Turbo Ultima rebuild

[XLR8]

Back in the late ‘80’s, our local RC track established two classes for off-road 2wd stock – “RC10” and “540” which was open to everything else. I’d been competing with an RC10 (in both stock and modified) and getting my butt kicked so I wanted to find something to run in 540 as a way to gain more track time and hopefully improve my driving skills. Eventually I picked up an Ultima not long after Kyosho had introduced the car. I’d raced the Ultima for one or two seasons box-stock and it performed really well compared to the other Scorpions, Grasshoppers, Frogs, etc. that ran in the 540 class – then I sold it.
Since Kyosho has announced the re-release of the Ultima it has rekindled my interest in the car. I’ve really wanted to find another Ultima to use as a runner so I found this one on flea-bay a couple weeks ago.

The shocks are leaking and the radio tray has been butchered around the MSC servo mount but I can address that if it proves to be a problem – I’ll be running an ESC.

Gears look good.

A little road rash but I guess it’s not too bad.

So, the immediate plan is to clean it up and see what I’ve got. This is the first time in 30 years that I’ve actually held one of these cars in my hands.

[XLR8]

The included body, while shiny and relatively scratch free on the outside, it’s very poorly trimmed and cracked and has this odd cutout on the left side – maybe a PO felt that it allowed removal of the battery while the body was fitted easier. Anyway, I’ll strip the paint and try to salvage it. I’ve gone ahead and ordered a new body and wing from Penguin along with a couple decal sets from MCI. I’m planning to do boring box art again since it’s one color and easy to produce. I have no talent or skill for doing anything more complex.

[XLR8]

The sale included two ball dif kits and a set of arms NIB.

One of the kits has been opened but otherwise appears to be intact.

On to the cleanup stage….

[SteveMax]

Doesn't look like it was used too much. Clean everything up and it will come out very nice.

[XLR8]

Yeah, I agree -- it appears to be a low-mileage car. The grease in the tranny was still clean and translucent and all hinge pins, ball joints and bearings are still tight.
So I have everything cleaned and ready to reassemble -- beginning with the tranny and rear bulkhead assembly.

A little “K” grease from one of the re-release builds.

Ready to mount on the chassis plate.
I also have the body stripped. I’ve used a citrus based cleaner to remove the paint.

I think the previous owner used a lacquer-based paint and this caused the lexan to become clouded and checked in the areas where the paint pooled (at the base of the side windows and the roof). The remaining surfaces look okay.

I probably should have skipped the stripping process and just painted the body on the outside. Anyway, I guess we’ll see how well it accepts the new paint and go from there.

[SteveMax]

That stripped body looks really good IMO. If you decide to go with the same (or close) color, it will come out excellent - of course the downside is if you didn't like the blue. If you decide on a different color, it won't look that great. I've gotten used to re-painting them the same color.

[XLR8]

That stripped body looks really good IMO. If you decide to go with the same (or close) color, it will come out excellent - of course the downside is if you didn't like the blue. If you decide on a different color, it won't look that great. I've gotten used to re-painting them the same color.

You are correct. I'm going with box art so it's now painted white and frankly it really doesn't look very good. I'll upload some pics tomorrow.
If I ever do another color change, I won't waste time stripping the paint, I'll just paint it on the outside. I've done that with a Mid body and it turned out okay. Live and learn.

[XLR8]

I've had some time over the weekend to finish assembling the rear suspension.

Here’s the body with paint. My biggest regret was not spending a few more minutes with some thinner to remove the last bits of blue paint. I’m hoping the decals will cover most of it.

I’ve added a few layers of heavy packing tape to reinforce areas that were cracked.

[Coelacanth]

Nice work so far. A great way to strengthen a body is to apply drywall mesh tape to the inside with Shoe Goo. I read about that tip on RCTech.net and strengthened the whole bottom front and rear of my CYANide 'Cuda body that way, after painting it.

[SteveMax]

It's coming along nicely.

[XLR8]

Thanks! The crappy photos hide most of the flaws.
That’s a great tip about using drywall tape and Shoe Goo and I was planning to use it here but my tube of Shoe Goo had dried out and I wasn’t up for a trip into town to buy a new tube so I’ve used the packing tape instead.
By the way, that same mesh tape can be used to make some convincing scale window net as well – after it’s been painted.

[mtbkym01]

Enjoying your work here

[matt1ptkn]

I'll second the drywall mesh tape and shoe goo. If your paint is well adhered, the mesh/shoe goo composite is almost bullet proof. Thanks, too, for posting update photos. Because of one of your photos, I just discovered that I have a Kyosho trans brace and spacers in my stash, that I've been wondering about for months. Body looks good to me, too!

[RCveteran]

Looks really great, don't sweat the minor imperfections, historically the cars were only perfect the second before the 1st race. After that the battle wounds began and add character. That's what I tell my wife about my own personal chassis too

[Coelacanth]

Thanks! The crappy photos hide most of the flaws.
That’s a great tip about using drywall tape and Shoe Goo and I was planning to use it here but my tube of Shoe Goo had dried out and I wasn’t up for a trip into town to buy a new tube so I’ve used the packing tape instead.
By the way, that same mesh tape can be used to make some convincing scale window net as well – after it’s been painted.
window net.jpg

That's a great tip too. Thanks, I may use that one someday!