Phil Thomas PT Stealth Build

[Shooter]

Hi everyone. Just started this build today. The hull is much wider than the Vegas so it should provide some additional stability. Overall, I'm really impressed with the quality. It's gonna be awhile before I can get some paint on her. Phil had the hull layed up and sent within a week!

Not sure how I'm going to lay out the electronics and hardware. In the photo, the CG is much further back than the recommended 16". Any recommendations for electronics/hardware placement? Thanks.

[marko500]

Shooter here are some pics of how I set mine up. I've got the COG set to Phils recommendation.

Mark

[Shooter]

Mark - Thanks for the photos. Great idea stuffing the esc into the inside sponson. That's exactly the kind of help I was hoping for!

[marko500]

No problem. If you need pics of anything else or any info let me know.

Mark

[Shooter]

A little hobby time tonight. I machined this alignment pin to make sure the motor and driveline are concentric. The one side is a very close slip fit with the inside of the 1/4" brass tube. The other side is .187" to fit the motor collet. I'm sure others have done it before, but if not maybe I'll add it to the tips and tricks section. It should be dead nuts once I glue everything in.

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[marko500]

Check your motor mount where it attaches to the floor of the hull liner for flex. There is a gap between the inner liner and outer hull. If you feel the motor mount flexes the inner hull too much you may want to CAREFULLY drill a couple small holes near the mount through the liner but be careful not to go through the outer hull. Then squirt some epoxy into the holes to bond the inner and outer hulls together and eliminate the floor flexing.
Are you running your driveline in the center of the hull or offset?

Mark

[Shooter]

I think Phil may have taken care of the gap between the inner liner and outer hull with the latest version? Looks as though he has added a blue spacer between (see photo of motor mount). I only glassed one side of the mount, BTW I'll probably glass the other side today. Should I still shoot some epoxy in there, even with the blue spacer?? It doesn't seem to flex that much.

I tried like heck to jam my esc into the sponson cavity like you did with no luck. What esc are you using? I can always move it later, but for now it's right behind the motor. I'll probably be kicking myself big time because my motor is too far aft now. I think Rum mounted it this way and it ran OK. We'll see..... Rats!!!

The driveline is centered. I try to stay away from the small tweaky stuff (I'll let my driving make the difference there, too bad I suck at it ) I tried to get a smooth gradual bend all the way to the strut.

Going to try the 5.5mm bullets this time. Soldered them on last night as well.

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[marko500]

If you don't think the motor mount flexes too much you should be OK.
I see your sonson openings are way more forward then mine. I have a Seaking 180 esc and it was a tight fit into the sponson, but where mine sits the sponson top to hull bottom is the highest.
Rumdogs boat ran fine with where he had everything mounted. What batteries are you going to use? The esc might be OK where you say, worse case if you have to you could always put a little lead weight in the sponson tips.
I used a Leopard 4074 2200kv motor and a m445 prop and temps were only in the 85-90 degree range on motor and esc.
For my stuffing tube I use a short piece of tube the next size up from my stuffing tube to epoxy into the hull. Then slide you stuffing tube through that tube. Makes adjusting the stuffing tube bend and replacing it way easier. Just slide the stuffing tube out adjust your bend and slide back into the hull.
I centered my driveline and I think I saw somewhere that's what Phil recommends also.
Yeah I can't drive that great either, darn eyesight!
Looks good so far.

Mark

[Shooter]

I will be using (2) 5000mah 4S packs in parallel (Hyperion). I will be running the same motor. Great to hear the temps are in check with the M445. That's a great tip with the stuffing tube. I will definitely do that with my next build (too late for me now!).

Going with a bit of an unorthodox push rod system. I had an old Dubro kit laying around so I figured I'd use it. Had to solder on the thread on one end. I put a ball cup on the rudder end. We'll see how it works!

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[Shooter]

Put a nice bead around the push-rod seal plug.

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[Shooter]

I went with dual seals. One on the outside, and one on the inside since there was a gap between the tub and transom. I'm going to seal up the large cut-outs in the front of the hull and make it function like the "drop tub" design on Grim's boats. I find I get almost ZERO water in the boat that way.

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[Shooter]

Glassed in the other side of the motor mounts.

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[Shooter]

Here's what it looks like at this point. Went with the aeromarine servo mount. This pushrod system turned out pretty nice IMO. I've found as long as you keep the longer length rods straight, they are fine. If you start putting bends in there, watch out!

Some other quick info:

Using a vegas strut. It's simple and the opposite end is threaded (no nut needed). I've used it on several other boats with success. The rudder is from a proboat fastech. I really think this is one of the best rudders out there. The water inlet hole is huge, nice solid arm, and it even has a nice finish to it. It's very inexpensive as well. Gonna have to sharpen it though.

I also went with the 0.150 cable WITH teflon. I know it's small, but we've been running this with the 1515-1Y's and it's been fine (high quality hughey cables). I think a lot of the cable break problems are due to misalignment. Since the stuffing tube is 1/4", it leaves me the room to switch to .187 if need be.

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[Rumdog]

I ended up putting at little bit of lead up in the sponsons. Just a couple ounces in a baloon that was kept in place with pool noodle. It's easy to do,and easy to remove if needed.
It is one excellent running hydro, but it does take some work to get on the water. Mainly filling the little bubbles to get a good finish. Trust me, onnce you get the CG correct you will LOVE this boat! I miss mine!
Phil designs an excellent boat, and it will run with the best of them.

[Boaterguy]