Hot Trick Optima 'Trinity Car'

[dinglem]

OK, so I have lusted after this car since I was 13 years old.

In my very first RC car magazine purchase there was a review of the Chicago Model Trade Show, the mag being dated December 1986. In that review was a double page spread of pictures, and staring back out at me was an Optima (and an RC10) which appeared to be sat on the Trinity stand. In the article it described the car by simply stating 'this is how they race them in the States'.... For me, as a kid just starting out in RC this was something so exotic i didn't even really know what I was looking at.

I still have that very magazine, and still love that car.

Knowing what I know now, it is an Optima with a partial Hot Trick upgrade, and then to complicate things still further, it then has the additional Trinity upgrades to the Hot Trick upgrades, namely the upper and lower graphite chassis components.

It is literally an absolute looker.

I have seen full Hot Trick 'red' cars and as nice as they are in their own right, they are not this car. Furthermore, to buy a complete red car, or to hunt down the parts would prove to be an expensive and time consuming challenge. As such I have been patiently waiting for the right car to pop up, with the spattering of Hot Trick and Trinity items, but nothing more. Amazingly yesterday the right car appeared on my screen, having surfaced in Canada.

It has the requisite front and rear Hot Trick bulkheads, and no more, and also the super-rare Trinity lower graphite chassis. So.... almost there. What I am missing now are the red glassfibre Hot Trick front shock tower, and the Trinity upper chassis deck. From what I gather both of these can be fabricated, so they will not prevent my progress, and I have the main components for my project build. If, however, anybody has either kicking about then please please drop me a PM(!)

Looking more closely at the magazine car, I have noticed a few more details of interest. Firstly and most obviously, the rear of the Trinity chassis has been cut down. I am told this is to enable that chassis to accept the Hot Trick rear trailing arm optional extra.... I will be replicating this so will need to ensure I do not remove too much material so as not to prevent the trailing arms from fitting correctly should they be required in the future. Next up, I have also noticed that the red Hot Trick rear bulkhead has been cut down quite extensively around the motor mount area. A subtle detail but really does stand out once you notice it. The whole rear end looks a little more slick when compared to the squared off original Hot Trick look.

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motor area.jpg (29.6 KiB) Viewed 2872 times

I have also already managed to get hold of a brand new unmarked rear motor guard so I will most likely be using that also.

My aim is to race this car in the vintage classes over in the UK when it is completed. With that in mind I picked up a Victor Beagle Optima Clone a while back, but what was interesting about it was that it had the Option House full belt drive conversion installed, as well as front and rear anti-roll bars. My plan therefore, is to switch these items over onto the Trinity replica car to hopefully enhance the performance a little.

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49800271_217898545824677_2487562375427784704_n.jpg (64.08 KiB) Viewed 2872 times

Motor-wise, well i have been holding on to an early and extremely beautiful original Trinity motor for when this car eventually surfaced, complete with wonky but otherwise very tidy decal, and it will now be going off to my motor builder to receive the full treatment and i will be adding a hotter Trinity armature at the same time for good measure.

If ever there was a car crying out for a set of our home-turned alloys then this is surely it.

So..... who can help me out with the front shock tower and upper graphite deck? Oh, and those white Trinity decals for the chassis plates???

Final question - what body and paint scheme would you go for on this??

[dinglem]

Rear end looks like this with the gear cover removed. I am told this is the Thorpe upgrade? Is there anything else I should consider changing for running?

[dinglem]

A quick zoom in and count of the teeth on the picture I posed above and I clearly make out 44T on that gear, so it is indeed the Thorpe underdrive.

Good news meaning I can use slightly hotter motors and have the gearing to cope.

Excellent stuff!!!

Is there anything else I need to look out for on these cars?

[dinglem]

One other thing I do have, that came in a shoebox full of spares along with the belt-driven Beagle, is what looks like a blacked out see-thru gear cover with some sort of thin rubber seal around the edge that mates up to the mounting plate. Is that something else I should know about? It is raised at one end from memory. No idea what else is in the box to be honest - never really had a thorough look.

[dinglem]

Here we go, randomly scattered in my old pictures on my laptop. Crap picture but it is all I have. Looks to be a couple of chain drive diffs in there and the clear gear cover bottom right.

[dinglem]

I have read up loads but i know there is a LOT more to go through. I need to see the car first to see exactly what I have and the condition it is all in. It is a bit of a shame because the car i am trying to build has been modified quite a bit but i want to replicate it as closely as I can (apart from with modern electronics so I can actually drive it. Also debating bodyshell choices too as that isn't featured in the mag so I can pretty much do as I please. Will have to have some Trinity accents I suppose though!

