Hello everyone, I have recently purchased a nitro rc boat. The boat is a shockwave 36 that is practically brand new. The guy I bought it off of said that he never used it.

I do not know a thing about rc boats but I am mechanically inclined. I need to know anything important such as what fuel to use, how to get it started and tuned, any mods I should mak, and etc..

I look forward to having some fun out on the lake. Thanks everyone.

If you dont have a manual for the boat you can usaully find one online. The manual should tell you what you need to know. I would leave the boat alone as far as mods until you are getting bored with its performance. Google shockwave 36 you need a glow ignitor and 20-30% nitro

Use fuel made for boats only. Yeah, that might be tough to do as most hobby shops don't carry it. Tower Hobbies sells AquaCraft GrimRacer fuel that is made for these floaty things.
The boat doesn't need high nitro but we have run up to 65% nitro but we're crazy, 30-40% will be fine.
The boat does have some small issues so look out for them. First, check all of the nuts and bolts to make sure they're tight. The flex cables had problems out of the factory with some of them where the solder wicked up the cable then would break where it goes in through the transom. Also leave a gap of around 3/16" between the strut and drive dog to compensate for cable wind-up.
Factory needle settings are way off, especially the low-speed needle so it may have idling problems.
Get it running first then I'll give you some tips on making it a little faster that are no-to-low cost things.

So I got around to taking some pictures... I know they are blurry.







I understand the concept of tuning the carb but what I don't know is if I have to turn the mini nut on the end of the low speed needle or do I have to get a mini flat head screwdriver and get inside of there.
The high speed needle I can turn by hand but is the little hole what you should be using?

What I have done so far is reinstall the rudder, setup the upgraded cooling (behind the prop) grease the flex shaft, and test the electronics. Prior to I had filled my bathtub and did a float test. I noticed a drop of water coming from the flexshaft and stuffing tube every five seconds or so. I removed the flexshaft and there was no grease on it at all. I greased it up and reinstalled so I hope the drip is gone.

The prior owner had installed flotation noodles in the front and back of the hull and the cover, epoxied the entire accessible hull, and upgraded? the cooling by putting a pickup tube behind the prop.
He said it has never been run??? What do you think?

If someone can further explain the tuning that would be great, thanks! I am assuming this boat has never been ran because it looks very clean. I look forward to running this boat. Thanks everyone.

He did a lot of mods for not running it! It does look clean inside and that's where it would show if it had seen water.
While you're showing off the transom, that does remind me of something so I'd better post it now while I'm thinking of it.
Replace the bottom bolt holding the rudder in place on the bracket with a nylon nut and bolt. These boats were notorious for breaking rudders off because there is no shear pin in case you hit something. Break the top bolt just free enough to where the rudder will swivel upwards in case of a hit. It might need a little grinding or filing to make sure that it will swing up. Getting a replacement rudder may be hard to do now that the boat is out of production as they had enough trouble keeping them in stock when there were on the market.
Yes, keep that cable greased. Some go crazy with it but usually after a day of running is fine. It keeps the rust away and is ready to its next time out.

OK, one more thing for now. The turn fins are incorrectly mounted from the factory as they should be 90 degrees to the bottom of the hull, not tilted in like they are. My guess is that they did it so that it would fit in the box better. Why they just didn't leave them off and let the owner install them the right way is beyond me.
To give you an idea of what I'm typing about, here's a transom shot of my Rampage as an example but it only has the right turn fin.

Originally Posted by Ron Olson

He did a lot of mods for not running it! It does look clean inside and that's where it would show if it had seen water.
While you're showing off the transom, that does remind me of something so I'd better post it now while I'm thinking of it.
Replace the bottom bolt holding the rudder in place on the bracket with a nylon nut and bolt. These boats were notorious for breaking rudders off because there is no shear pin in case you hit something. Break the top bolt just free enough to where the rudder will swivel upwards in case of a hit. It might need a little grinding or filing to make sure that it will swing up. Getting a replacement rudder may be hard to do now that the boat is out of production as they had enough trouble keeping them in stock when there were on the market.
Yes, keep that cable greased. Some go crazy with it but usually after a day of running is fine. It keeps the rust away and is ready to its next time out.

