Well after a couple of weeks of doing this and that, making up various components and painting them and generally fiddling, I took a step back and realised that there is a hovercraft emerging from the toxic fumes, dust and other assorted cr*p in the garage...So I figured it was time that I put some more photos on the site.

And yes, the paint set amazingly well....by leaving 24 hours between coats and then 48 hours after the final coat, at an average of 4 degrees C the paint cured pretty well. I imagine it has not compeltely gone hard but it has allowed me to get back in and start assembling things. This paint is fantastic stuff, so long as it lasts for a while I will be happy. The finish as I said is not perfect, but its not half bad for an amateur using a roller!

A shot showing the complete dashboard complete with all gauges and switches. You can also see the handlbars with throttle and the splitter lever (Fiesta handbrake lever)

The switches and guages from the left are as follows: Headlights, Strobe, Bilge pump, Oil pressure, Rev counter, Water temperature, Choke lever, Charge warning light, Ingition key switch and ignition light.

The throttle lever is infact an old style cable brake lever from a motorbike. It had to be modified a little bit to give the required 55mm of travel for the subaru carb.

The big hole on the right hand side of the cockpit is an inspection hatch which gives me access to the plenum area and the steering cable.

A general shot of the cockpit area.

The fuel tank is semi-perminantly fixed inplace. By this I mean, if you want to take it out you have to remove the white "ladder" style frame which is held in with stainless screws and sealant. I have done it this way because it holds the tank securly and provides the required support for the seat which fits over the tank.

The black tube is the breather which will be routed somewhere when I can think of somewhere to put it.

On the right side of the seat up near the handlbars you can just make out the battery isolation switch and the lanyard kill switch.

This is a shot of the inside of the right hand bulkhead cupboard (Looking from behind). It is the main route that all of the wires, cables and hoses take from the front of the craft to the engine bay. Some people in the past have routed the wires inside the plenum but I would prefer to keep it all inside the craft where is should be safer.

The metal cube on the right is the fuel pump. The white spiral wrapped cable is the main wiring loom and the thick black and red wires are the main power to the starter.

The servo is connected to the choke and is opperated from a small knob on the dashboard. I could have used one long length of cable from the engine to the handlebars but I figured I might as well be creative so I used a basic circuit and a servo instead and tests show that it works really well. Only time will tell how durable it is...But as it is not a vital system I can experiment and get away with faults.

Just a random fact...It has been roughly a year since I started building this hovercraft. Initially I had only planned it to take me a few months....Its weird how time flies when you are having fun :-s

Spent most of sunday in depression mode after screwing my engine up, but I did manage to do all those "little" jobs which I had been putting off...Consequently the craft now looks "complete" even though there are a few things missing like spark plugs GRRRRR!!!

(General shot of rear end including engine cover with stainless grilles.)

Seats loosley covered...I only spent a few mins doing the seat covers so they are not perfect yet.

I have used 2 inch thick preimum hard foam which is quite comfortable for my light weight :-)

Thats it for now, will post back results of fan/trany test when I finaly get the plug sorted...

Dunc