Kyosho Optima Mid Custom Special.

[Bormac]

Here's another project I have been wanting to get into. This would be the 3rd Custom Special that has come into my posession over the years and although its a little beat up I have some new bits and peices in the post making their way to me right now.

I picked up this car from eBay quite cheap as the seller refused to send outside of the U.K. My good friend Charles (CNA) was kind enough to help me out by receiving and posting this chassis on to me (thanks again Charles-I owe you).

As luck would have it the repro Custom Special bodyset I ordered from Marwan landed on my doorstep the same time this car did today. Forget box art paint scheme Im going to try something a little different with this shell and wing design.

Im yet to strip this car down but I am really happy with the C/F chassis and the aftermarket motor plate/heat sink which was a real bonus!! The standard gear diffs will be replaced with ball diffs and a second pair of uni's will go in the rear also. I have some LaZER ZXR 2.2" yellow rims to go aswell.

This car will be for the track when I can make it on 'off' race days for a bit of fun. I'll update as I get through the build.
Cheers-Jason.

[Jirka]

Rear shocks behind the rear arms, interesting. Someone has been ahead of its time.

That car seems to be in very good condition, good find.

Jirka

[Bormac]

Thanks Jirka. I have started the disassembly and many parts are worn quite heavily. The uni's are almost toast so I'll be looking for two pairs now.
The best parts on the car by a long shot are the C/F chassis and alloy motor plate/heat sink. Two items that would be worth more than i paid for the whole car so Im still very happy with it.

I have seen someone making C/F towers and camber links. If anybody knows where I might get some I'd be glad to hear from you.

[jordon0]

hi nice mid!
fibre-lyte in the uk do a few bits in carbon and seem to be cheaper than most ebayers on price for shock mounts etc!!
here is the link have a look!! http://www.fibre-lyte.co.uk
nick

[RedScampi]

That looks like a really clean project Jason! Congrats on the find! I do love the Mids!

[rangerg]

the motor plate looks great, nice hop-up

[Mad Racer]

Gee Jason.

That looks so good. Can't wait to see it finished.

Never new you can mount the shocks at the back. I looked into putting a PB 2 speed in mine back in 87 as the 2 speed mini mustangs were so fast on the huge 8th scale track we raced on. The problem was the shocks was to close to the gear cover.

According to Losi they said mounting the shocks behind the suspension tower helped it handle rougher tracks. Hence the first xxx4 was forward and the revised G + was behind.

Cool MID.

[Bormac]

Thanks for the comments guys. I have cleaned and inspected all the parts and will be chasing down a few more items that are broken that i did not first realise.

I simply love the super aerodynamic body shell of the CUSTOM SPECIAL and simply cant wait to get this thing up and going. The Lazer ZXR rims will look good on this rig too.

Mark you and I are going to have a ball running our vintage Kyosho's mate!

[losiXXXman]

Cannot wait to see how this turns out Jason. I like that shell too, Bullfrog has a Green one that looks good which first turned me on to it.

http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=15367

I'm considering it for my Ultima Pro... Do you think it will fit? What's the wheelbase on the custom special?

[Bormac]

Ok so I have rebuilt the car and Im not quite happy with a handful of the parts that came on the car. While i wait for the rear wing stay, gear box housings and a few other bits and peices I thought I'd get a start on the paint.

Just an early shot taken from my I-phone.

[RedScampi]

Snarky!

[lcpvcce]

Cool................

[tim.sanderson]

That body looks very cool! I love how you painted the top part of the windshield/bubble to look like a roof. It makes the body look way less '1980 sci-fi'. Very cool paint scheme, too. I might have to steal that look for the next body I paint!

[RichieRich]

That looks really nice. The body looks fantastic too. Would a wing be out of place? So many Optima Mids lately, it's making me want to work on mine.

[Mr. ED]

that paintscheme makes it look like a b-max!