Offshore Electrics

Graupner Phantom to 700neo Conversion Or how to make the Phantom into the boat it should have been by Dan Chase. Dan is a custom vinyl graphics maker. If your interested in some very nice graphics for your boat, you can contact him at DANIMATION@aol.com or check out his website at www.fastgraphx.com. You can see an example of his work by checking out my red Titan on the gallery page.
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First, remove all the old junk that comes with the boat except for the rudder, stuffing tube and straight shaft. That's the old junk at the bottom of the pic.

After removing the old motor and coupler, I took a torch and lightly heated the motor compartment until it was very soft and pliable. I then took the 700neo and positioned it inline with the straight shaft while the plastic was soft. This made for a very snug fit, only 700 motors will now fit.

This shot shows the new interior layout. I made a motor mount out of a thin, but rigid piece of aluminum, sorry, I can't say the size since it was scrap. The top is rounded with flaps on either side. I drilled the flaps and used wood screws to attach the mount to the hull. I then drilled a hole through the top round section and taped it for 4 40 hex bolt, then I drilled a small hole in the torque ring on the 700, not all the way through however. When the bolt is torqued down, this stops the motor from rotating. Next I added a RC-Hydros SC3 lite esc, the SC3 Sport would also make a good choice. It's hard to see in the picture, but I bought a 4mm Graupner "U" Joint, then I bored one side out to 5mm to fit on the shaft of the 700 motor. Everything lines up perfect. I took a 12 pack of 2400's made up into 2 side by side's of 6 cells, I used to Velcro on both sides and mounted them in the area just behind where the instruction tell you to mount the 6 cell stick pack. This moves the COG (center of gravity) back further into a more realistic position. the servo has a indentation molded in, this works fine with a standard servo like a Futaba 3003. The receiver and receiver pack are self explanatory. I used Velcro or double side tape in the back.
	These pictures say it all, the proud new owner, my 8 year old son, Matthew "Mac" Chase proudly holds up his new boat. The Phantom cruises around 25mph (really) and handles great, especially in rough water. With sub surface drive, it turns on a dime. I cut down a larger Graupner prop for optimum performance. It turned out to be a fun project and even I enjoy driving it in rough water and jumping waves!