This is the hovercraft web site for Howard Boyle

Home
Up

DEC 27, 2003.  Mark came over again and we decided to start on the battery box. We marked the plywood deck and cut it with a jig saw and hand saw.  The plywood was peeled off (it was glued on well) and then I used a hot wire cutter to remove 3" of foam.
The hole is rough cut and now needs to be sanded flat.  I was going to use an Optima battery but they were way heavy so I went with one for a Ford.  It was about 10 lbs lighter than the Optima.
Dec 28, 2003.  Here is the battery box glued  in the hull with spray foam.  It worked pretty good.  Now I need to Fiberglass it together and to the hull.  The fiberglass will add water resistance and some protection from very minor battery leakage should that occur.
Jan 13, 2004.  Chris Keirs was once again imposed on to help make the battery box cover.  Here we are cutting the plywood to size and we have used the table saw to dado the wood for the cover frame.  The dado is to allow the door to fit flush when the gasket is compressed.
Top and bottom pictures of the cover with the frame under the plywood.
The first picture is what the cover will look like.  I will use a 10" x 14" 1/8" plate aluminum for the door.  The 2nd picture is the block of wood I added to the nose to make it stronger.  I figure people will sit and push on it so it better be pretty strong.
Jan 19, 2004.  1st picture is one of the battery hold downs I made.  They are made from 1" square wood with battery box hold downs cut to size.  The 2nd picture shows the battery box area with the front reinforcements and ready for the top to be put on.
Jan 23, 2004.  Here is the battery and front cover on.  I still need to add the screw mounts for the other three sides.  I used "T" nuts on the frame and will use SS screws.
Jan 28, 2004.  I thought the battery door should be stronger and I wanted to play with the mini vacuum system I made.  So I laminated the back of the door with carbon fiber and fiberglass.  It came out nice.