Vintage Optima Gears

The place for all things Kyosho.

Moderators: scr8p, klavy69

User avatar
TomEG
Approved Member
Posts: 214
Joined: Sun May 10, 2009 4:01 pm
Location: Tromsø, Norway (Mariestad, Sweden)
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Vintage Optima Gears

Post by TomEG »

is the front diff a normal diff or a "one way", and does the belt have markings that say "310MXL"?

HatTrick
Approved Member
Posts: 56
Joined: Sat Sep 26, 2015 8:11 pm
Location: Västerås, Sweden
Has thanked: 14 times
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Vintage Optima Gears

Post by HatTrick »

Front Diff is a normal diff.
Can't find any markings at all on the belt.

User avatar
TomEG
Approved Member
Posts: 214
Joined: Sun May 10, 2009 4:01 pm
Location: Tromsø, Norway (Mariestad, Sweden)
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Vintage Optima Gears

Post by TomEG »

are the belt sprocket parts of the diffs plastic or metal?

HatTrick
Approved Member
Posts: 56
Joined: Sat Sep 26, 2015 8:11 pm
Location: Västerås, Sweden
Has thanked: 14 times
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Vintage Optima Gears

Post by HatTrick »

I called them pulleys in an earlier post. :oops:
The Sprockets ;) are made of metal.

User avatar
TomEG
Approved Member
Posts: 214
Joined: Sun May 10, 2009 4:01 pm
Location: Tromsø, Norway (Mariestad, Sweden)
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Vintage Optima Gears

Post by TomEG »

Then I believe what you have is a TBS "Competition kit". That is if the belt is a 310MXL. You better start counting the teeth of that belt ;-)

User avatar
TomEG
Approved Member
Posts: 214
Joined: Sun May 10, 2009 4:01 pm
Location: Tromsø, Norway (Mariestad, Sweden)
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Vintage Optima Gears

Post by TomEG »

HatTrick wrote:I called them pulleys in an earlier post. :oops:
The Sprockets ;) are made of metal.
You're probably right about "pulleys" :oops:

HatTrick
Approved Member
Posts: 56
Joined: Sat Sep 26, 2015 8:11 pm
Location: Västerås, Sweden
Has thanked: 14 times
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Vintage Optima Gears

Post by HatTrick »

Judging by this comment "i had a fine tooth belt conversion for the original optima that had machined pulleys, they werent nylon though, had a bright orange belt, sure that was a wasp item. pretty sure i still have the pulleys somewhere! " here http://www.oople.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58407

It would seem to be a pretty good match to what I found. A WASP Belt Conversion.
The person I got the Salute from said he got it from the UK and as WASP was a UK based company (from the linked thread) it makes sense.

HatTrick
Approved Member
Posts: 56
Joined: Sat Sep 26, 2015 8:11 pm
Location: Västerås, Sweden
Has thanked: 14 times
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Vintage Optima Gears

Post by HatTrick »

The question for me now is, since I want a vintage belt driven Optima: Is this belt drive better than the Option House one as it doesn't use the idler pulley?

And second question, is it possible to get a new belt for this drive?
The current belt seems to be a bit worn, tiny tears in the rubber.

User avatar
TomEG
Approved Member
Posts: 214
Joined: Sun May 10, 2009 4:01 pm
Location: Tromsø, Norway (Mariestad, Sweden)
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Vintage Optima Gears

Post by TomEG »

I always believed the WASP "pulleys" were natural aluminum, and not black anodized. But I can of course be wrong, or even have them mixed up with something else.... It just pops up in my mind when I hear WASP :oops:

I've heard people say the idler-less belt drives are better, and makes maintenance easier, but I don't have enough experience to comment on that. The wear on the belt is probably a result of the idler-less system, making the belt touch the gearbox under acceleration, I've read. My belt from such a setup is also very worn. Much more worn than from the Kyosho version, where the belts looks brand new on all the conversion kits I have.
The belts can be bought new. The pitch looks like MXL, and the number (like 310MXL) tells how many teeth.

Here is a MXL belt. It looks quite similar.
kyosho_optima_049.jpg

HatTrick
Approved Member
Posts: 56
Joined: Sat Sep 26, 2015 8:11 pm
Location: Västerås, Sweden
Has thanked: 14 times
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Vintage Optima Gears

Post by HatTrick »

Yep, that looks very similar!

Found MXL belts here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/B280-B285-B290-B295-B300-B310-B320-B330-MXL-Synchronous-MXL-Belt-in-closed-Loop-/322255036355?var=&hash=item4b07e59fc3:m:mT406IAI9nGmBfHlftb9g1Q

Would the pitch be correct simply because it's an MXL belt?

I just noticed one place right where the belt comes out of the gearbox that I'd have to dremel down a bit to avoid the teeth dragging over it.

User avatar
TomEG
Approved Member
Posts: 214
Joined: Sun May 10, 2009 4:01 pm
Location: Tromsø, Norway (Mariestad, Sweden)
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Vintage Optima Gears

Post by TomEG »

Yes MXL is an industry standard for pitch and profile of the teeth. The standard Kyosho belts are of the XL type. I do, however believe there are both metric and imperial versions of the pitch within the MXL standard.....

http://www.sdp-si.com/products/belts/imxl.htm

tamiyadan
Approved Member
Posts: 1690
Joined: Wed Apr 07, 2010 4:45 pm
Been thanked: 6 times

Re: Vintage Optima Gears

Post by tamiyadan »

.

Post Reply

Create an account or sign in to join the discussion

You need to be a member in order to post a reply

Create an account

Not a member? register to join our community
Members can start their own topics & subscribe to topics
It’s free and only takes a minute

Register

Sign in

  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post
  • Vintage Optima Turbo Gears
    by Beagle » » in Kyosho Forum
    10 Replies
    1076 Views
    Last post by Coelacanth
  • Kyosho Optima and Ultima Centre Gears
    by HKS_TRD » » in Kyosho Forum
    2 Replies
    966 Views
    Last post by HKS_TRD
  • How to replace Ultima/Optima spur gears?
    by Hcp22 » » in Kyosho Forum
    15 Replies
    2676 Views
    Last post by Sparbolt
  • 2016 optima transmission gears fit original
    by makoman1860 » » in Kyosho Re-Release Forum
    14 Replies
    3636 Views
    Last post by orangemazda
  • Idler gears for 6 gears tranny
    by Brat » » in Temple's RC10 Tech Forum
    5 Replies
    758 Views
    Last post by Brat
  • Looking for Advice... Vintage Turbo Optima
    by turbooptima » » in Kyosho Forum
    4 Replies
    862 Views
    Last post by Coelacanth
  • Kyosho Optima: keep it vintage or upgrade?
    by Nero45 » » in Kyosho Forum
    11 Replies
    2547 Views
    Last post by HatTrick
  • Vintage Optima Mid Upgrade Parts
    by HKS_TRD » » in Kyosho Forum
    8 Replies
    2984 Views
    Last post by aip47-2008

Return to “Kyosho Forum”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No User AvatarGoogle Adsense [Bot] and 24 guests