MHZ 114 High End Build

[nata2run]

Kent, do you take the hardware off when you send it to the painters?

I'm also building an mhz 114. Does your rudder bracket fit onto the hull? Mine doesn't want to slide into the cut-out area which seems to have too much gel coat. What do you recommend to shave off some of the material precisely?

I only install the whole drive train and rudder, then I strip it all and send off for paint. Water Pickups, exit tubes I drill and install after the painting is done. I don't like the look of paint over predrilled holes, they tend to look egg shaped or become smaller then what they were suppose to be. If you then have to open up the hole, its more likely to chip. Regarding the rudder, it fits really bad, not bad but tight! fit and drill it while its tight, then file a bit on the hull to make it slide in better. You will most likely chip a little paint once you install it. Its one of those things, hard to tell how thick the paint is going to be, so very hard to judge

[royalcasa]

You must be a tool maker or mold maker by trade, I used to be one. Fantastic work my friend.
Best Regards.

[TheShaddix]

Kent, do you take the hardware off when you send it to the painters?

I'm also building an mhz 114. Does your rudder bracket fit onto the hull? Mine doesn't want to slide into the cut-out area which seems to have too much gel coat. What do you recommend to shave off some of the material precisely?

[nata2run]

I'm finding less and less time to post and upload pictures of this build. But I thought I'd keep you in the loop of whats going on. I had to completely redesign the motor mounts for this particular build, as I want to use CF veneer for decor also. I have so far made 3 different versions and not 100% happy but good news is, I think I got it!! once installed, I will post some photos. After that stage she will go straight to the painters....

[Pheyd]

Just wow, this build is looking very clean and I like it! Can't wait to see this cat come alive.

[nata2run]

When all secured, I just drilled the hole with a 14.5mm NEW drill bit. I'm quite happy with the result.

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[nata2run]

Here are all the blocks used...

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After everything was aligned and the 4 holes were drilled, I used the 2nd block as a drill guide. This block was stuck down with double sided tape and also the 4 screws through the block. ( I didn't bolt down the block, just used to screws to hold the block in place)

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[nata2run]

Hey Steve,
You should do a thread! would be interesting to see what you have come up with, I'm sure it would look great!

Ok, back to the build. I am forever trying to find the best way to get the drives aligned. This may not be the easiest or best way, but its so far the most accurate way I can think of. The ole "drill bit trick from Manuel W. still tops it off as a final alignment" But the "drive hold down's" are still made in a way on the MHZ's that make it complicated to place on the hull and use as a template. For that reason I made my own block that can sit flush on the hull and allow me to drill the 4 holes to hold it down further.
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[Steve Dean]

Wow Kent, this is like deja-vu. It's like watching my own MHZ Mystic 114 coming together. I have been taking photo's of every stage just like you. I'll have to get round to starting a build thread. Then folks can watch how are builds are progressing and see how we diverge when it comes to the internal fit out.
People maybe interested to know that my component list is a little different:

Motors: LMT 2240/8
ESC's: MGM 28026-3 X2 Series Pro

The rest is pretty much the same with the motor mounts heading towards me from Custom Carbon Fiber Parts in OZ. Kent made them for me with a little visual design feature …….. all will be revealed later !!!
I'll keep you'll posted as things progress.

[nata2run]

Awesome, man! Very professional work there. Even the masking tape trick alone is a great one to take from this thread. Never thought of doing that, makes a lot of sense to layer it up to keep the gelcoat from cracking.

Thank you, to give you an idea of how I mask and cut cf plate chek one of my videos http://youtu.be/9EZyOlME6xg (my attempt of fancy editing lol) it just shows that it's a habit for me to mask everything I cut to avoid burr and get a cleaner cut.

[TheShaddix]

Awesome, man! Very professional work there. Even the masking tape trick alone is a great one to take from this thread. Never thought of doing that, makes a lot of sense to layer it up to keep the gelcoat from cracking.

[nata2run]

A few more to show the enter/exit hole, and the very clean alignment of the drive housing

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[nata2run]

Here is the jig against the hull

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[nata2run]

...After all that was completed, and I redrew the jig, I cut it out in 12mm acrylic (1/2") Before any further actions I had to make sure the drive train would fit as planned. Here is the complete unit. I should mention I'm using an aluminium 8mm tube to fit the thick walled teflon stuffing tube.

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Here is the final jig ready to install on the hull

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Now to the very important part! Since I was asked about drilling holes, I will elaborate on the subject a little closer than planned.
I always make a habit of using tape for cutting/drilling/milling, sometimes multiple layers. The reason for that is, most tools (drill bits, router bits) are up-spiral, meaning they exhaust their cuttings away from the material. That also mean that they "eat" what they come in first contact with. If its gelcoat, it usually result in chipping. By using tape and a jig it will eliminate that with up to 90%. By using a high speed drill it will eliminate that even further. Vibration from the drill is also a major issue, again the jig will help to reduce the vibrations. I even have jigs made up with pre-drilled holes to keep the drill vibration free (egg shaped holes) when just drilling a random hole.

[nata2run]

Hello again,
Thanks Pheyd :)

I got some more work done last night (I'm always a day ahead of the post by the way LOL) as most of you have seen, I'm a fan of templates, jigs and tools in general that will make the job easier for me. That said, it don't mean that it cant be done in other ways, I just don't like taking risks that result in "fill in epoxy jobs" Since I was dealing with a new power drive I had to make a completely new jig. This new drive uses 2 M4 screws appose to 3 M3 in the standard drives. It also requires a smaller hole for the stuffing tube as it don't have the bushing/bracket on the inside of the hull. In my book, this calls for an even more precise drilling and alignment. (because of the 2 point hold down compared to 3). This is how I did it. I first apply a few pieces of masking tape on the hull. 2-3 layers are usually good! once that was in place I used a scalpel to cut off the excess tape from the edge. After I pealed off the tape gently and applied it onto a standard sheet of paper and scanned it with my scanner. From then on I traced it and did a print out to see if it all fit. At this point I realised that I needed to lover the drives by a mil or so (1/20') roughly.
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...continued