Expresscraft Thunderbolt
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Spanish Fort,
AL
Posts: 353
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Expresscraft Thunderbolt
many of you may remember me from the Easy Vee...lol. I just wanted to post pics of my second boat an expresscraft thunderbolt. Currently Iam waiting on strut and radio box... rudder and pretty much everything is here ready to be installed. Check it!
#2
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Spanish Fort,
AL
Posts: 353
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: Expresscraft Thunderbolt
the recent pics were of the pipe because I had clearance issues. I cut the cowl back more and it works great. Also I realize the bolts were upside down on the butch block and engine mount. I fixed them. These pics are about a week old. ( have been waiting on hardware)
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: , AUSTRALIA
Posts: 255
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: Expresscraft Thunderbolt
ORIGINAL: wave waker
got a question on picture no. 7, are the bolts intended to be like that protruding?
got a question on picture no. 7, are the bolts intended to be like that protruding?
Cheers, Chris
#5
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Spanish Fort,
AL
Posts: 353
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: Expresscraft Thunderbolt
ORIGINAL: stackeddeck
the recent pics were of the pipe because I had clearance issues. I cut the cowl back more and it works great. Also I realize the bolts were upside down on the butch block and engine mount. I fixed them. These pics are about a week old. ( have been waiting on hardware)
the recent pics were of the pipe because I had clearance issues. I cut the cowl back more and it works great. Also I realize the bolts were upside down on the butch block and engine mount. I fixed them. These pics are about a week old. ( have been waiting on hardware)
#9
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Spanish Fort,
AL
Posts: 353
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: Expresscraft Thunderbolt
Ididn't really give up on the easy vee. Ifinally got the engine running well and then the first day it was actually running well the cheap china pipe cracked at the header and I hit something in the water thus breaking the cheap aluminum prop. The little bit I saw of it running looksg reat. Sure was fast. Ireally wanted a cat and thoguht a fresh start might be nice because I messed up so much on te easy vee I don't think it would have lasted to long. I wanted a new boat with better quality gear. Anyway... so far the build has gone great. I'm still waiting on the strut and radio box...
#10
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Spanish Fort,
AL
Posts: 353
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: Expresscraft Thunderbolt
Package from Gizmo came in today. I installed water outlets, 11/32 brass tubing into butch block with expoxy putty, pipe stop, and Iput a rudder grommet on the exhaust hole. Sorry pics are dark and fuzzy my camera is lame.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
#14
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Climax Springs,
MO
Posts: 737
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: Expresscraft Thunderbolt
ORIGINAL: stackeddeck
Thanks Dockman. That IS how long the pipe will be if that is what you are asking? Is it ok?
Thanks Dockman. That IS how long the pipe will be if that is what you are asking? Is it ok?
#17
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Spanish Fort,
AL
Posts: 353
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: Expresscraft Thunderbolt
Thanks Sheograth.
Dockman it is a 2" offset and Ican't really shorten it any. Ikind of need a 3 inch offset 1 inch drop to make it a better fit because right now it really tight as you can see.
Thanks guys
Dockman it is a 2" offset and Ican't really shorten it any. Ikind of need a 3 inch offset 1 inch drop to make it a better fit because right now it really tight as you can see.
Thanks guys
#18
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Spanish Fort,
AL
Posts: 353
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: Expresscraft Thunderbolt
latest progress:
yes, pics were taking at night on kitchen counter... I tried to do it in brighter area than last time... still pretty bad pics..sorry
yes, pics were taking at night on kitchen counter... I tried to do it in brighter area than last time... still pretty bad pics..sorry
#21
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Spanish Fort,
AL
Posts: 353
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: Expresscraft Thunderbolt
Thanks! I will work to get em lined up well. Going to work on radio box now...tryign to figure out how to mount it and then I will mount the throttle servo...won't work on rudder till ma servo comes in.
