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[mogsy]

I have bought one of these ARTR boats off e.bay. It's appeal lay in a semi scale appearence, its a tunnel hull f1 replica, complete with out board drive set up and the fact that the seller had only used it once and had not even applied the decals.
The minus points on this boat would seem to be the mechanical speed controller, motor and flex shaft.
Do any Mayhemers out there have experience of modifying this craft for speed / reliability ??
Which bits do I junk and what to replace with  ??? ???
DONT SAY THE WHOLE THING!!!

(I wanted to spend money on an H&M f1 multi hull but a respected retailer of such wouldnt take my money - my new plan is to gain some experiance with this cheap boat before spending big bucks on the H&M  )

Mogs

[785boats]

G'day from the land downunder.
Yes. I've hopped up one of these things. Here's what I did.

  Replaced motor with Graupner 'race' speed 600.

  Put a cooling coil around the motor.

  Replace the prop shaft bushes with 4mm x 7mm bearings (stainless steel). Trust me , the bushes won't last. Apply a light waterproof grease between the bearings around the shaft.

  Remove radio box and all equipment.

  Make an aluminium bracket to mount the steering servo as close to the rear of the boat as possible. Set it up as a push pull arrangement, ie, a rod from each side of the drive leg. Steering will be more accurate.

  If the back of the main cowling is open, cut a piece of abs plastic or styrene sheet & .glue it into the transom so that the cowling fits over it . /stick some thin foam tape in the cowling to seal  when it's in place. Pass the rods through this with some bellows This keeps out a lot of water.

  Install an electronic waterproof speedy of your choice. I  use one of those blue 50amp ones .(Don't know who makes them) Just don't hit reverse, it can ruin the flex drive . Just on that. Have a couple of spares on hand. I have broken one when I hit a submerged stick. Made a dogs dinner of the prop too.

  Whatever batteries you use 8.4, 9.6, 12 volt The balance point should be about 30% forward of the transom.

  Prop shaft should be adjusted to be level with the bottom of the sponsons & angled up a few degrees  at the rear ie, pointing down slightly in the direction of the boat.

  You'll have to play around with the props. I'm running a 4x38 at the moment on 12 volt but it cavitates in the turns a bit, but goes well . Play with the balance by moving the batteries forward or backwards.

  Hope this helps a bit

  Regards...Paul.
 

[mogsy]

Superb Paul, thanks for all your advice.
Reminds me of why I joined this excellent forum !!!!
I'll get on and do some work on her now I have my workspace back.

Cheers
Mogs

[785boats]

Just a thought , Mogsy.
Before you buy  a motor,, you can get brushless for not much more these days. You'll be surprised at the prices.
Check out ...unitedhobbies.com...
Find a 540 size motor of around 3000kv & a speedy to match & on 6 or 8 cells you've got a fly er. play with the props ... from 4x32 to 4x38  maybe a 6x32
Haven't tried it yet myself but I intend to one day. So I can't be specific.
Just keep an eye on the current draw in the specs. There's some real monsters in amongst them.
Now you've got me thinking.
Paul.