So i got this free boat.
#1

Doing a job at a customers home and noticed a old futaba radio box he had laying out. So i asked and he said it was for the boat he bought his son but the son got a little into the build and its been on the shelf in the garage since 1990. I got it out tonight and started going over it. Has one very important part missing. A bushing that holds the shafts bearing in the transmission housing. Besides that i think i might be able to make a nylon part or use an epoxy to take up the gap around the bearing. Not sure why they made the housing larger than the supplied bearing. The radio was supposed to have a electronic speed control but its missing. The nicad battery was at 2.5v. Might still work...







#2

Found a solution to my problem.
problem, supplied 4x8 bearing needs a missing plastic spacer. Went to the local hobby town and they had brass tube 9mm x .45mm wall thickness. Its a perfect fit 😃




problem, supplied 4x8 bearing needs a missing plastic spacer. Went to the local hobby town and they had brass tube 9mm x .45mm wall thickness. Its a perfect fit 😃




#3

obviously, i'm not going to use the old mechanical speed control. but I might keep the brushed motor. I want to use a 2s 5000mah lipo i have as a spare from my old 1/10 buggy. anyone have a good place to source an inexpensive ESC with a BEC for this brushed motor? I do not know the motor detail as the sticker is missing. the box says it's a m & y 550sh. throw me some websites please. the big stores are lacking. the manual also mentions using a capacitor to cut down on radio noise. is that necessary with a 2.4ghz radio? and if so what is the capacitor rating that should be used. manual says nothing about it.
probably a cheap medium speed steering servo too. any recommendations?
probably a cheap medium speed steering servo too. any recommendations?
Last edited by RCoffroadracer; 01-08-2023 at 12:13 PM.
#4

I decided to put it together without spending money on it. Welp now i have another issue it seems no one caught ever. Anyone tell what it is? Has to do with the battery... They used a female connector on the speed controller


#5

Decided it needs a ESC instead of the manual controller. Found a hobbywing quickrun 60A waterproof esc locally. Should work ok. Can use a lipo now. Water tested in the sink. No leaks! Leans to the port side because they mounted the motor that side. I can actually run 2 motors in this thing.
i might have to add some weight to the starboard side. I dont plan on bashing this thing hard. Probably never get a chance to run it much. The creek in my back yard fills up enough in the spring to drive it there. Im using my old Losi mtx radio(spektrum and spectrum receiver) i had laying around. I didnt want to use my airtronix M11x. Too valuable if this thing sinks lol. I dont have much faith in this old plastic hull. Using some super old futaba servo. Seems pretty good for this so far. Close to 42oz torque and .18 is the speed i got out of it with 6V. And my sms lipo hardcase packs fit nice in the hull molding for the nimh battery. (Black foam tape). all in all I spent $25 for the speed controller. and about $10 for other items like tape for the hatch and the brass tube. I might try to sell it since it has the original box. seems to be a lot of collectors out there. if anyone reading this wants it shoot me a message.


i might have to add some weight to the starboard side. I dont plan on bashing this thing hard. Probably never get a chance to run it much. The creek in my back yard fills up enough in the spring to drive it there. Im using my old Losi mtx radio(spektrum and spectrum receiver) i had laying around. I didnt want to use my airtronix M11x. Too valuable if this thing sinks lol. I dont have much faith in this old plastic hull. Using some super old futaba servo. Seems pretty good for this so far. Close to 42oz torque and .18 is the speed i got out of it with 6V. And my sms lipo hardcase packs fit nice in the hull molding for the nimh battery. (Black foam tape). all in all I spent $25 for the speed controller. and about $10 for other items like tape for the hatch and the brass tube. I might try to sell it since it has the original box. seems to be a lot of collectors out there. if anyone reading this wants it shoot me a message.



Last edited by RCoffroadracer; 01-16-2023 at 07:00 PM.