I might even go totally left-field and use a shell from another manufacturer that was out at bang on the same time as the magazine.... In fact it would be the same body shell I used on my brand new Mid rather than going with the standard shell. I always used to do that bitd. Need to see if it fits first when it arrives.

[dinglem]

Well it arrived yesterday, and looks better than i expected! Now to source the Trinity upper chassis deck....

[JasonRC10]

Sorry random question on Hot Trick or plate conversions, what do you use to shim the steering rack? I’m working through a Hot Trick Ram right now and not sure what was used bitd.

Thanks!

[dinglem]

Well this has turned into a bit of a slow-burner of a project, but as and when the right parts pop up I am steadily squirreling them away.

I managed to pick up two pairs of rear Associated shocks for it - and they have been stripped to go off for re-anodizing as the ones in the picture look like very 'orange' examples. I have also bagged a set of CRP spring collars for those shocks.

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49748466_373673623196729_4585004899900588032_n.jpg (54.07 KiB) Viewed 2173 times

The correct front shock tower is also now fitted.

I also managed to find a tidy looking Novak T1 esc and matching Novak receiver - I sent the T1 off for a refurb and a rewire and now that is back, having been fully tested.

Lastly, i managed to bag 2pairs of tyres it pretty good condition yesterday.... which came off a show car. It's definitely getting there now

Next up is chrome wheels and that elusive upper Trinity chassis plate. I also have to trim off the rear corners of the main lower chassis as per the original and looking more closely at the pictures, I also have to streamline the motor housing somewhat...

[Lonestar]

Fantastic project. Slow burners are the best, especially these days

Can you say more about who did the refurb of the ESC, please? I have a few that need to be worked on... I've done some on my own but my soldering skills sure aren't a match compared to what I'm seeing on this picture!

Thanks

Paul

[dinglem]

Regarding the ESC resto... Well I was specifically after a T1 for this build, and eventually found a guy who had one available, but in pretty rough condition. I also managed to pick up a T1-X at the same time, as well as coincidentally an unusual and early Nosram example which came with my Brimod prototype car.

I did a bit of research and from a Novak Fb Group page I was told to contact a guy by the name of Stephen Adams. I did so, and he happily took delivery of all three units, tested, refurbed and rewired them for me. The only thing I am missing is some original rubber plugs for the pot holes (Can anybody help there?)

I cannot stress how good Stephen was to deal with, and he is clearly very passionate about what he does as I can't imagine his charge for looking at them really even covered his costs.

The Nosram was a right old mess when I got it, in fact all three were.

After a rewire they now look like this. If I am building a show car the T1-X would really need a new label as the very bottom left corner is missing, but if I intend running it then it will do just fine. The Nosram will probably get the heatsinks polished up a little and then some either clear or white heatshrink treatment.

I should also mention RC10talk user 'bluewormx' at this point as he has also rebuilt a pair of vintage Demon esc's for me recently, which are detailed in another thread in the Vintage Electronics section, and they really are a work of art. He actually had to replace blown components on those and also re-applied the correct blue heatshrink. An awesome job.

[Lonestar]

Thank you so much... I will get in touch with these gentlemen

Looking forward to the rest of the build!

[civilguy]

Hey guys- it's been a very long time since I've been on here but I spotted this listed locally and wondering if it's the Hot Trick Optima missing a top plate? Maybe with truck tires?
I was considering grabbing it. Thanks!

EDIT: missed it! Oh well... Still LMK if that's what it was. Thanks!

[dinglem]

Yes, that looks to have the Hot Trick Optima parts, including the shock towers, along with the graphite Trinity lower chassis as well.

[dinglem]

Something cool has landed in my lap to add an unusual twist to this build. I had been researching the release dates for the Kyosho belt drive conversion and discovered that it was shortly after the mag edition featuring the car around which I am building mine, so that meant I could in no way justify adding the belt conversion. However, tuning company WASP released their belt conversion, complete with orange belt, prior to this, so in theory was a viable option at the time of this Trinity Hot Trick car. I am therefore much happier going with this option. They are pretty rare, and there seems to be little information out there on this set up, but it is very very nice - the drive spindles being machined alloy. This particular set even came with an unused spare belt, which was a real bonus too. The out-drives are a little worn but as they are removable can easily be replaced.