Blackbird 21 build thread

[PHM Racing]

It will look even nicer with a PHM Racing cowl on it B)

no it won't

Yes it will

 

[Don Ferrette]

It will look even nicer with a PHM Racing cowl on it B)

no it won't

Yes it will

You boys play nice!

Hmmmm, the stock cowl in all carbon would look trick. B)

 

[Chris Wood]

the reason i say it won't is 2 reasons.

a. i don't like other peoples stuff on my own boats.. what don does with it is up to him.

b. the cowl fits the boat and i know that unless you have a boat to match it to it won't fit.

oh and c.

i make my own stuff so people don't have to buy something from someone else.

i am done.

chris

 

[shadow]

No offense Chris, you offer one hell of a product, but I bought two of phm's carbon fiber cowls (21 eagle, 90 eagle twin).

Man you can't beat that kind of instant upgrade in the looks of the boat. I think you should just go for it Don, they look way too sweet to just think about it.

Cliff

 

[Chris Wood]

none taken.

i think mike does nice work.

i just prefer to make my own and sell it that way..

if someone wants a cowl that they arn't sure if it will fit the curve of the boat that is fine with me.

like i said.. mike does really nice work. just personal preference.. plus i don't know how the cowl of his will effect the handling.. i changed mine and i know what it does to mine.. but most people don't look at that kind of stuff.

chris

i

 

[Chris Wood]

don,

can you let me know how much difference the motor spaces on the bolts is for the new cmb for future reference.

thanks

chris

 

[Don Ferrette]

i changed mine and i know what it does to mine.. but most people don't look at that kind of stuff.

.... and the stock cowl is fitted to the boat as nobody knows this boat better than Chris, plus it looks killer.

 

[Don Ferrette]

don,
can you let me know how much difference the motor spaces on the bolts is for the new cmb for future reference.

thanks

chris

No problem.

 

[steve wood]

by the way up until this year i made the cowls out of carbon fiber. i don't have a vacume bag set up, and lay the cowls up with west systems , by hand. the carbon is a bear to work with this way and i was never happy the way they came out. at this point i can't justify buying a vacume pump to just build cowls for our boats. i tried the glass with the black dye and it comes out looking much nicer this way than the way they were with the carbon, plus the carbon is 12 times more expensive than glass and is harder to come by with the world wide shortage. this way we can keep the cost of the boat down, and still have a great looking cowl. we know that the cowl adds down force, and the boat doesn't handle as well without it. we don't know how it will handle with someone elses cowl. it may work ok, we just don't know

 

[mark voorhies]

by the way up until this year i made the cowls out of carbon fiber. i don't have a vacume bag set up, and lay the cowls up with west systems , by hand. the carbon is a bear to work with this way and i was never happy the way they came out. at this point i can't justify buying a vacume pump to just build cowls for our boats. i tried the glass with the black dye and it comes out looking much nicer this way than the way they were with the carbon, plus the carbon is 12 times more expensive than glass and is harder to come by with the world wide shortage. this way we can keep the cost of the boat down, and still have a great looking cowl. we know that the cowl adds down force, and the boat doesn't handle as well without it. we don't know how it will handle with someone elses cowl. it may work ok, we just don't know

I purchased a Blackbird this winter and I must say the cowl Steve makes would be hard to duplicate for that hull.

You would have to have a hull on hand to match the curve for a mold, don't know how else it could fit.

The carbon stuff looks cool, but with a dye epoxy your beatin cost and labor, looks great as you can see with

Don's photo.

