42089 Power Boat - MODs and improvements

[Vectormatic]

So i fully appreciate 42089 is only a small $15 set, aimed at kids to introduce them to the theme, and most AFOLs wont give it even a second glance, but i figured i would post this here anyway, as i feel my small improvements really make it a cooler powerboat.

So without further ado:

mods:

- single cylinder engine replaced with a V2, now this is a real POWER boat

- seats recline if so desired

- navigation lights a moved up a stud, for better visibility on the water

- rear "spoiler" bar widened so it now flows nicely with the flanks of the boat, and moved slightly aft

 

Otherwise the boat is pretty much the same, position of the seat is the same as before, the mechanism still works just fine

 

Parts-wise it was a relatively simple job, from memory i added an engine V frame, cylinder, piston/conrod and some connectors/pins (and a 9 long axle)

 

 

Feedback/criticism, other mods/improvements are more then welcome!

[Bartybum]

This set could do with rear wheel steering linked to the motor.

[Vectormatic]

20 hours ago, Bartybum said:

This set could do with rear wheel steering linked to the motor.

Agreed, but i dont think there would be room for both steering and drive on the rear wheels.

Looking at the bottom, i dont see much of a way to make the front wheel steer without basically rebuilding the entire structure of the set, as the bottom is pretty much the backbone. One might be able to rebuild the bottom to have two front wheels and a drive gear though, but you would still need to pass the driveshaft to the back, which would interfere with any steering mechanism on a back wheel.

The most achievable way of adding any type of steering might be to make a caster wheel in the nose, although it would need to be a smaller wheel then the current front to have room to spin