Darin's Top Speed 2 FE Conversion...

[Darin Jordan]

Boy if I didn't know better I would swear you worked for Oberto

One could only wish! One of these days... I need to find a real sponson willing to pay for all this talent...

[Darin Jordan]

Once Ray gets the motor covers done the high performance electric outboard will be complete.

I agree...

I'm going to be reworking the mounting of the steering linkage at the motor... maybe even before this weekend... as I never really liked the ball-sockets that are on there for this purpose... too much weight and torque to try to control for those little things... NOW I know why you cut down the top of the transom area on yours! Impossible to run steering arms straight to the motor steering arms...

[Darin Jordan]

OK... I couldn't wait... I stopped today and picked up some parts and have re-worked the steering rod ends... These are much less likely to fail or give me trouble...

NOW I'm "done"...

Well... errr... except that I now want to get some STAINLESS STEEL bolts for the new likage mount points (a little longer than what is there so as to fully engage the lock-nut...)...

Are we EVER truely finished??? :D

[andym]

Darin enough playing how about running that fine boat!!

[whiplash]

that'll work real nice........

[whiplash]

Darin, just wondering what are you using to charge the poly rc 4S1P 5000mAh, and how are you balancing it? what brand charger and balancer? thanks

[Darin Jordan]

Darin, just wondering what are you using to charge the poly rc 4S1P 5000mAh, and how are you balancing it? what brand charger and balancer? thanks

The 4S1P setup I have is actually two 2S1P cells (4350mah) wired in series... I charge them by initially balancing and peaking them individually, either on my Hyperion charger or on my ICE chargers... using Hyperion LBA-10 balancers... Then I hook them together in series and race with them...

During the race-day, I don't use a balancer and I'll charge these up as 4S1P... again either with my ICE or Hyperion charger... If I want to, I can hook two of my balancers up per the Hyperion instructions to balance charge these on the Hyperion together, which is likely what I figure out how to do this week... I have all the network wiring, etc. to do it...

By next season, I'll have dedicated 4S1P packs, but this year I only bought 2S1P packs, as I mostly race the N2 classes... That was just my way of making a choice of classes that would make the transition to Lipos more affordable... as I can use combinations of 2S1P packs to do just about anything I want...

[kavvika]

You can just thread the locknut backwards in the meantime, I do this on the steering on my TC since the bolt is just 1mm too short to fully thread into the plastic. But wow, that is quite the boat. Very nice work!

[Darin Jordan]

You can just thread the locknut backwards in the meantime...

It should be fine for one race weekend... There are a couple of threads engaged in the nylon now, so it's not going anywhere...

[Darin Jordan]

Just thought you might be interested in seeing the beginnings of a second TS-2 conversion... This one is going to be done up for a more modified setup. I plan some major reworking of the sponsons, etc.... Will likely either run it as a 4S2P setup, but may try it as a 2S2P setup instead... Just depends on what motors and batteries I have at my disposal at the time...

Anyhow, I've gone all the way with a complete radio-box redesign... built this one from scratch to maximize the room available under the cowl, still without having to cut into the hull... so the box will easily transfer from hull to hull...

More to come!

[ace028]

Darin,
What are you using to seal your wood with?

[Darin Jordan]

Darin,
What are you using to seal your wood with?

MAS "Flag" Medium cure epoxy thinned about 30-40% with Denatured Alcohol...

I've also had good luck on a rigger recently (see my 19-Turn Spec Rigger build) just using several coats of Krylon Crystal Clear clear gloss laquer... then sanding with 600 afterwards... REALLY smooth... But for the tunnel, it's not about a nice finish... you never see the thing... I just wanted it water tight and I like the added strength the epoxy gives to the wood...

[andym]

Hey guys I have found the Pacer Z- Poxy finishing resin the greatest thing since sliced bread! No thinning required, low fume and not brittle. Give it a go. Oh and it sands easily and comes up nice and shiney

[Darin Jordan]

Hey Guys... We ran these this weekend at a race with the Puget Sound Model Boat Club (a nitro club from which our club decended)... Was fun running at a combined race with the nitro boats... we ran separate heats, but I think everyone enjoyed seeing all the combined technologies...

We're starting to get these tunnels going well now... It's easy to get them going... takes a bit more work to get them going really fast... but we're honing in on it...

These shots of my boat were taken by Jerry Dunlap...

[MOTOboat]

Hi Darin,

I have a TS2 FE conversion in the works, same Hi jack mount (COOL FACTOR). Was trying to think how to do a resonable Radio box like the larger one you made. Saw plans for it will use that to start. I'm have 1515 1Y and 1.5Y to play with. I expect to use 4P and just have fun.

