Miss Geico 17 brushless conversion / planer board / trim tab on rudder set up?

[Davey80]

Putting that Dremel workstation to good use as a drill press for the AQ donor strut

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[Davey80]

Getting the stock strut out took some effort. When holding the hull at a certain angle in the light, you can tell where the strut was fused into the bottom of the hull. Next step was to use a blade and trace the outline of that fusion as best as possible, and then to deepen the cuts to where the strut could be coaxed out. I debated using a Dremel cutting wheel but in the end decided on my trusty Emerson instead which I felt like would be more time consuming but offer a greater amount of control. Took about thirty minutes to get the stock strut out and another 30 minutes to clean up the edges and sand off the rough spots.

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Next step was to start prepping for paint. I ended up using both the Dremel and pieces of a disposable nail file for that. There will be no confusing which MG17 is mine at the pool!

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[Davey80]

My priorities of work were to paint, then do the AQ strut install. I was limited on colors, but ended up going with a metallic orange Tamiya paint followed by a semi gloss clear coat, also from Tamiya. Pretty happy with the color contrasts between the orange and Geico green!

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[Davey80]

Next up was getting the stuffing tube bent, cut to size, and epoxied into place. To get the angle right, I mounted the motor and then kept testing and making small adjustments to the bends until everything lined up cleanly. This being the first time i've done this, i'm kinda cautiously optimistic that the bends are appropriate. I tried to make them as minimal as possible. I used the Dremel sanding tool to fine tune the fit of the strut components. For the strut guide tube piece, I used the Dremel as a drill press to open up the bore a bit to fit the stuffing tube. It worked, but heated the plastic up pretty quick. I didn't have a drill bit that was an exact match to the stuffing tube, but had one that was close. Kept at it until the stuffing tube fit snugly into place.

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[Davey80]

At this point I was still waiting on the coupler and CNC prop to arrive, but with everything looking good I started the reassembly. The Dremel got a lot more use along the way. I had to grind out sections of the tray inside the hull to properly allow the motor cooling jacket to fit as well as the battery. I just took my time with it, as I really didn't want to end up damage or crack the actual hull floor plate area or walls.

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[Davey80]

While still waiting for the last couple parts, I decided to put the Canon to use and get a little photo shoot in with the boat at 90% completion.

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[Davey80]

My local artist had just recently completed three paintings for me so I put them to use.

https://www.instagram.com/metalhead.rc.garage/

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[Davey80]

Last but not least, I installed the coupler and cut and soldered the flex cable. Getting the teflon tube over that little rigid section in front of the drive dog was kind of a bitch. I used a screwdriver with a slightly larger diameter that the inside of the teflon tube to stretch the tube a bit and had better success. I ended up using the Dremel to trim down the stuffing tube inside the hull, as well as to clean up the rear edge of the strut, gaining just a couple more mm for that perfectly fitted cable. To be fair, until this little ripper sees the pool for the first time I won't know if the fitment and tuning is on point. Hoping for the best! ...with any luck i'll be in the 30-40 mph range. All in all this was a super fun, first time boat build project. There were some small obstacles along the way but things just really worked themselves out. At least so far! Thanks again for your guys help and advice. Final build pics below, ...minus the Rx. That is due to reasons outside my control. When I get back to California in October, i'll drop that in, head to the water, and get on the throttle!

-Davis

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[NativePaul]

That strut looks very low with the bracket on the bottom like that, you might want to put the bracket on the back like H&YRACING's so you can get it up higher.

If you moved the rudder over to the right, you could have a straight pushrod which would be much stiffer than the curved one you have in it now.

[Davey80]

That strut looks very low with the bracket on the bottom like that, you might want to put the bracket on the back like H&YRACING's so you can get it up higher.

If you moved the rudder over to the right, you could have a straight pushrod which would be much stiffer than the curved one you have in it now.

Yes I may adjust the guide piece in the strut. With minimal work, I should be able to raise or lower it in the upper strut mount about a quarter inch either up or down. It also may partially be the angle of the photos which make it look lower. I tried to get the stuffing tube pretty much level with the bottom of the hull after comparing it to the mfr website pictures.