New to me Turbo Ultima

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New to me Turbo Ultima

Post by RCveteran »

Just received this car from sunny Puerto Rico. It's actually my first Ultima so I have a lot to learn. It appears I am missing the rear motor guard but other than that it is very clean. Has a regular Ultima body on it which I prefer to see the chassis. I have a great memory as a kid racing another guys Ultima Pro XL. He was a customer old enough to be my dad at the time when I was like 14 working at the hobby shop. He liked working on them but really didn't care to drive much so I got to drive them all. One day while turning the hottest laps the track had ever seen (yeah I remember it that way) I rounded a bend on the track I noticed smoke coming from the car, I ran down off the drivers platform tore of the body and the ESC was on fire. I ripped it out of the car just in time before it all went up. Ahh, memories :D

Question for the experts,
1)I assume trying to polish scratches out of chassis ruins the anodizing as well?
2) What were the Kyosho equivalent tie rods to like a Tecnacraft, something blingy?
3) Are these the original tires? The wheels are aluminum and I know not original but very cool though.
4) I think I'd like to run it at local carpet track, not in race but practice laps, what would you do for that cause?

Thanks.
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Coelacanth
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Re: New to me Turbo Ultima

Post by Coelacanth »

RCveteran, I think I can answer some of your questions. 8)

1) To polish aluminum, you have to first remove any anodizing, as anodizing is a very tough, hard coating and it won't be easy to remove. The scratches on your chassis are well past the anodizing coating and into the raw aluminum, unfortunately. That would take a LOT of effort to polish out. I'd probably look for a new chassis rather than try to restore that one...or keep it as-is, it's kinda cool to restore a car and let it keep some of its battle scars. :twisted:

I remove anodizing by spraying the parts with Easy-Off Heavy Duty oven cleaner (yellow cap), letting them sit a couple minutes, and brushing off with a toothbrush. Wash and rinse well after all the ano is removed. Then begins the polishing, which is wet-sanding in increasingly finer grits of sandpaper. What you start with depends on how smooth the surface is to begin with; I start with 800 if it's smooth, or 400 if you have fine scratches to remove. What you end with depends on how glossy a surface you want; if you like a matte finish, stop at 800. If you want a silky finish, 1000 or 1500. If you want glossy shine, use polishing compound and a rotary tool like a Dremel after you've finished wet-sanding with 1500-grit. Don't skip too much between grits, be sure to do it in order: 400-600-800-1000-1500-polishing compound. If you take shortcuts, your results will suffer. I documented this process recently with my current Lucas Agitator resto project:

http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=35595&start=16

2. Trinity made gold tie-rods and camber links for Kyosho cars; I have used them on my Zebra Optima and OptiMutt cars (check the links in my sig for more details). I believe the same Trinity hop-ups may have fit the Ultima.

3. Those Bridgestone tires do indeed look original. Those wheels look like the aftermarket alloy repros that Pargu makes. His web store is here:

http://www.pargustore.com/alloy-parts/kyosho/ultima.html

His product is very good quality; his English, not so much (he's Korean I believe).
Completed projects: CYANide Onroad Optima | Zebra Gold Optima | Barney Optima | OptiMutt RWD Mid
Gallery - Coel's Stalls: Marui Galaxy & Shogun Resto-Mods | FrankenBuff AYK Buffalo | 1987 Buick GNX RC12L3

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Re: New to me Turbo Ultima

Post by RCveteran »

Thanks I think you are right on preserving the patina on this one. Ok, I am lazy too but I appreciate the full steps, not sure I have seen the full steps to polishing chassis before. I would have just grabbed my dremel and polishing compound and missed a lot of steps.

He sent a non turbo ultima so the thinner metal one and extra parts as well and it looks like he was well into polishing that one already so maybe I will continue on that one.

That link you sent does indeed appear to be the correct wheels.

I was reading up on 2.2 wheels if I wanted to run it. Seems the rear has all sorts of options with standard hex and RB5 front carriers and axles may be the easiest for the front?

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Re: New to me Turbo Ultima

Post by Dadio »

It may be obvious but the alloy wheels are really for shelf queens and not intended for even moderate use , I'm sure you could use them but they would suffer really quickly from scratches or bending .
If a jobs not worth doing then its certainly not worth doing well.
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Re: New to me Turbo Ultima

Post by RCveteran »

Definitely. I will mount some modern 2.2 for running days. This one will see some fun laps on a carpet track when no kids with battering rams are around. I try to run my shelfers a little even if in very controlled low risk environment I still enjoy seeing them go and in the air.

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Re: New to me Turbo Ultima

Post by Mr. ED »

Rerelease turbo scorpion wheels all around is the better way to go.

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Re: New to me Turbo Ultima

Post by Coelacanth »

RCveteran wrote: Sun May 07, 2017 8:06 am Ok, I am lazy too but I appreciate the full steps, not sure I have seen the full steps to polishing chassis before. I would have just grabbed my dremel and polishing compound and missed a lot of steps.
What happens if you simply jump to the polishing stage without wet-sanding out any nicks or fine scratches is you'll get the aluminum to a nice glossy shine, but you'll still see the deeper nicks, pits and scratches. It'll be an improvement but won't have a consistent finish. :wink:

You should hit up Pargu's wheels with your polishing tool, it'll really make them pop. If those wheels haven't been run and are still in great condition, polishing them should be quite easy and transform them from that ho-hum stock cast aluminum finish to something that looks special.
Completed projects: CYANide Onroad Optima | Zebra Gold Optima | Barney Optima | OptiMutt RWD Mid
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Re: New to me Turbo Ultima

Post by RCveteran »

I will do the wheels, good idea. They don't look like they have ever been run so will polish up very nice.

Is there anyone making tires that fit these wheels these days? Out of curiosity. I will likely run RB5 carriers in front and 2.2 and RB5 rear wheels.

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