 

[Joe_Knesek]

Basalt is a good alternative to carbon. It is real easy to work with, looks very good & cost much less than carbon fiber. It's also more heat resistant than carbon.

http://www.sollercomposites.com/composites/compositehybrid.html#coloredfiberglasshttp://www.sollercomposites.com/composites...loredfiberglass

 

[Mark Bullard]

by the way up until this year i made the cowls out of carbon fiber. i don't have a vacume bag set up, and lay the cowls up with west systems , by hand. the carbon is a bear to work with this way and i was never happy the way they came out. at this point i can't justify buying a vacume pump to just build cowls for our boats. i tried the glass with the black dye and it comes out looking much nicer this way than the way they were with the carbon, plus the carbon is 12 times more expensive than glass and is harder to come by with the world wide shortage. this way we can keep the cost of the boat down, and still have a great looking cowl. we know that the cowl adds down force, and the boat doesn't handle as well without it. we don't know how it will handle with someone elses cowl. it may work ok, we just don't know

Cheap vacuum pump. Take the compressor out of a old refrigerator that still runs. You will fine two copper tubes that come off the compressor. One is pressure the other is vacuum. Install a power cord to plug it up and you have a instance vacuum pump that will almost pull a perfect vacuum. Cheap!

 

[Ray Sametz]

Don, If motor sits parallel to the tub, is there an S bend in the drive line???

 

[Don Ferrette]

Don, If motor sits parallel to the tub, is there an S bend in the drive line???

Yes it does. B)

 

[Terry Keeley]

Don, If motor sits parallel to the tub, is there an S bend in the drive line???

Yes it does. B)

Makes things a lot simpler, don't it? Think it's easier on shafts too...

 

[Don Ferrette]

Don, If motor sits parallel to the tub, is there an S bend in the drive line???

Yes it does. B)

Makes things a lot simpler, don't it? Think it's easier on shafts too...

Well yes and no. Simpler in the fact that it allowed plenty of room under the cowl for the valvola style induction system and also belt clearance under the flywheel. This lets you drop the motor a little deeper in the tub effectively lowering your CG, a good thing. Now the stuffing tube will require significantly more effort than a conventional one due to the 'glassed in curved shaft log that you need to get the stuffing tube through. Chris outlines the proper procedure for doing this in the instruction manual and it's not a big deal, just a little time consuming. Is it worth it? I personally believe it is as I've been using S bends in my scale boats for some time now. Rod Geraghty did a rather eye opening series of tests a while back on parasitic drag & the S bend was proven have much less drag as it controlled cable whip better. B)

 

[moparbarn]

they run cooler, too B) .......

 

[Terry Keeley]

Don, If motor sits parallel to the tub, is there an S bend in the drive line???

Yes it does. B)

Makes things a lot simpler, don't it? Think it's easier on shafts too...

Well yes and no. Simpler in the fact that it allowed plenty of room under the cowl for the valvola style induction system and also belt clearance under the flywheel. This lets you drop the motor a little deeper in the tub effectively lowering your CG, a good thing. Now the stuffing tube will require significantly more effort than a conventional one due to the 'glassed in curved shaft log that you need to get the stuffing tube through. Chris outlines the proper procedure for doing this in the instruction manual and it's not a big deal, just a little time consuming. Is it worth it? I personally believe it is as I've been using S bends in my scale boats for some time now. Rod Geraghty did a rather eye opening series of tests a while back on parasitic drag & the S bend was proven have much less drag as it controlled cable whip better. B)

Yup, been doing them that way for 10 years now since Gary P. was telling me about Ed Hughey's tests with his electrics, much less drag apparently. Shouldn't be a big deal getting the inner tube in there, I locktite the strut to it then bend it in an S, grease 'er up and slide 'er right in. :lol:

 

[Chris Wood]

na it is a pc of cake.. take some 400 and sand the inner tube.. some wd-40 spray on the tube and push.. it goes in easy.. now on 1/4 stuff like in the crapshooter it can be a pain in the butt.

chris

 

[Don Ferrette]

na it is a pc of cake.. take some 400 and sand the inner tube.. some wd-40 spray on the tube and push.. it goes in easy.. now on 1/4 stuff like in the crapshooter it can be a pain in the butt.
chris

You're right, it was pretty easy. More pics now added to the gallery-

https://www.intlwaters.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=971