Belt converted Optima

[DennisM]

This is my first belt conversion - not much to show, but being my first conversion, I´m a little exited about it. Front diff is from the Mid and the rear diff is partly Mid and partly original Optima.
The belt is from a normal wheel base Mid. And much to my surprice, the length was perfect.

[Coelacanth]

It's looking very nice so far. Good luck with the rest of the build!

[RedScampi]

Nice Optima Dennis. Keep the pics coming.

[Charlie don't surf]

Knowing nothing about Kyoshos, when was this popular or common? Was the car a standard chain driven optima to start, and what's changed? Sorry for the kyo noobness

[Jirka]

The rear gearbox is different in "real" belt conversion, see pic originally from Optima House:

The missing part from this pic is lexan cover. The "extra" belt pulley does not do much, but maybe it helps the belt to run smoother.

Jirka

[Jirka]

Knowing nothing about Kyoshos, when was this popular or common? Was the car a standard chain driven optima to start, and what's changed? Sorry for the kyo noobness

I think the belt conversion was not so popular. Kyosho's rear motor race cars were already old-fashioned when this kit was released. All die hard racers used mid motor cars that had belt drive (CAT, Mini Mustang and Yokomo) and this was Kyosho's way to buy time before their own mid motor 4wd car was ready to be released.

Jirka

[RichieRich]

The belt made the drive system more reliable. The links in the chain would stretch and/or become distorted. But yeah, by the time it came out, everyone had switched to other cars that used belts.

[Charlie don't surf]

The belt made the drive system more reliable. The links in the chain would stretch and/or become distorted. But yeah, by the time it came out, everyone had switched to other cars that used belts.

As in other Kyosho cars that ran belts?

[Coelacanth]

The belt made the drive system more reliable. The links in the chain would stretch and/or become distorted. But yeah, by the time it came out, everyone had switched to other cars that used belts.

As in other Kyosho cars that ran belts?

Exactly. The belt conversion made fussing with always having to tighten the chain, removing links, etc. almost non-existent. It also ran the car a lot quieter.

[328isjohn]

My 9 year old daughter has my old one,I bought it used along time ago and I put the belt conversion (back when you could buy it off the LHS shelf) on it before I ran it and the body and wing had been painted with pink paint.Funny how that worked out.
She just loves ripping around the ball diamonds with it.It has a Kyosho G20 motor in it as well.
The optima with the belt conversion has been bullet proof ever since it was put in.

[Mad Racer]

The Belt drive conversion came just before the MID came out.

I bought the conversion which cost around $150 which was a heap of dosh. On the track it really was no better in efficiency too the chain apart from being quieter and no stretching .

The belt is the same length as the MID ... The Mid was the first belt drive competition racer that Kyosho did. The Stinger Mk2 ( 1/10th Gas) had a belt fitted but different size .

I got the Mid as it first came out as i pre ordered it back in 87 ( Still have it )

[Coelacanth]

I don't think the belt was intended to improve efficiency or performance or anything...just to address the well-known issue of the chain always needing to be tightened, stretching, needing to remove links, etc. Less fussing around at the track is a good thing.

With my CYANide and Barney belt-converted Optimas, I'm mostly just hoping I can threadlock those 8 screws that are used to normally adjust chain tension, and not have to dicker around with them anymore.

[DennisM]

Progress over the weekend - Only missing the body and electronics.