first build trying to jump into the hobby

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this thread but here it goes anyway. I'm new here and figure i will start with a short introduction. I was into r/c boats back in middle school but never really had the money for anything good so i started with an airboat with a small nitro airplane motor. I had fun with it but then life took over and i didn't have time for that hobby. Now i have time, and the spare cash. I am a proffesional body tech and painter and have been around boats for most my life. So far all i have is a 25cc homelite engine that my parents claim i brought home back in middle school, last night i picked it up, dumped a little mixed gas in and it started right up on the second pull. I have chose to go with a cat hull made by mountain hobbies, i have a good idea of how to set up the radio and servos and most the hardware. My big question right off the bat is how do i run the flex shaft? I don't believe the square on the output of the engine is 1/4" so I'm not sure what to use and could use some guiding.
Thanks in advance.

First off ... Welcome to MGB :woohoo:

Please take my statements as just some free wisdom and general FYI from near 35 years running R/C boats

The Homelite engines were for a spell ( Late 1980's - late 90's )used widely in the R/C boat world. These past 10+ years they have all but disappeared from the market replaced by Zenoahs and others.
* Last STRONGHOLD for there use was WAREHOUSE HOBBIES and they may very well still have some support / parts for doing the marine conversions, exhausts etc ....
*** Go to this sites home page and CLICK on the WHH banner ad to go to there site ***

Generally engines SUCH AS THE HOMELITE having a BIG flywheel fan at PTO end make that engine sit MUCH TOO TALL in a shallow engine bay hull such as a cat.
Better suited to a V shaped engine area like a Mono hull where they will mount lower.

POWER ... yes POWER is where these last 15 years of engine tech within the R/C boat hobby has left the 11,000 Rpm sub 2HP Homelites ( Modified ) in the dust of the more compact Zenoah or RCMK engines making near 4HP out of the box and +/- 6Hp once modified. Stock @ 16,000 and @ 18,000+ rpm range modified.

Talk with TONY at WHH and see what he can do for you, Homelite power for a first boat is just fine !! ... Just not much info or support around for them these days


Regards,
Scott

thank you very much for the input. i have noticed the shift since the early 2000's when i got the engine and parts were readily available. i will contact tony, hopefully he has some old stock laying around. i figured that engine was a good place to start and the at hull would allow for an upgrade to a zenoah in the future when i'm ready.

thanks for recommending i use Firefox. it finally worked.

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationNo eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationwhich of these 2 hulls do you recommend or should i go with something different?

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationNo eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configuration

iluvspdtt wrote: which of these 2 hulls do you recommend or should i go with something different?

IMO ... the smaller Malibu

That was kinda my feeling, smaller=lighter and lighter=faster, i know the homelite is short on power and any edge i can get would be good.

The more i think about this project the more i think that maybe i should find some plans on a pdf file and build my own. I'm already being cheap and using a homelite why not continue the "budget" trend with the hull? Just need a little direction in finding plans. I tried downloading the plans on here but can't open the files.

If you are just starting out and want to build your own boat I recomend going to Zippkits.com and check out the Easy Vee. They are a fun build and for $59.00 you get pre-cut parts and a instruction manual. Lots of guys on this site have built them and perform good. Check out Marcs article in product reviews.

I hadn't really looked in to them much as I originally wanted fiberglass but that looks like a very solid option now. I could always use it as a plug to make my own fiberglass mold in the future.