New boat project

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Irishdude83

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I recently picked up an old school nitro rc boat. I'm not very familiar with rc stuff in general but am very mechanically inclined. So working on this boat shouldn't be a problem. I'll start with where I'm at so far. When I got it, the turn and throttle rods were off. A $350 trip to the local hobby town store and I was hoping to be able to get this thing running. New radio and reciever, batteries, fuel, belt starter, glow plug and ignitor and I was ready. Took the engine out and took it apart to clean it up, as the boat had been sitting for at least 20 years. And 2 days later, it won't start haha. Pretty positive the engine doesn't have the compression to start. The engine is a novarossi .20 engine? Haven't been able to locate a piston and sleeve for it. Was able to get my hands on a brand new, never run losi mach1 427 engine. Bolts right in but the crank snout is totally different. So the engine coupler won't work. So I may be pulling the flex shaft to get it to work. The new engine has a rear allen starter but wont work in my application as theres no room so if I could find a belt style flywheel like on the old engine that would be great. The new engine has a clutch with it that could be cool to make work as well. I did find a 180 degree manifold so I can run the same pipe. Only other concern is the new engine is air cooled and the old one is water cooled. However the air cooled head sticks several inches higher than the top of the boat so airflow shouldn't be a problem. Let me know your more experienced thoughts. Thanks for looking!
 

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@Irishdude83 You know what I hear when you guys talk nitro?

Here is some cool stuff I found that you don't understand, I had to do some other stuff that is over your head, but I think it's going to work out. This is not as cool as a Hemi but it's close! 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣

I actually do enjoy watching what you guys are doing, just don't have a clue. I could probably learn, but honestly, I'm lazy. 🤪 Good lookin' boat by the way! :thumbs-up:
 
Yeah I've seen those but I got this big block engine for under a 100 bucks! Haha.
 
@Irishdude83 You know what I hear when you guys talk nitro?

Here is some cool stuff I found that you don't understand, I had to do some other stuff that is over your head, but I think it's going to work out. This is not as cool as a Hemi but it's close! 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣

I actually do enjoy watching what you guys are doing, just don't have a clue. I could probably learn, but honestly, I'm lazy. 🤪 Good lookin' boat by the way! :thumbs-up:
Haha I'm an engine guy all the way! I've been building engines since I was a teenager. To me nitro rc is wayyyy cooler than electric. But I'm aware electric is generally faster off the bottom. And I love 2 strokes in general
 
I regret that I didn't pay attention to my dad when he tried to teach me about cars in general, I mean, I can do basic maint. change oil, battery, etc. but that's it. I admire those of you who know what your doing! :thumbs-up:
 
I've been looking on ebay for parts. Found a few different engine couplers that might work so I'm gonna try that. I believe the shaft on the losi engine is a 4mm.
 
I regret that I didn't pay attention to my dad when he tried to teach me about cars in general, I mean, I can do basic maint. change oil, battery, etc. but that's it. I admire those of you who know what your doing! :thumbs-up:
It's not that difficult really. Just gotta start tinkering. I bought my first stand up jetski 10 years ago not knowing much about them at all but it didnt take long to learn. Now I've got 3 running skis while building another hahaha
 
Yeah the guy that I got it from said it should be wild as heck in the boat as well haha. This is the manifold I ordered for it to run with the existing expansion chamber. Hopefully itll bolt right up. As far as the flywheel is concerned, I've considered taking the flywheel, clutch and engine to the machine shop at my job to see if they could make something. I'm in this boat far too much to bot get it going haha
 

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Yeah the guy that I got it from said it should be wild as heck in the boat as well haha. This is the manifold I ordered for it to run with the existing expansion chamber. Hopefully itll bolt right up. As far as the flywheel is concerned, I've considered taking the flywheel, clutch and engine to the machine shop at my job to see if they could make something. I'm in this boat far too much to bot get it going haha

You can try a threaded 2 speed clutch bell an see if you can weld a coupler to a steel gear ,
then after the weld coupler ,it can be easy to screw it back on to the bell after the has been tightened
onto the crank shaft!.. :thumbs-up:
 
I dont think there is enough room to get quite that wild once the engine is bolted in unless I relocated either the engine mount or driveshaft further back. That's my main concern. I may have to cut a little off of the end of the crank as it is haha. Its very close maybe 1/8inch clearance if that.
 
I dont think there is enough room to get quite that wild once the engine is bolted in unless I relocated either the engine mount or driveshaft further back. That's my main concern. I may have to cut a little off of the end of the crank as it is haha. Its very close maybe 1/8inch clearance if that.

The thing is ,you can't just put a tool in an tighten the bell down after the drive shaft coupler is installed ,however ,
you might not have to once the coupler goes on ,the drive shaft coupler may hold the bell in its place if it was shimmed
right ,but the coupler would have to be welded to the bell!... :thumbs-up:
 
I was thinking more like grinding the teeth off of the bell and getting a coupler to fit over it?

Actually looking closely theres not enough metal there to grind the teeth off.
 
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I was thinking more like grinding the teeth off of the bell and getting a coupler to fit over it?

Actually looking closely theres not enough metal there to grind the teeth off.

I might can show pics of a threaded bell ,if the coupler will fit inside of the threads with out
a gear screwed on ,the coupler could be pinned in!..🤔
 
Yes pics would help me visualize what you're saying
 
Pics of a threaded clutch bell ,be aware that there is 2 bearings inside in which the
front one is close to the edge!
If these pics help ,one might can make one work ,even having some aluminum
round stock drilled to slide over the threads for your coupler ,I should have took
a pic of the round bar aluminum stock as I got that too ,coupler that I showed wont
work do to the bearing ,one would have to make one out of aluminum to slide over
the threads of the bell!





 
Ohh nice! This is my current clutch setup that came on the engine
 

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In an attempt to get the flex drive out so I could figure out what to do for a coupler i ended up having to rip it all out so now I'm gonna need a new flex drive assembly now Haha. Any suggestions where to get a new setup?
 
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