Protecting the Turbo Optima Bling

[sundevil67]

At risk of being made fun of...

I finally pulled the trigger & ordered me a shiny new Turbo Optima re-re, and expect it to arrive in a few days.

My current Optima-Series collection includes an Ultima Pro & Turbo Optima Mid SE (both disassembled, cleaned, and ready to begin a full restoration), and an original Optima and Optima Pro (NIB). The former were supposed to be runners, the latter to be built & parked on the shelf. Despite all of the promises to finish these projects before adding to my collection, the re-release of a car I drooled over as a teenager but could never afford finally became too much to resist!

Anyway, I'll get to the point. I am definitely going to run this one, but at risk of being made fun of, would like to see if what I can do to protect the gorgeous gold chassis, A-arms, etc. from getting scuffed up too badly when I take it off road. I won't be competing anywhere, so I'm not all that concerned about weight, but was wondering if anyone had come across anything in the way of skid plates, heavy duty bumpers, etc. they really like that might help with this effort.

Thanks!

[Lowgear]

It's understandable. Having something brand new that you want to use as intended but want to keep it as nice as you can. It's a difficult proposition though since if you really use it, it's going to get scratches and such no matter what you do.

Your best bet is to make your own protection pieces out of polycarbonate/lexan, and then either using double sided tape or zip ties to attach them. The cons with those two methods though is the tape either won't stick well enough, or will stick too well. The zip ties can rub against the components they're strapped to thus leaving marks on the surface.

A better alternative but requires more skill is to use polycarbonate/lexan, Kydex, or similar, and bend it in such a way where you can mount it using existing screw holes.

Ultimately though, any guards you do attach have the potential of trapping debris between them and the components, thus hurting the surfaces you're trying to protect.

[Coelacanth]

I've seen chassis protector stickers being sold for most cars on eBay, they're basically just fake carbon fiber or clear heavy-duty stickers that you stick on the bottom of the car. I'd look for one for the Optima and see if someone makes one. The sticker glue would probably be a pain to remove someday in the future, but it would come off with a combination of hair dryer and WD-40, and would at least keep the bottom of the car mostly scratch-free.

[sundevil67]

I think I'm going to go with one of those clear chassis decals from JConcepts, though it's kind of a bummer that they don't have one pre-cut for the Optima series vehicles (only modern Ultimas for Kyosho). Thanks for all of the input!

[TRX-1-3]

Yes the J-concepts film is good and sticky and pretty thick. It is just a clear adhesive film made by 3M. Not sure on the 3M part number. You would probably have to buy a 1200 pound roll delivered on a pallet, which is why J-Concepts packages enough to cover about 2 chassis bottoms with some good size leftover scraps.

Or buy a spare chassis and plates set and replace all the shiny stuff for if/when you "retire" it.

[sundevil67]

Thanks... I just got the JConcepts film... I'm sure it's pretty much exactly what I need here...I just hope I can cut it right & make it clean. I'm terrible at stuff like this - whether it's trimming decals or body masking...Ah well, it's on the bottom of the chassis so how bad can I mess it up. I appreciate the input.

[mikem65d]

Please reply back on what you think of the tape.