Turbo Optima mid SE

[radioactivity]

FWIW, I've owned 3 or 4 Mids and all of them were missing part OPM-9. You can see it here on page 13 of the manual.


OPM-9.JPG



I've never actually seen one but I think it's rubber. It's meant to seal the underside of the belt cover where the belt exits the rear gearbox - directly above the motor. This part never comes up on ebay so I think it's rare.
I've made a rather poor substitute by forming a piece of lexan but it really doesn't work very well.
I'd reckon this part would be a perfect candidate for 3d printing if anyone has access to one they could replicate.

I've never even noticed that in the manual. You're right that it never comes up in auctions, it's gotta be a hens teeth sort of part. And you know, when I went to university in Urbana-Champaign, I spent a lot of time at an LHS that got all the scratch and dent pallet loads from Tower Hobbies. Those got sorted into huge Rubbermaid tubs of parts, almost half of them Kyosho, and I have never seen that part, ever.

Do you guys think this might possibly be a solution?
While out in the garage I stumbled over an old cable clamp.
New clamps are cheap enough to experiment with.

Chuck

[radioactivity]

Yep Chuck, cant wait to see progress on this one. PLEEEAASSE go box art when you do the body. And you will need the sway bars if u go SE paint. The turbo mid se was definelty one of my all time favorite cars. The platinums are the best shocks ever also, so classic. That mega motor will work for now, but be on lookout for a lemans. Good look and keep the updates coming.
PS, i cannont believe u raced in 80s in southern illinois snd never had a kyosho! Thats just crazy. Kyosho rules!

David
It looks as though box art is a good solution.
Only have those front sway bar attachment thingies that mount on the arms right now.

Chuck

[XLR8]

FWIW, I've owned 3 or 4 Mids and all of them were missing part OPM-9. You can see it here on page 13 of the manual.


OPM-9.JPG



I've never actually seen one but I think it's rubber. It's meant to seal the underside of the belt cover where the belt exits the rear gearbox - directly above the motor. This part never comes up on ebay so I think it's rare.
I've made a rather poor substitute by forming a piece of lexan but it really doesn't work very well.
I'd reckon this part would be a perfect candidate for 3d printing if anyone has access to one they could replicate.

I've never even noticed that in the manual. You're right that it never comes up in auctions, it's gotta be a hens teeth sort of part. And you know, when I went to university in Urbana-Champaign, I spent a lot of time at an LHS that got all the scratch and dent pallet loads from Tower Hobbies. Those got sorted into huge Rubbermaid tubs of parts, almost half of them Kyosho, and I have never seen that part, ever.

In fact, I don't even recall seeing this part in any build photos. It would be great if someone here could confirm that it even exists.
I could attempt to make a CAD model using the mating parts as reference if someone with a printer would be interested in printing it. ... or I could send it to Shapeways.
Anyone else interested in having a printed replica of this part?

Was it Slot and Wing Hobbies in Champaign? I used to race my 10L on their carpet track during the winter months back in the late '80's. I still have one of their t-shirts in a box somewhere.

[XLR8]

FWIW, I've owned 3 or 4 Mids and all of them were missing part OPM-9. You can see it here on page 13 of the manual.


OPM-9.JPG



I've never actually seen one but I think it's rubber. It's meant to seal the underside of the belt cover where the belt exits the rear gearbox - directly above the motor. This part never comes up on ebay so I think it's rare.
I've made a rather poor substitute by forming a piece of lexan but it really doesn't work very well.
I'd reckon this part would be a perfect candidate for 3d printing if anyone has access to one they could replicate.

I've never even noticed that in the manual. You're right that it never comes up in auctions, it's gotta be a hens teeth sort of part. And you know, when I went to university in Urbana-Champaign, I spent a lot of time at an LHS that got all the scratch and dent pallet loads from Tower Hobbies. Those got sorted into huge Rubbermaid tubs of parts, almost half of them Kyosho, and I have never seen that part, ever.

Do you guys think this might possibly be a solution?
While out in the garage I stumbled over an old cable clamp.
New clamps are cheap enough to experiment with.

OPM9.jpg

Chuck

It's definitely worth a try Chuck. Its gotta be better than what I came up with. It's the right shape and material.

[radioactivity]

I snagged this off the Tamiya forum.
Apparently at least one exists





Chuck

[TheDiamondOne]

Gotcha doug, Springfield is way north of us. If those shocks leak it is the tiny inner orings. I have never found replacements. I did buy a nip front set that came with 4 extra and i used them on my leaking ones and it fixed it. Mounting upside down is only other option.

