Woodstuff 30 Tunnel Build

[Chilli]

I decided it was time for me to dabble in the world of outboard tunnel boats. I had a friend pick me up a Woodstuff 30 FE at the Tunnel Championships in Charleston this past spring and I finally got around to starting a P-Spec/Limited build. The Woodstuffs are made by Mike Crawford and this past year he just started to offer FE versions of his tunnel boats. The boat came with the sides of radio box installed and the fore and aft bulkheads lose so you can install them where you want. Unfortunately, I found the radio box too small for my needs. My Turnigy 4S 40C 5000 would barely fit width wise and the top of the box was only 1/8" above my battery. Because of this, there was not enough room for a speed controller to fit on top of the battery pack. So with tears in my eye's, I ripped the sides of the battery/radio box out of my $300 hull and fabricated a new one. Once the new box was installed, I had to come up with a steering system that would give me maximum room on the inside of the box and yet leave allot of adjustment flexibility for the OS lower. I came up with a pull/pull cable system that exits through the top of the box via some brass tubing with a "S" bend. I think it came out nice. I left the cable sleeve long on the inside of the box to prevent cable chafing with the battery. I also installed a 1/2" motor mount standoff which Dick Loeb recommended to improve handling with the OS lower. I sharpened the skeg of the the OS lower and drilled out the water pickup for increased cooling. I'm awaiting a FE coversion kit for the OS from Hyperformance Products. The boat is all sealed up and I just sprayed the cowling with some Krylon Fusion Burgandy. With any luck I'll get her in the water in a week or two. Again this is my first tunnel so feel free to add any comments or suggestions.

[F1 madness]

Nice job bud,cant wait to it finished

[Rumdog]

AWESOME! The woodstuff tunnels are beautiful!

[Doug Smock]

Nice work sir!!!

[Chilli]

Thanks guys. And for Pete's sake Doug, don't call me sir. Seriously, I just glued six pieces of wood together and drilled some holes. The the real art on that boat is the bottom.

A few questions guys. The OS lower has two grease fittings. Is there a specific tool I need to grease up the flex? Also, Dick told me he was having an occasional problem with servo gears striping. He doesnt seem to have this problem with his nitro boats. I believe he thinks the problem is torque when the boat accelerates quickly. Anyone else have this problem?

[Doug Smock]

The area between my motor and the lower is open. I fill the lower with oil from the top before every run and at the end of the day. I ran a tube from the bottom fitting up to the top fitting. I pull the tube off the top fitting and fill it with oil as well. There is probably a better way but this has been trouble free for two years.
We are using Hitec HS 645 MGs and we haven't had any gear problems. I did have to replace a servo horn when I was run into from behind at our last race.
Torque: You'll find out in a hurry that you HAVE to ease power on , especially from a dead stop.

D.

[F1 madness]

i use futaba,metal geared servos and not had any trouble.
Also dont quote me on this but iv heard and read that the hyperperformance motor adapter doesnt fit the OS legs.
but keep us posted

[Chilli]

I exchanged a couple emails with David at Hyperformace and he told me they do in fact make two kits inlcuding one for the OS (even though their web site does not indicate it). I told him many FE'ers are under the impression that they only make one kit for the K&B style mount. I'll let you know how the adapter works out and snap some pics.

[F1 madness]

I exchanged a couple emails with David at Hyperperformace and he told me they do in fact make two kits inlcuding one for the OS (even though their web site does not indicate it). I told him many FE'ers are under the impression that they only make one kit for the K&B style mount. I'll let you know how the adapter works out and snap some pics.

cool,keep us posted as iv got an OS leg on back order,been waitng ages for it,and ill need an adapter for it aswel.

[Chilli]

A little more progress this week. I recieved a very nice aluminum OS motor adapter and coupler from Hyperformance. The motor mount is probably a little taller than it has to be for the UL1 motor, but is probably just right for a longer shafted Neu. I mounted the reciever which is a dual antenna Futaba 603FS. I taped the antenna wire vertically on the opposite side of the box so I should have good reception without the antenna being mounted externally. Last thing to do is solder bullets to the ESC. As you can see I made the radio box nice and tall so the esc can sit on top of the battery. I also have plenty of room to move the battery fore and aft for CG adjustment. It looks like I will probably have to upgrade the servo to a metal gear model.

I'm curious if you guys running the P-limited set ups use 4mm bullets (not the stock ones) or 5.5's on the motor connections???

[HOTWATER]

Nice Job Mike! If it were mine, I would go with some Dubro threaded couplers and adjustable clevises on the steering arm and soldered clevises on the servo horn. They have worked well in my tunnels....Just my 2 cents there.

-Kent

[Chilli]

I've just been trying to get the boat together as quickly as possible for the Chesapeake race Kent. Plus I already had the materials from my offshore fishing days. I'll take a look at other options over the winter to refine the boat. I'm a bit leary of the soldered links though. I saw one come apart at the Capitol Race.

[F1 madness]

Looking bud,that motor adapter looks a nice piece of kit,good luck with the rest of the build,look forward to some vids

[longballlumber]

I'm curious if you guys running the P-limited set ups use 4mm bullets (not the stock ones) or 5.5's on the motor connections???

Up to this point, the only P-Limited powered boat that I am having trouble with solder joints failing is on my UL-1 hull. I have determined that I am pulling alot of amps with that set up in my UL-1.

My tunnel is fine, my offshore boat is fine, and my rigger is fine (not many runs yet though)...

Later,
Mike

[HOTWATER]

I've just been trying to get the boat together as quickly as possible for the Chesapeake race Kent. Plus I already had the materials from my offshore fishing days. I'll take a look at other options over the winter to refine the boat. I'm a bit leary of the soldered links though. I saw one come apart at the Capitol Race.

I have never had any bad luck with the clevises failing, but could fail just like alot of things. You could always soldered these on and then add your black swivel clevises to them... just a thought for you...

If I were to get an FE tunnel, this would be the one I would get...looks very cool Mike!

-Kent