Project OptiMutt - Finished

Post by **Coelacanth** » Sat Jan 18, 2014 2:41 am

Before I began this project, I had a set of wheels that I envisioned mounting on one of my cars. The problem was, the wheels were from the 80's and had the annoying taper-fit hubs that would only fit on 80's-era Kyosho tapered axles. Since I've modernized all of my Optimas except for the Zebra gold chassis car, these wheels wouldn't fit onto the modern 5mm straight axles with either crosspins & hexes or slots. The wheels were just collecting dust and seemed like a lost cause until I started doing some careful measurements and got some ideas. I ran the ideas by jwscab, who has machined some spacers and such for me in the past, and shipped him the wheels after sending him some pictures, diagrams & we came up with an idea that worked.

Joe machined off the inner cone-shaped section of the wheels so that the inners would be flat, then machined crosspin slots into the flats. He did this after confirming some careful measurements of backspacing and decided to drill out the wheel axle holes to 5mm.

After having these wheels for a year or two now and not being able to use them, with Joe's machine work, I am now able to mount them on OptiMutt and the car I envisioned a long time ago is just about finished!

I'd like to also thank RedScampi, who sold me the matching front wheels...he had a set of the fronts, I had a set of the rears, and neither of us could do anything with them, so I eventually made a trade offer for some stuff he needed, and was able to finally make a matching set.

Post by **CAT3K** » Sat Jan 18, 2014 4:41 am

Very nice

Love those wheels.

Post by **Hcp22** » Sat Jan 18, 2014 4:51 pm

So sharp

Post by **j0pp3** » Sun Jan 19, 2014 3:25 am

Looks great with those wheels! I think Kyosho Platina shocks would match the car as well.

Post by **jwscab** » Sun Jan 19, 2014 3:38 am

Awesome. Glad they got there, they look great!!!!

Post by **rccars4sal** » Fri Jan 24, 2014 8:53 pm

Im mesmerized by those wheels! I need those for a scale series,, like perhaps a testarosa, or rs500 cosworth.

Post by **Coelacanth** » Thu Mar 06, 2014 9:37 pm

Another project finally wrapped up. I got this one done lightning-quick, compared to my other builds--barely 13 months!

I got the idea for this build when I acquired a set of these JPS rear aluminum wheels, then discovered RedScampi had a set of matching fronts. Neither of us had a full set, and I didn't want to build another 4WD, as I already had 3 other 4WD cars...so I was intrigued by how a RWD-converted Turbo Optima Mid SE might look sporting these wheels. I managed to convince RedScampi to send me his front wheels--fortunately I had something to trade that he wanted badly enough--and that was the start.

I also liked the idea of building a RWD mid-motored car as it's something you rarely see manufactured; most that I've seen were all mods.

On to the money shots...

Post by **Coelacanth** » Thu Mar 06, 2014 9:38 pm

And the obligatory body-off pics...

Post by **rccars4sal** » Thu Mar 06, 2014 11:05 pm

The belly pan is interesting. Is it also a tbg? Does it cover all the way forward and back? Stunning build! So many good ideas in there. I should try to wire my builds like that. So, how does it handle?

Post by **Coelacanth** » Fri Mar 07, 2014 1:04 am

Yes, that's a TBG undertray; strangely, no it doesn't quite cover the entire aluminum chassis plate; it cuts across at the front and rear. In the last pic, you can see at the front where it crosses the plate just ahead of bellcrank; and at the rear, a little bit before where the plate narrows down where the gearbox is bolted on. Not perfect, but better than no undertray.

I've only done some runs up and down the street with street tires and electronically, it's silky-smooth. It didn't seem to have understeer on acceleration and seems to hug the road pretty good. I chose this body because the whole body looks like a wing. I figured it might be a good design for downforce; as good as I've seen for an offroad buggy, anyway. It accelerates hard with no wheelie action, which is perfect in my books, but...then we got snow.

Next spring should be fun, I plan to run all my cars, except maybe the Zebra Optima...maybe I should retire that one because of the Gold Celebration chassis.

Post by **Hcp22** » Fri Mar 07, 2014 2:13 am

Grate looking MID!

Post by **rccars4sal** » Fri Mar 07, 2014 12:13 pm

I had received a body set that was painted by previous owner. It was tbg and had the pan,, and I was confused that it only went part way front and back. Your pics made it look longer. No matter, its a beautiful build, and I think that will be the shell for the next mid in my fleet that gets finished. Looks really good.

Post by **Coelacanth** » Fri Mar 07, 2014 1:12 pm

Thanks, guys!

Post by **alcyon** » Mon Mar 24, 2014 1:46 am

If kyosho ever made a ULTIMA MID, this is definitely it.

Post by **alcyon** » Tue Nov 04, 2014 8:24 am

Just out of curiosity, what is the height of the yeah racing knuckles ?

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