Rejuvenating the Zebra Optima

[Coelacanth]

Here's my freshly rebuilt 23+ year-old Lemans 480 Gold. Those anodized endbells and brushed cans sure look a whole lot better than the motors these days, with the garish stickers plastered across the cans. Vintage motor beauty!

[Mad Racer]

As i have been playing with lots of different vintage buggys i can tell you what my Optima Pro will be sporting on its rebuild shortly.

SHOCKS:
Yeah racing are good for the money and i have them nearly on all my runners 25 and counting.They are alloy body, threaded and come with mounting hardweare for $15AU here. I drill the pistons out to 1/16th drill bit and this really helps. Losi springs fit sraight on so gives you a wide range of tunning as well as kyosho stock springs fit. You can fit Losi gold shafts in too if you want but is not needed. You need 70mm for front and 90mm rear. You can get them in silver or blue too. Can get them in increaments of 5mm as well. The blue shocks in the pics you can get of e bay here from rc roosters. Have bought 3 sets but are mid length front ( Lazer Zx) are made by flying point but look exact as kyosho golds but in blue. Not as good as yeah racing.

Wheels.
I plan to run the Ofna CRT.5 truggy rims ( mini truggy but are 2.2) they really increase the track as the offset is all out. From A Main HobbiesWill be shod in losi studs as well.n I do have the 3 racing wheels in chrome and white but narrows the track as you metioned. Be careful don't acetone the tires as the rubber is not rubber and turns to mush. I found out

Hardend pinion;
I really dont think Pargu 2000 is hardend to the same degree as Kyosho's or Throp. I just bought 2 Kyosho ones from rc rooster for $50au. A bargain i think. He might still have one left as he is selling a heap of optima parts still. If comes to the worst the Pargu 2000 will be fine i say.

Belt drive conversion in mine.

Hope this helps

[Coelacanth]

As i have been playing with lots of different vintage buggys i can tell you what my Optima Pro will be sporting on its rebuild shortly.

Thanks for some useful info, Mad Racer, and I'm looking forward to your Optima Pro rebuild!

SHOCKS:
Yeah racing are good for the money and i have them nearly on all my runners 25 and counting.They are alloy body, threaded and come with mounting hardweare for $15AU here. I drill the pistons out to 1/16th drill bit and this really helps. Losi springs fit sraight on so gives you a wide range of tunning as well as kyosho stock springs fit. You can fit Losi gold shafts in too if you want but is not needed. You need 70mm for front and 90mm rear. You can get them in silver or blue too. Can get them in increaments of 5mm as well. The blue shocks in the pics you can get of e bay here from rc roosters. Have bought 3 sets but are mid length front ( Lazer Zx) are made by flying point but look exact as kyosho golds but in blue. Not as good as yeah racing.

Great info. I just purchased a set of 4 Kyosho Lazer ZX shocks for $22.90, they're silver with blue caps & threaded adjusters, made by 3racing. I've been told they work quite well, do you have experience with those? Any tips?

Link here:
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130424228564&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

Hardend pinion;
I really dont think Pargu 2000 is hardend to the same degree as Kyosho's or Throp. I just bought 2 Kyosho ones from rc rooster for $50au. A bargain i think. He might still have one left as he is selling a heap of optima parts still. If comes to the worst the Pargu 2000 will be fine i say.

I've heard the same about pargu2000's pinions, they're not hardened like the Kyosho OT-76 or aftermarket ones are. I managed to score an OT-76 and also have a blue anodized pargu gear coming. I'd like another Kyosho or good aftermarket one, if possible. I'll only have 2 cars and don't plan on adding more, but I want them both built up right, and it's a pain-in-the-derrière to have to strip the car down to open the rear gearbox and add that gear! I got the pargu one just because it's better than the stock unhardened gear, and it was all I could find.

No belt conversions for me, can't find one, and couldn't afford one if I DID find one.

[Mad Racer]

Just be carefull in seizing the shocks up. The ZX5 may be longer than the 70mm thats required on the optima and mid.

If shocks are too long it will affect the habdling. Won't achieve any droop.

Sound like it's all go.

Yeah i herd the belt drive are big $$$$ but mine came with the car when i got it.

[Coelacanth]

What do you guys think of these rims?

