Darin's Top Speed 2 FE Conversion...

[SJFE]

Awesome man. Mine is 90% done. I am out of time to build untill the 5th now so it will be the 9th before I can get it in the water.

[properchopper]

re :

Thanks !! You'll love this boat; plus it has that "scale look " that we both like. BTW, I noticed that you spaced your motor up so the coupler wouldn't hit the outdrive [ I assume that's why you did it]. I had the same problem : the coupler was right against the motor, bottomed on the shaft & was right up against the top of the drive.. To avoid spacing the motor up & raising the CG I shortened the motor shaft a little on the ole' bench grinder [shielded the bearing to keep grit away from it] , allowing it to be higher on the shaft. Your motor is taller, you might give this a try to keep the CG down some. I know Darin's the man with the plan here, but if I can help in any way let me know.

[properchopper]

Servo was weak, will free up the linkages/volt it up/ or replace with higher torque unit.

Just freed up the servo linkages some & it seems much better !

[Darin Jordan]

Servo was weak, will free up the linkages/volt it up/ or replace with higher torque unit. THANKS, Bro !

You're welcome! That's awesome....

Servo... Do youself a favour (all of you) and spend the money on at LEAST a 90 in/lb torque servo... Hitec HS645-MG or equivalent is what the Nitro guys use... A LOT of handling issues can be solved by simply doing this...

By the way... Tony... I TOLD YOU SO!! FUN, EH!???

[Darin Jordan]

To avoid spacing the motor up & raising the CG I shortened the motor shaft a little on the ole' bench grinder

That's exactly what I did... Actually... I've shorted the shafts on every motor I own... They are usually at least 3/16" or so too long... ON the SV27 motor, I trim it about to the flat... maybe a tad further... Keeping that steering block sealed really helps with maintaining the lubrication on the shaft...

[properchopper]

..

By the way... Tony... I TOLD YOU SO!! FUN, EH!???

I just can't stop smilin' !!!

[properchopper]

graphics

Here's how she looks with some simple graphics. Needed something bold to see her better on the course

[Bill-SOCAL]

How DARE you get an orange one!!!!! I have the exclusive rights to that color!! I'll have to contact Tower to issue you a refund and send you a nice white one!!!

[properchopper]

re :

How DARE you get an orange one!!!!! I have the exclusive rights to that color!! I'll have to contact Tower to issue you a refund and send you a nice white one!!!

My boat is red. White was my first choice but no longer available.

[CarolHazlett]

Prop Question

Darin, which prop are you using? Since this is the SV27 set up I was going to use either a 42/55 or 440/3. I noticed most of the people are using 642's. Do I need to go prop shopping? Tell me soon so I can get one polished and balanced before our first race.

[Ctonez]

Carol, you'll probably want a 642 in your prop box anyway.
I currently have my 642 mounted on the tunnel, as my 2 42x55's are on the LSH (SV27 power) and my SV27Spec boat, since those 2 classes have a spec'ed prop.

As far as I know, we haven't spec'ed a prop for Tunnel, and even though this gives certain club members an advantage, I prefer we keep it open.
Sounds like the X642 is a great starting point to me.
This class is gonna be alot of fun!

[Darin Jordan]

Darin, which prop are you using? Since this is the SV27 set up I was going to use either a 42/55 or 440/3. I noticed most of the people are using 642's. Do I need to go prop shopping? Tell me soon so I can get one polished and balanced before our first race.

A 642 would be a good place to start... Might actually be too much pitch... I haven't used one so I'm not sure...

I used a 440/3 with good results...

Each prop seems to have plusses and minusses on these tunnels... getting a good balance between speed and handling is going to require some setup time... I don't really know which one is "best"... I'm still playing with it...

The SV27 motor is a fairly low RPM setup with gobs of torque... It seems to like diameter and blade-area... How you combine those I'll leave up to you for now... Some things are best discovered through trial and error, and I can't give up ALL the secrets just yet! I've already told Corey too much, and now he's whooping my butt every chance he gets!

[CarolHazlett]

Motor Mount

Darin, I noticed on your motor mount that you did not use a spacer plate. Did you cut your shaft instead? If you did, did that leave very much of a flat for the collet set screw? I am using the same REK mount from Ray Fuller that you are.

[Darin Jordan]

Darin, I noticed on your motor mount that you did not use a spacer plate. Did you cut your shaft instead? If you did, did that leave very much of a flat for the collet set screw? I am using the same REK mount from Ray Fuller that you are.

Carol,

Yes... I trimmed the motor shaft length down just to the beginning of the flat... I then extended the flat a tad up the shaft...

Another method that I've seen used and looks very clean is to use The spacer shown in the attached picture and is made by Integy for a Clod Buster. I saw this done on another site (thanks Jim!) and it makes some sense... though I prefer to keep the weight as LOW as possible...

Hope this helps...

[properchopper]

re :

Carol, I ran into the same situation. I taped up the motor to keep grit out of the bearing & ground the shaft shorter with the 'ole bench grinder. Did re-file the flat a little longer as well. I'm with Darin on keeping the CG as low as possible. I didn't feel too bad doing this on the SV27 motor, but grinding on a Neu may feel a little sacriligeous !