Miss Geico Lets see what this thing can do!

[JPriami]

Got my brand spanking new miss geico today. Damn this thing is sweet looking!
Took the stock motor and esc out soon as i got off work. Didn't even power that up. It won't do what I will need it to do.




Let's stuff off huge motor number 1 in there and see if the beast fits because it's just a couple mm bigger than motor number 2 I might be running.




Well I think i can use the stock motor mount. I will add a support brace to help hold the back of the motor since it's so big.
I will need one of those great epoxy hatches because the Tupperware lid won't fit now. Kind of figured that.
Need to do a little modification to the rudder bracket too.
I've got a list of things I plan on doing for this little rocket ship. it's going to be lots of fun.

Justin

[JackBlack26]

Why do you feel the need to modify the rudder bracket? Don't buy in to that hype cause that's all it is.

Definitely add support or the wood will come loose and disaster will strike. What size and kv motor is that?

If you're going for big plans then you might as well gut the wood out and get a real motor mount and drop the battery trays dorn so you can run 4S, 2P for some real power!

An empty hull makes things much easier.

[JPriami]

Might have to replace the wood and drop a real mount in her if it is a known problem thanks for the heads up.

I'm not running 4S (14.8) setup in mine.
I'm going for 5S & 6S on bigger motors that can swing a bigger prop. Hence why I say about doing some work on that rudder bracket. Larger props might not clear it that well. I haven't tried to set larger prop on it yet. I will get a little more familiar with it tonight.

[JPriami]

Actually other than the motor mount the wood might come in very useful for all the stuff I've got to get in here.

[JackBlack26]

I don't know how big of a prop you're planning on running but the largest I run right now is an x445. What I do is just drop the strut so the bracket barely clears the prop. When I go back to a smaller prop I raise the strut so it sits as level with the ride pads as possible, usually with a x442 or 42x55 which is what I run. I just bought a carbon 47mm prop that I plan on running on my next outing with the MG. The 1800kv castle outrunner has no problem swinging a large prop considering it can swing large 500mm heli size blades.

That looks good though!! You're going to love the boat. Just make sure you set your batteries up right. Do not hang them off the back of the tray or it will bounce. 9" is center of gravity and you need to move forward, not backwards, specially with larger motors. With more speed you need to run the batteries as far forward as possible of the boat will flip backwards. This is all from experience with this boat. I love mine and I love pushing it's limits!!

[JPriami]

I hear ya on the battery placements. And thanks for the COG info. I was looking at that when setting stuff in there getting an idea of layouts. I plan on this boat doing well over 60mph so I will need to have it setup and balanced to keep her on the water. My other cat does 62 but its a little longer & a twin.

I will have 2 motor options going on. Just seeing what one I will use. The one in there is a Castle 1520 1600Kv the other will be a Castle 1518 1800Kv I have a box of props and another one on the way I will sharpen, balance & polish to try too. The largest prop I may try will be 46mm. But I will be running data logs on the boat as I step it up each time to see what she will or wont handle respectively.
I am going to add a 2nd water pickup so the esc and motor are separate systems.
Im going to coat the wood and where it joins to the glass with 20min epoxy tonight. This should help keep it strong for a good while. Ive thought about drilling a couple holes in the motor mount wood and filling it with epoxy to keep that as the front mount for the motor. Then making a clamping ring to mount on the back and have it joined to the fiberglass floor of the boat to support the motor. Still kicking that idea around though.

[JackBlack26]

Motor support for the 1520 is a good idea. The epoxy should do the trick. The thing I found with mine is that the epoxy they use cane apart from the wood because the wood is sealed and did not soak in to it for a secure bond. If you decide to epoxy it, sand the wood with a rough dremil sanding drum or even scuff if with a cut off wheel to make sure the epoxy has seonething to grab on to. You shouldn't need glass if you take the time to prep both the wood and the hull. Epoxy alone should do it.

The boat should do well over 60 with the 1800 on 6s and the right prop. Good thing is you have a data logger. I don't even have a GPS yet. Ether motor will push the boat without any issues. I ran my 1800 outrunner on 6s and it seemed faster than the 2650 on 4s and obviously drew less amperage and kept the caps cooler. RPM wise, they are about the same. The boat will be a handful until you get your setup right, so be careful. But she sure like speed once set up right!!

[tiqueman]

Looking good Justin. Cant wait to see vids of it.

[JPriami]

might get my gopro hd by the time i get done with this so that should be fun & nice vids

[ron1950]

we need vids man!!! vids!!!! looks fast just sitting there lol

[JPriami]

Heck yeah Ron I know your right. Soon as I pulled this thing out of the box I was like hell yeah! its going to look sweet out on the water

[TheShaughnessy]

46 mm prop shouldn't be much of an issue. Maybe a light modification if you want any positive trim.

I'm running an m445 and can hit the strut if trimmed to high but with my powerplant and that prop positive trim wasn't something i needed.

I would imagine that more motor and prop would do a better job keeping the bow down without any positive trim. As for COG... BJ has that number pretty dialed and i run my bats in that same general area.

If you really think the strut needs some grinding have at it, but i'd try seeing what you can get on there and at what angle before tearing into brand new hardware.

[JPriami]

Well I wasnt sure if I was going to grind the strut brace or move the whole bracket up a little. it sits low on the back of the transom area where it mounts. Maybe to keep more rudder in the water? Is my guess. But it has room to go up from looking at the outside of the hull and that would allow more distance between the brace and the prop without cutting the brace. BUT you might have 2 little lower holes to fill in the fiberglass. But that could be touched up.
IDK I didnt look real close inside at the back of the rudder/strut mount to see if that would be easy or hard.
probably hard since no one else is doing it lol.

[JPriami]

Got the wood nice and epoxy coated.
Then started getting stuff actually installed.
Added floatation too. Making a brace out of plexiglass to go on front of motor to support it's weight with a little metal strap that will go over the top to hold it in place in the event of a crash.
Also a shelf on the side to hold the eagle tree LCD display.
Waiting on my second water pickup to come I'll mount that off the side of the strut/rudder brace perhaps.
Still more to do. Need to trim motor shaft too. Hope I can get her wet the first time this weekend.

[wilsta67]

dont forget to add floatation to your hatch. there as rare as hens teeth!