Ultima Buildup

[mikedealer]

ya the pack isnt exactly easily swappable, but comes out no problem, and with running the 17.5 motor in it, i get 10+ minutes easily out of the pack lol.

taking it out to the track soon, figured out gearing the other day, running a (87spur / 32pin) / 2.22 (lw ratio) = 6.03 final drive, which is roughly what novak recommends for the 17.5 gearing, good punch and top speed, im playing with the 30-31-32tooth pinion combos, im leaning toward the 32 tooth for top speed, and i turned my throttle on my controller down to about 85% to compensate and give smoother acceleration.

this project is one ive wanted to make perfect, will probably run and the vonats hopefully if the car holds together till then. with the 3.5mm carbon fiber, at least those parts will probably survive lol. got like 8 spare chassis's ready to go too just in case from all the other ultimas ive acquired.

[optimaforever]

Very interesting thread.

I've several comments on posts I've seen.
1. The original Ultima had been designed by Akira KOGAWA who also designed the HPI baja 5B. So both the resemblance and fatherhood are evident.
http://theoptimahouse.blogspot.com/2007/04/who-designed-optima.html
2. I think I was the "guy on ebay" selling the Ultima Carbon shock towers at 50$. I still have some, just PM me if you need them. Their finish is perfect for shelfers.
3. the M3 screw hole on the top of the Ultima motor plate was used to attach the heatsink for the mechanical speed controller's resistors. (just like on the late Javelin). just screw a tiny M3x6 to fill the hole, or a tape. One have the same issue with Optima Mids motor plate.

about the car:

Somehow I feel the first batch of custom made carbon radio plate was more beautiful and charming than the professionally CNC made one, but it's a detail.
Why having removed the platinums? or the alu wing? too fragile to run?
Is the A&L tranny worth it? I asked the US dealer (Daryl from Factory Works), he asks 125US$ plus shipping.
Otherwise there's a lot of passion on this ultima buildup, it's a pleasure to watch this thread go on...
I'd be honoured if I could post some pics of your buildup on my blog. (ultimahouse)

[mikedealer]

Very interesting thread.

I've several comments on posts I've seen.
1. The original Ultima had been designed by Akira KOGAWA who also designed the HPI baja 5B. So both the resemblance and fatherhood are evident.
http://theoptimahouse.blogspot.com/2007/04/who-designed-optima.html
2. I think I was the "guy on ebay" selling the Ultima Carbon shock towers at 50$. I still have some, just PM me if you need them. Their finish is perfect for shelfers.
i was trying to find some contact information to purchase some from you, but wasnt able to, is your contact info on your blogs?
3. the M3 screw hole on the top of the Ultima motor plate was used to attach the heatsink for the mechanical speed controller's resistors. (just like on the late Javelin). just screw a tiny M3x6 to fill the hole, or a tape. One have the same issue with Optima Mids motor plate.

about the car:

Somehow I feel the first batch of custom made carbon radio plate was more beautiful and charming than the professionally CNC made one, but it's a detail.
Yea, i wanted something strong and something i could beat up at the track. the original one i made worked well, but the graphite i made it from was a little thin. This one should last forever.
Why having removed the platinums? or the alu wing? too fragile to run?
The Aluminum Wing i made myself as seen in the earlier posts, the problem with the one i made was that when the wheels were fully depressed, the bottom of the wing would hit the tires.. and i just havent had time to make a new one yet. Since aluminum is so cheap, i would probably run it no problems. The Shocks were a pain in the butt for me, the ones im using now are basically kyosho rb5/lazer clones from ebay, for them for like a $18.00, but they are decent and take all the "modern" springs perfectly. I might go back to the platinum since the springs i found out fit them still just fine. As far as the platinums being fragile, they are a bit fragile.. but i have a bunch of them, for fun i would probably run them, but for racing i would want something a little more dependable, tracks have changed a LOT in the last 20 years.
Is the A&L tranny worth it? I asked the US dealer (Daryl from Factory Works), he asks 125US$ plus shipping.
The A&L Tranny is great. Yes they are expensive from daryl, but i went for it, and dont regret it for a second. The Belt Drive makes the car "snappy", hard to describe, braking seems smoother. The Main Reason i went for one was because the lack of parts and availability for the original transmission. I have a large Box of parts for the original tranny, but with the 32p metric and lack of gear ratios, i had to go with the A&L. Plus it has a slipper, and it fits every modern gear out there, so finding them isnt a problem. Plus i have enough A&L replacement parts from various ebay deals to keep the transmission going for a long time
Otherwise there's a lot of passion on this ultima buildup, it's a pleasure to watch this thread go on...
Thank you, it has been one of my favorite cars to build in the past few years.. great car overall.
I'd be honoured if I could post some pics of your buildup on my blog. (ultimahouse)