[Bormac]

Entertaining build you have here. Mate please stay with the Option House gold shocks. Not only do they work well for this car but they look and are 'period correct'. In my opinion you cant go wrong with Option House gold shocks on an Optima.
I run them on mine and they are PURRFECT!

[Coelacanth]

Entertaining build you have here. Mate please stay with the Option House gold shocks. Not only do they work well for this car but they look and are 'period correct'. In my opinion you cant go wrong with Option House gold shocks on an Optima.
I run them on mine and they are PURRFECT!

You're absolutely right, bormac...I'm definitely leaving the Goldies on this car, they just look so "right" with the Celebration Gold chassis. Visually & functionally, they're fantastic. It's my upcoming build that will have something different. Stay tuned...once I have the parts all arrive, I'll start a separate build topic.

This one just needs an ESC and I'll hopefully get in a test-run before the snow flies and maybe a vid too.

[GJW]

put on some old rims! those new one's just dont suit brother! its like running 19inch on a 68 camaro! is this a runner?

[Bormac]

Gary's right. Those white spoked rims realy are awful on this classic. If I were you I'd be snapping up a set of these in a heart beat!

http://cgi.ebay.com/LOHAS-vtg-tecnacraft-style-wheel-off-road-Kyosho-TAMIYA-/270638775406?pt=Radio_Control_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3f0353fc6e

These will finish this car right off!

[Coelacanth]

Gary's right. Those white spoked rims realy are awful on this classic. If I were you I'd be snapping up a set of these in a heart beat!

http://cgi.ebay.com/LOHAS-vtg-tecnacraft-style-wheel-off-road-Kyosho-TAMIYA-/270638775406?pt=Radio_Control_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3f0353fc6e

These will finish this car right off!

Thanks for the comments, guys. This will be a runner, as will my upcoming build. I don't believe in shelf princesses. I like the lower profile and higher clearance of wheels like these 5-spokes, at least for offroad use.

Bormac, those LOHAS rims are gorgeous--but that's the difference between $15 and $68, eh? Very tempting though...

Marui hunter 73, I have plenty of original Turbo Optima wheels & tires...maybe 4 or 5 full sets. I can go old-school with a turn of the box wrench.

EDIT: Thanks for the lead on those LOHAS rims, bormac...I've done countless eBay searches but never searched for "tecnacraft", and never noticed those until now. I appreciate your tip!

[sgirouard]

Entertaining build you have here. Mate please stay with the Option House gold shocks. Not only do they work well for this car but they look and are 'period correct'. In my opinion you cant go wrong with Option House gold shocks on an Optima.
I run them on mine and they are PURRFECT!

I agree here. An optima without gold shocks is like cake without frosting.

[Coelacanth]

Well, I've got the frosting for both cakes now. When you see how I'm putting together my second Optima, you'll understand better why I'll keep the Goldies as spares. It's a color scheme thing.

[sgirouard]

Seems like it's gonna look real nice.

PS I have a set of those Option house Blue shocks...actually I have 2 sets of rear option house blues. They're on an old Kyosho Big Brute. If I could find 1 big brute shock, I'd set that back to original and shelf the blues until something more deserving came along.

[Coelacanth]

My Optima's first run in 20-some years just happened! I installed an LRP AI Auto Super Reverse ESC I bought from sneako43, put in my slowest motor (Lemans 480 Gold) and slowest battery (25-year-old 6-cell matched Sanyo pack) and went for a boot. I have some tweaking to do with the powertrain, but the suspension was perfect. I could take a rounded curb head-on with no scraping/bottoming out or bouncing. I forgot how great these cars handled the bumpies! With the larger-diameter lower-profile tires & wheels, the acceleration was a bit underwhelming but it was already getting dark in my 'hood and I didn't want my first street run to end up under a 1:1 car's tires.

I think she's ready for my 4-minute 14-turn motor from that era and my new Duratrax 4600 8-cell battery pack.

[Coelacanth]

I just finished authoring my first video ever, and my Turbo Optima was my first subject! Check it out--and let me know what you think, I'd appreciate your feedback...and yeah, I know my driving skills suck, but part of that is the car's fault...it just has too much power. Hard acceleration makes it fish-tail all over the place! It sure is fun, though.