OK, one more thing for now. The turn fins are incorrectly mounted from the factory as they should be 90 degrees to the bottom of the hull, not tilted in like they are. My guess is that they did it so that it would fit in the box better. Why they just didn't leave them off and let the owner install them the right way is beyond me.
To give you an idea of what I'm typing about, here's a transom shot of my Rampage as an example but it only has the right turn fin.

I am going to leave the rudder bolts as they are. I am going to run this boat in deep water. I will be fine unless I hit a turtle.
The fins will stay as they are because I don't want to be redrilling holes and repairing plastic.

I will be running this boat tomorrow morning. I need someone to tell me if the low speed needle has to be adjusted with a tiny flat head or by the head at the end.

Probably the only carb setting you need to mess with is the knurled wheel . You can turn it by hand . You want it slightly boggy on blip on bench then lean that bad boy out on the water till the pipe sings just right

Yes, there should be a screw inside of the carb's barrel. the nut is probably holding the throttle arm on.

I got it "running" today. I adjusted the high speed needle to 2 turns Open and left the low needle and idle alone. I have to put my finger over the exhaust to start it. When it starts it revs up really high for a few seconds and then the rpms drop. It shut off every time I tossed and threw it forward in the water. I only managed to keep it running once for about 30 seconds. It seemed like it only wanted to run at one speed and it was not very fast.

I will mess with the low speed needle tomorrow. I have decided to dry dock tune it with a rigged cooling system (had to swim for it one to many times).

F this. The nitro leaked and ate a hole through the hull. In other words I have a complete shockwave 36 for sale minus the hull.

Yeah, that's nothing new on those boats either. You'd think that the fiberglass shouldn't be affected by the fuel as in other 'glas boats it doesn't faze them but these need the inside coated with epoxy.
You can try patching it and seeing how it's on the bottom it really wouldn't show.

Originally Posted by Ron Olson

Yeah, that's nothing new on those boats either. You'd think that the fiberglass shouldn't be affected by the fuel as in other 'glas boats it doesn't faze them but these need the inside coated with epoxy.
You can try patching it and seeing how it's on the bottom it really wouldn't show.

Nah I'm done.

I just saw over on RCU where the previous owner wanted to know if nitro could eat up a 'glas hull. You found out the hard way that it can, at least with ProBoat boats. Why theirs don't like nitro, I don't know as it must be in the epoxy that they use as yours is far from the first that I've seen with this problem.
Mine have had high percentage fuel all over them, carb and brake cleaner and good solvents used and not a bad spot at all but none of them were ProBoat hulls.
The big RTR boat manufacturers try to find any way at all to reduce their costs in an effort to keep the street price point as low as they can and still make a few bucks in the process. If you want to see a flimsy hull then look at their Shockwave 55! They aren't the only one. BTW, the Venom King of Shaves boat (gas version) stress cracks easily and start showing up after the first run.

Originally Posted by Ron Olson

I just saw over on RCU where the previous owner wanted to know if nitro could eat up a 'glas hull. You found out the hard way that it can, at least with ProBoat boats. Why theirs don't like nitro, I don't know as it must be in the epoxy that they use as yours is far from the first that I've seen with this problem.
Mine have had high percentage fuel all over them, carb and brake cleaner and good solvents used and not a bad spot at all but none of them were ProBoat hulls.
The big RTR boat manufacturers try to find any way at all to reduce their costs in an effort to keep the street price point as low as they can and still make a few bucks in the process. If you want to see a flimsy hull then look at their Shockwave 55! They aren't the only one. BTW, the Venom King of Shaves boat (gas version) stress cracks easily and start showing up after the first run.

Hopefully someone needs parts. I just want to recoup as much as possible. I new I should have just got an electric boat. If someone wants to buy any parts for a shockwave 36 let me know.

Buy gas not electric! You just had a bad go with nitro I had a miss vegas and swam for it more then it ran until it was broke in they are tricky until you get them figured out.