Hornet F1 Upgrades - "Build"

[FE-Speedboats]

Now we mount the outboard to the boat. I used a K&B adjustable mount (pretty standard for the K&B 3.5). It bolts on easy enough. Height was the issue here. The prop shaft needs to be at the right height so I researched that and was able to mount the leg such that the bolts were nicely positioned through the transom board. Now, another issue was the steering horns since the nuts and short threaded pieces would hit the mounting plate and severely limit the steering arc. To solve this problem I used a regular hacksaw to cut about 1/4" off the top of the mounting plate. This allowed me to keep the mount centered in the transom board, and still drop the leg to the correct height with clearance for the steering rod holders/nuts. You can see this in the one photo. The end result was very nice.

You can also see the "collett" flex adapter I am using which is a Proboat collett. I used Loctite on the set screw, as well as on the machine screws in the leg.

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[FE-Speedboats]

I upgraded the servo to one with all metal gears and with more strength. You can see the original and the new one. Easy enough to do. I used the original radio box and receiver, although I added an antennae holder to the lid and kept it just short of the height of the body cover. I re-glued the servo holder into the box, added some velcro strips to the receiver to hold it in place, and to the top of the lid and the ESC to hold the ESC in place, backed up with a tie-wrap around the ESC and through the lid to keep it there.
Note that the final result for the steering rods was perfectly straight rods, right from the steering horns through the original holes in the transom and onto the servo perfectly with no bends required.

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[FE-Speedboats]

Now the final steps, the cover pins and a couple sponson drains. I used Traxxas Spartan pin retainers and just drilled holes for them where you want. I used a couple of Aquacraft drain plugs. Pretty simple to install.

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[Doby]

Hi Graham...looks like an great mod...should be interesting to see how it compares to our VS-1's....still a few weeks away from open water ....