Nitro Boat Restoration

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civicsr2cool
bitNinja
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Nitro Boat Restoration

Post by civicsr2cool »

I recently brought back home a boat I acquired along time ago during a trade while on leave. I don't know much about r/c boating and I damn sure know nothing about Nitros. So if any of you Pimps wanna lend a hand in helping me make this thing scoot across some water I would sure appreciate it :-o

The guy I got it from gave me a traxxas vee boat as well as this one, I test drove the vee a few times and since I really hate running nitro r/c's to the shelf both of these boats went.. He told me that this one was a handful and to not run it until i was used to the vee first. So I am hoping I am not in over my head!

This is the boat, no markings besides the decals so I really cant tell the brand or model. I can tell though that it has very little use and has a nice paint job :grin:
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This is the powerplant a K&B 3.5 outboard. I have heard its a damn good engine and I am currently tearing it down to polish everything up.
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Under the hood it was nasty. I tore out the old electronics and put in my airtronics gear, the steering and throttle seem to be setup good but the appearance of them I think is ugly as hell.
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I am hoping that these little things are a failsafe and that it doesn't regularly fill with water to that high..
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This pic shows the engine mount, not much to see but it is a strong looking setup.
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This is where i need your help, the cabin. I need to make a plate to cover the electronics, could possibly just use a pop bottle or something similar with screw on the corners to hold it on. It appears it had a cover before but no sealant is left so I would need maybe foam or a silicon gasket?
Second the front tip of the boat is left open, I don't know if a wave or anything could catch the front of it or whatever but i think that the hood should need a plate under it to keep the the water out and the hood on in case of a nose dive in the water?
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Should be a good fun project and I hope to learn alot about nitros on the way because I have always HATED nitros! I could never get them to be as consistent and reliable as electric. :-?
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sidewinder
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Re: Nitro Boat Restoration

Post by sidewinder »

I don't know about sealing the esc but Traxxas has a waterproof box for the receiver on it's XL5 models...I think it's supposed to be totally sealed, and I've seen them on ebay for under $10. You might want to look for some reviews but I'm pretty sure they're watertight.
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civicsr2cool
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Joined: Tue Mar 29, 2005 10:01 pm
Location: Sagnasty, MI
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Re: Nitro Boat Restoration

Post by civicsr2cool »

As for sealing the electronics in, just a plate over them should work great since I looked a little closer last night and noticed the entire front is indeed sealed with clear silicon inside that hatch for the electronics. So all I need to make is a top cover for it, I will probably use some scrap metal from work.

I was also thinking yesterday about my electronics setup. I forgot to include a failsafe in the setup. I like the look of the venom, it has a temperature failsafe along with the voltage. But reviews say it sucks. I hear OFNA makes a very reliable one so I will probably go with the OFNA.

Also the only TX that I have is my pistol type for my rc18. Its an Airtronics mx3s at 75mhz fm. I am pretty sure in saying that its safe to use for boat use, but would there be problems in that setup I don't know about?
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