I used Nylon "sliding" ball connetors for my steering to make the MOTOR easy to remove after each days use. Never really used the motor cover the one below is for my son. I just Corrson-X the heck out of them and for two years and far too many upside downs I have not had an issue with the motors. Keeping the batteries dry in the F1 now thats another story....

I'll post you some pics as I start working on it this winter. Here is a picture of my first FE a Sumpreme F1 - Lehner 4200xl 2s.

Not to stable but fun to drive.

MOTOboat...

[Ub Hauled]

Darin, where did you buy the Jack Plate from?
I looked for one a while back and never found it...

[obrien]

Hey Guys... We ran these this weekend at a race with the Puget Sound Model Boat Club (a nitro club from which our club decended)... Was fun running at a combined race with the nitro boats... we ran separate heats, but I think everyone enjoyed seeing all the combined technologies...

We're starting to get these tunnels going well now... It's easy to get them going... takes a bit more work to get them going really fast... but we're honing in on it...

These shots of my boat were taken by Jerry Dunlap...

What speeds do these boats run in race trim? What setup did you end up running on the second boat?

[Darin Jordan]

The "Hi-Jack 3.5" motor mount is from "Capt Vic" on the International Waters forum... He sometimes has them listed on E-Bay as well, though I haven't seen one in awhile...

The boats are nearing 40-mph in the pics... I think there is more there... we haven't even started really tweaking props yet... Much faster, and the TS-2 needs a tad bit of work to make it handle well... but at these speeds, it's very drivable and fun to compete with...

On my WoodStuff 3.5, I'm going to run the identical setup inorder to compare the differences in hulls... Should be interesting...

[obrien]

What kind of speeds are needed to be competitive? I am assuming that this is the boat with the SV motor?

[Darin Jordan]

Since we are all running SV27 power systems... these speeds are competitive... They are a tad slower than a REALLY good 3.5 Stock Nitro boat... but not by much...

We are going to be testing the idea of running 2S2P setups and 4S1P setups against each other in a "Mod" class this summer... should be interesting... since it's claimed that 2S2P and 4S1P have the same available "power"...

[obrien]

ok. The idea here is to all run the same motor, so the best setup/driver will come out on top. When you said the boat would run better once you started working on props, I figured you speeds would go up a quite a bit more.

[SJFE]

I'll be taking the second one from here :D.

[properchopper]

Got home from work at 7 p.m. with the big box at the door. Here's as far as I've gotten by 10:30; thanks for the radio box plans. Will check out the Hyperformance lower unit tomorrow. This is all your fault , Darin ! lol

[Darin Jordan]

Got home from work at 7 p.m. with the big box at the door. Here's as far as I've gotten by 10:30; thanks for the radio box plans. Will check out the Hyperformance lower unit tomorrow. This is all your fault , Darin ! lol

Sorry!! NOT!!

Say, at the aft end of that box... you'll do yourself a big favour is you cut that flat... In other words, trim the back of the box to get rid of the section that angles... It'll give you more room to run wires, steering, and water lines out of it... Just cut it straight up from the base of the angle where it meets the bottom... See attached pic...

[properchopper]

Thanks, looks like a sensible mod. Glad I didn't start glueing last night. BTW ; what method of attaching the box to the hull do you recommend ?

[Darin Jordan]

... what method of attaching the box to the hull do you recommend ?

I just used a dab of shoe-goo under the front and back on my first one... Probably do something similiar with this one... I also taped around the parimeter on the first one.. just to help keep water from getting trapped inder it... I've seen others just use velcro, but since it's housing the steering, I figured I wanted mine a little more solid than that...

My WoodStuff box is held down with a pair of screws... There may be structure there on the TS-2 to do that, but I haven't tried...

[ice329]

Daren do you have actual plans for the box. I got mine up and ready to start a box. If you got actual plans I would really apreciate it.

I tryed to figure a way to fit the actual SV box... so easy but no matter what I cant justify cutting the cowl to fit it....

[Darin Jordan]

No problem... Here are the original plans I drew up... actually just tracings I did and scanned... Line up the sheets and you should be set... NO two of these hulls are exactly the same, so fit as you go... The drawings are in .pdf format, so hopefully you have Adobe...

TS-2 Radio Box Drawings

Hope this helps...

[ice329]

Big Thank You

[properchopper]

Box is mostly completed. Thanks for the plans, D. Were a big help. Fits into hull like a glove. Should start the drive system next week. Be prepared for more questions :D