Turbo Optima mid SE

[radioactivity]

Doug

Can we assume the crease has crossed into the area without primer? Since this paint is lacquer based, it will become brittle over time so it could crack more easily after it cures completely - perhaps after a couple weeks or more. Acrylic enamel paint might be less prone to cracking.

Cracking is one issue but I think the real concern is about overall adhesion and that's where the promoter should be helpful. By chance, did you prep the lexan - maybe with a Scotchbrite pad?

Yep on question 1. Both areas were creased.
Yep on question 2. I prepped a portion of the lexan with 3m 3000 trizact. No part of the test, primed, scuffed or straight to lexan showed problems with adhesion.
I have found 3m 3000 trizact barely creates a haze with virtually no scratching and no evidence on the final painted finish.
I will recheck for cracking after thorough cure.

Chuck

[radioactivity]

Coelacanth

I tried to find an other alternative

if it's not possible to swap those bottom shock-ends with something more generic

but had no luck.

Definitely, if you find something I would be extremely interested.
What I ordered to try on my next attempt are plastic, not nylon hopefully. Nylon seems to soft and doesn't cut cleanly for me.
19mm OA length, 6mm OD on the shaft and 3mm for the ID.
Mine will be open but a ball end should measure approximately the same.

And the only reasons I will use them is I have them and they were original to the Mid SE.
After fighting with them for several years and never finding any real advantage over other shocks they are not on my favorites list either.

Chuck

[XLR8]

3 of the shock ends that were on the car are pretty torn up and one was missing altogether.
I've been trying to replicate the elusive ADj-1 lower shock mount.
At least without paying $40 plus for 4 new ones. May have to go that route, but for now I'll try to mod some ends.
First attempt, not so good. Nylon ends just don't thread very good.
The original end is on the left, my 3 feeble attempts are on the right.
optima9.JPG
Cheaper plastic ends on their way.

I'm not a fan of those open ball-ends. On all of my builds, I've replaced most of those with 4.8 mm ball studs and ball cups. There's less slop and I figure less dirt will get into the joint when it's a cup instead of an open end. The only place I kept the open-ended ball-ends is for the Optima's steering servo and inner tie-rod ends because there's very little clearance there and they need to be as flat as possible...and for the stabilizer upper ball-ends because the stabilizer wires have to go through the ball-end holes.

Is it possible to do this with the Platinums? I have a full set in a Ziploc bag, I might have to take a closer look...if it's not possible to swap those bottom shock-ends with something more generic, it would give me yet another reason to dislike the Platinum shock design.

The efficiency of a ball cup to keep dirt out of the joint probably depends on its installed orientation. If it's install inverted (like your outer camber link and tie rod) then yes, any dirt that finds its way up and in the cup should quickly drop out as the car shakes and rattles around the track. However, if the ball cup is installed on its side like would be the case with a lower shock mount, then won't the cup simply trap dirt? And if so, then maybe this is at least one reason why AE, Kyosho and others don't use ball cups to mount shocks.


Yes, AE uses ball cups on camber links and they are mounted sideways but I'm setting that fact aside for the moment because the discussion here is about shock mounts.

In other words, there are definite inconsistencies in my ball cup orientation theory.

[Coelacanth]

Interesting point about the ball cup orientation. I still clearly remember the original Optima tie-rod ends always popping off with those big 5.8mm pillow balls and open ball-ends, it was quite annoying. I figured there had to be a better solution.

[XLR8]

Here's another theory.
If the ball cup's axis of rotation is normal to the ball stud's axis, as in this illustration, the ball cup could pop off more easily.

Conversely, if cup rotates about the ball stud's axis, then it will become less prone to popping off.

[Coelacanth]

True, but that would be no different for an open ball-end.

I guess that's why some cars went with those screw-in captured-ball-type ball-ends (pictured above) because even if they popped off, the screw would be there to retain them...until that ripped out instead.

[XLR8]

Yes, same applies to both open and cupped ball ends.

You raise another very good point. As I'm starting to look at modern RC vehicles, I've noticed more of them are employing captured rod ends.
I reckon in this age of insane brushless motor/lipo power, designers are striving to make their cars more durable.

By the way, your Optima uses captured ball ends on camber links. Kyosho's vintage cars included so many innovations that are common-place in the industry today; aluminum flap-pan chassis, 12mm hex drive, captured rod ends, and many others. 35 years ago, Kyosho's designs were miles ahead of other manufacturers but they seemed to lose their way during the '90's. Was there a change in ownership for the company or was it something else? Maybe Blunder Tiger owned them during that time??

[radioactivity]

Body. wing, belt covers, etc. to add to to a growing pile of parts.
Very lucky it wasn't destroyed in it's journey to me. Thin non-padded plastic mailing envelope with one small piece of newsprint as protection.
Have yet to closely examine. Hoping for the best.

Chuck

[XLR8]

Ah, I recognize that news print packing.
I bet it came from Marwan.

FWIW, I've think that decal set looks nice on a white body as well.

[radioactivity]

Yep, from Marwan.
Were your items packaged poorly?
And yours sure looks nice! But is that one of your indistinguishable renderings?

Chuck

[XLR8]

Well, mine arrived in a sorta "box" thing that was maybe a little more sturdy than a plastic bag - but not much.
No damage to report thankfully.

Yes, it's another rendering from the virtual RC collection.
One advantage to having a 3d model is that it allows me to pre-visualize how ugly my custom paint job will be before I spend any time.

Seriously though, I think yellow or white work equally well with these decal colors. Might be other colors as well but I haven't tried others.

[Coelacanth]

Ah, I recognize that news print packing.
I bet it came from Marwan.

FWIW, I've think that decal set looks nice on a white body as well.

I'd love to see that on a pearl silver or grey body. Nobody's done that yet, as far as I can tell.

[XLR8]

Ah, I recognize that news print packing.
I bet it came from Marwan.

FWIW, I've think that decal set looks nice on a white body as well.

I'd love to see that on a pearl silver or grey body. Nobody's done that yet, as far as I can tell.

I agree completely! I think both of those would look incredible. Or, maybe even pearl white.

[radioactivity]

Don't have a white or a silver car but I do have a pearl white car.
After a semi-translucent paint job on my B1,B2,B4 v2... hmmm
Maybe one of my latter decisions but you guys got me veering away from box art yellow.

Chuck

[Coelacanth]

Well, I probably speak for no-one when I say "anything but box-art"... It's just so unimaginative; and when you're done, your car looks...just like every OTHER box-art car. Meh.