for a mini so 2 inch it is...

I've cut a piece of OSB board down to 20 inches by 4 feet as a pattern for my aluminum sheeting..I then traced around the pipe for the bow as a reference point...

Now, I could have done the curve any countless ways but I wanted to do it in a way that's easy to follow if anyone else wants their boat to have the same profile..
I secured the pattern to the table squaring it up to the table...The bottom of the pattern{where the radius starts} needs to be at the edge of the table so you can find the radius point directly above the beginning of the curve and have a nice transition from the flat bottom to the curve...The whole object is to find the radius point that intersects both the bottom starting point and the bow nose...I started at 6 ft up but it missed the nose point I needed to hit so I kept moving the radius point down until both points intersected {in this case it was 5 ft 10 and a 1/4 inches up}...Here's a pic of the finished radius...A nice, smooth transition from the bottom to the bow point{my pipe tracing}...

[Corky]

Here's a pic of the finished pattern for the bow.... The pic is a little misleading it is 4 ft long but does'nt look it for some reason...To put things in perspective each line on the pattern is a foot... And then a pic of the pattern transfered to the aluminum sheeting...I'm using a jig saw with a metal blade to cut the curve in the sheeting{lubed up with the stick wax} and believe it or not one jig saw blade cut both left and right side patterns out of the sheet and still looks new...Without the stick wax I've burnt up blades in a few inches on some projects with this thickness of sheeting so the stuff does it's job...

[Corky]

OK guys here's the day I've been waiting for...I had my dad and a buddy of mine help today and we've had a very productive day and had alot of fun in the process...I took a very low tech approach to this...What I did was to make up some 2x2 spacers for the floor of the boat and set the side on...That's my dad there holding the side up and to be honest he was the most excited about me building this boat calling every week for a progress report so who says there has to be an age limit on some good father/son project time...

[Corky]

And to keep it simple we used more 2x2s for the top and some clamps to hold the sides to the required distances...Easy and quick we just needed to have a guy on each side as I went around and tacked the outer bottom seams in place....