[Coelacanth]

Please don't go box-art. When you've seen one, you've seen 'em all. Just my 2 farthings.

[adam lancia]

FWIW, I've owned 3 or 4 Mids and all of them were missing part OPM-9. You can see it here on page 13 of the manual.


OPM-9.JPG



I've never actually seen one but I think it's rubber. It's meant to seal the underside of the belt cover where the belt exits the rear gearbox - directly above the motor. This part never comes up on ebay so I think it's rare.
I've made a rather poor substitute by forming a piece of lexan but it really doesn't work very well.
I'd reckon this part would be a perfect candidate for 3d printing if anyone has access to one they could replicate.

I've never even noticed that in the manual. You're right that it never comes up in auctions, it's gotta be a hens teeth sort of part. And you know, when I went to university in Urbana-Champaign, I spent a lot of time at an LHS that got all the scratch and dent pallet loads from Tower Hobbies. Those got sorted into huge Rubbermaid tubs of parts, almost half of them Kyosho, and I have never seen that part, ever.

In fact, I don't even recall seeing this part in any build photos. It would be great if someone here could confirm that it even exists.
I could attempt to make a CAD model using the mating parts as reference if someone with a printer would be interested in printing it. ... or I could send it to Shapeways.
Anyone else interested in having a printed replica of this part?

Was it Slot and Wing Hobbies in Champaign? I used to race my 10L on their carpet track during the winter months back in the late '80's. I still have one of their t-shirts in a box somewhere.

That's the place! I went to school there from 2000-2005 and spent many hours with my nose in Kyosho totes rather than text books

[radioactivity]

Cleaning , polishing and a little paint.

Hours of cleaning. Hours of sanding. Hours of polishing. And a little paint on the wheels.
Toothbrush with simple green, dishwashing detergent and marvel mystery oil.
220grit, 320, 400, 800, 1000, 2000 and 3000.
May be 50% of the way done with cleaning and polishing. Ordered a new buffing wheel for final polishing.
Will admit the chassis turned out way better than expected. Shiny as a diamond in a gophers butt.
Wheels are OK but were rough to begin with.
Trying to decide if I should do the anodizing myself or farm it out.
The rear diff and gears were trashed but just can't justify the expense of those dang rear diff halves (gear side in particular).
Ordered more parts yesterday, ordered some last week probably more next week

Chuck

[Coelacanth]

Let the assembly begin!

[radioactivity]

Let the assembly begin!

Oh boy...
I wish I was there.
Lots more parts to go.
Gears, rod ends, anodizing, CF towers and upper plate, fabricate shock ends (not fun), body and belt/gear covers, OT17, OY45, OT28,OT26, OT33 bla bla bla.
Time to let my fingers recuperate from all the sanding and polishing

Chuck

[Coelacanth]

The end result will definitely be worth the elbow grease, Chuck. Polished aluminum just has a classiness that you don't get with chrome plating.

[XLR8]

What a transformation! Looking good Chuck.

The wheels are very nice as well. I have a set for the Turbo Ultima that need refinishing. What paint did you use?

[coxbros1]

Man Chuck that is amazing! I know your opinion of Kyoshos back at "Right Stuff Hobbies" in the late 80's weren't that great.....but your about to find out 80s Kyosho's are as good as anything....if not better! Wait till you get the Le Mans bug in you

[radioactivity]

The wheels were a little scary.

Last week I totally melted down a pair of Duratrax wheels in acetone.
The Duratrax wheel had a lot of tire rubber and cyanoacrylate glue on them and I was trying to clean them.
Checked on them after an hour and they had melted, guess they weren't nylon Should have checked first

And before I get flamed, painting nylon doesn't work, don't paint nylon, it will not work, you will never be able to use those wheels.....
That said...

Only had one shot on the SE wheels so I got 95% of the chrome and glue off with alcohol a toothbrush and cotton swabs.
Then picked the small hard pieces off with a small dull straight slot screwdriver.

On the raw nylon? I sprayed adhesion promoter maybe 10 minutes before any silver.
Next the entire wheel got the Dupli Color universal silver.
After drying, the outer rim was wet sanded 2000 then 3000 to get as smooth a finish as I could.
After masking I shot only the rim with the Rustoleum chrome paint.
May have a hard time finding that particular Rustoleum paint 'cause it's probably older than most of the people on the forum

In retrospect some CA as a filler for some of the small dents may have worked somewhat like Bondo. But I'm done with the wheels for now.

Chuck