Absolutely, let me take some real pictures of the car first, these were taken in my shed mostly at nighttime, so the quality sucks, plus i just bought a new Canon EOS 50d Camera

[vin]

I would want to see some updated pics too...very interested with what you have done with your ultima. is there by anyway, anybody here could tell me where i could get the wide front arms for the turbo ultima?

[optimaforever]

on ebay, there are andy's front sus arms right now (the white ones).
otherwise, ultima pro XL's long arms is UM-44.

[vin]

thanks much for the info.

...still waiting to see the ultima...

[ace028]

Hi, I am new to the forum. I also have a kyosho ultima. Yours looks amazing!!!!

[mikedealer]

here is some close up of the custom steering and slim futaba servo (wanted to run battery lengthwise), it just uses standard lazer steering and futaba slim servo. the graphite bar is something totally custom i made to fit. the bar in the lazer kit wont fit at all

http://cgi.ebay.com/Aluminum-Steering-Assembly-Lazer-ZX-5-ZX5-TF5-3Racing_W0QQitemZ350283743370QQcmdZViewItemQQptZRadio_Control_Parts_Accessories?hash=item518e89c08a

and

http://cgi.ebay.com/Futaba-S9551-Low-Profile-High-Speed-Torque-Servo-s-9551_W0QQitemZ220521382885QQcmdZViewItemQQptZRadio_Control_Parts_Accessories?hash=item33581943e5

[mikedealer]

just wanted to add too, the bluegroove kit is alright, im going to run it and see how it handles.

the top deck is a throwaway item (in the garbage that is), its way to thin.


the shock towers are perfect (im using the ones i had originally at the moment)

the chassis and nose are nice too, the carbon fiber seems to be a fiberglass/carbon fiber mix, probably cause its cheap. but seems strong.

the motor plate is another waste item, screws strip pretty easy in there. seems like a cool idea but strip one screw and the plate is trash. the original plate of course sucks also. im using the A&L one in here anyway.

[mrlexan]

the top deck is a throwaway item (in the garbage that is), its way to thin.

That was my observation as well with the 959 parts that I got a while back (I asked about the thickness of one of his new kits in one of these threads). I really like the intent of the parts I got..... too bad it appears that he is trying to save a buck over quality. You get what you pay for and frankly, for me, I don't mind paying a bit more for quality, so as long as I know it is in fact quality. It appears there is a common theme with TBG these days.

[mikedealer]

i ordered the original deck and towers from dynotech (he made the cad drawings for me) and they were all 3+mm and beautiful.

the overall quality on the kit is ok. the chassis should really be a 2.5-3mm full carbon fiber sheet. the upper deck like i said is junk..

the RC10 kit he has on ebay too, i mean attaching the nose tubes to the side braces? recipe for disaster.

honestly i think he could do well with:
-composite craft rc10 - remake
-hotshot TMS chassis clone

[bdrmbully]

just wanted to add too, the bluegroove kit is alright, im going to run it and see how it handles.

the top deck is a throwaway item (in the garbage that is), its way to thin.


the shock towers are perfect (im using the ones i had originally at the moment)

the chassis and nose are nice too, the carbon fiber seems to be a fiberglass/carbon fiber mix, probably cause its cheap. but seems strong.

the motor plate is another waste item, screws strip pretty easy in there. seems like a cool idea but strip one screw and the plate is trash. the original plate of course sucks also. im using the A&L one in here anyway.

so maybe you can toss yours my way and i can double up on my piece a junk lol .i may just install pargu's radio plate on mine.

[mikedealer]

took some shots here all finished. not my favorite chassis of all time but way better than the original alum tub thing

[m_vice]

Looks cool Mike, how is the side view looking with the body and the more open space between the chassis and top plate?

I like you top image with the modern wing on it.

[Mr. ED]

I think this chassis would be ideal to use with a hot shot body: reaches further down to hide the open chassis but doesn't hide the narrow centerline