Thanks I will post pics tonight or tomorrow...or Saturday
Thanks I will post pics tonight or tomorrow...or Saturday
#22
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Adelaide, AUSTRALIA
Posts: 3,507
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: Expresscraft Thunderbolt
Looking good. Remember to set your strut to the correct height before you glass the stuffing tube in place. It looks quite low in those pics. If you have it at the recomended height for that hull when you glass it in, it will make future strut adjustments much easier.
#24
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Broomfield, Co. CO
Posts: 1,120
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: Expresscraft Thunderbolt
I built this T/Bolt about 4 years ago. There are a few things I noticed on your build. First: Your motor appears to be mounted too far back. The sparkplug should be about 1/8" behind the scoop with the cowl on. These boats run light in the front as it is, so the motor should be as far forward as you can get it.
Second: Your pipe is too long! With that header, you'll need to shorten the pipe up. I made a water cooled extension to go on the back of the pipe on my build so the pipe would go all the way out the transom. We also wrapped the pipe because it was steel to reduce the heat inside the hull.
Third: The transom on the T/Bolts is not square to the sponsons and your hardware will not be square as a result. I machined up some 2* shims to bolt on behind the hardware to square things up.
I had many more pictures of this build, but they are trapped on the old hard drive for this computer that crashed a couple years ago. I had to go to JRCBD and copy these! LOL
Good luck, Brian
Second: Your pipe is too long! With that header, you'll need to shorten the pipe up. I made a water cooled extension to go on the back of the pipe on my build so the pipe would go all the way out the transom. We also wrapped the pipe because it was steel to reduce the heat inside the hull.
Third: The transom on the T/Bolts is not square to the sponsons and your hardware will not be square as a result. I machined up some 2* shims to bolt on behind the hardware to square things up.
I had many more pictures of this build, but they are trapped on the old hard drive for this computer that crashed a couple years ago. I had to go to JRCBD and copy these! LOL
Good luck, Brian
#25
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Spanish Fort,
AL
Posts: 353
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: Expresscraft Thunderbolt
Thank Bmad,
First, my engine is as far forward as I could get it. The spark plug is right in behind the scoop opening like it should be...
As for the pipe, I don't know what you mean by it is to long. If its a performance issue I am not going to deal with it yet. Getting the boat running is number one. I can work on increasing performance later. Even if I did need to shorten it all I could do is cut off the stinger? If you are saying moving it back on the header and have an extension on the end I could do that I guess.
The transon problem can easily be fixed by adjusting the strut since the angle can be changed. The rudder also has a little give way in it.. Plenty of people run without the metal or wooden blocks to correct the angle of the transom so I think I will just adjust the strut to make it 90 degrees with the sponsons.
Thanks mart, yea I had to cut up a few holes in the cowling for the pipe clearance. The inside of my cowl will be nice n cool!
Here are some pics of my latest progress. Everything is self explainatory except for the 2nd set of pictures of the butch block and collet. The second set is the correct set as you can see the cable was not aligned very well with the collet. I had to redo the butch block to fix this.
Thanks for the help everyone
First, my engine is as far forward as I could get it. The spark plug is right in behind the scoop opening like it should be...
As for the pipe, I don't know what you mean by it is to long. If its a performance issue I am not going to deal with it yet. Getting the boat running is number one. I can work on increasing performance later. Even if I did need to shorten it all I could do is cut off the stinger? If you are saying moving it back on the header and have an extension on the end I could do that I guess.
The transon problem can easily be fixed by adjusting the strut since the angle can be changed. The rudder also has a little give way in it.. Plenty of people run without the metal or wooden blocks to correct the angle of the transom so I think I will just adjust the strut to make it 90 degrees with the sponsons.
Thanks mart, yea I had to cut up a few holes in the cowling for the pipe clearance. The inside of my cowl will be nice n cool!
Here are some pics of my latest progress. Everything is self explainatory except for the 2nd set of pictures of the butch block and collet. The second set is the correct set as you can see the cable was not aligned very well with the collet. I had to redo the butch block to fix this.
Thanks for the help everyone