My Optima Mid ... Tear down and rebuild

[Mr.Pink]

I just purchased this Kyosho Optima Mid . It was one of those deals that I thought was 'to good to be true' . But in the end it is mine and for a great price .

Needs a good tear down and cleaning/polish etc . It is missing the rear wing , but overall the body is in good shape , no cracks . decals are peeling though .

Still has original Le Mans motor and tires . The wheels do need to be restored , or replaced , I am not sure .

I can't wait to run this baby ! This is the buggy that I drooled over when I was younger . But after seeing them sell for $290 eBAY I thought I would never get one .
Here are a few pics .

Tell me what you think










the last photos are showing the missing screws .

[nvxwax]

Nice find, Might want to take some tension off those springs marwankw on eBay makes some really nice repro decals/body's, My Mid has his complete kit (Body, wing and decals)

[Mr.Pink]

sounds good , thanks

[Coelacanth]

Is that paint on the wheels? You could remove the tires and spray the wheels with Easy-Off oven cleaner, and let them sit for a few hours, that should remove the paint and you'd be back to white nylon.

I agree with the previous comment about the shock spring tension...why are they set that way? If it takes that much tension to return the shocks to full length, maybe the oil inside is too heavy.

And as an aside, if anyone says a purchase is 'seriously cheap', aren't they obliged to also state the price?

[Mr.Pink]

I will fix the springs once it is in my possession , these are just the sellers pictures . I kinda cheated and posted them as mine

[Coelacanth]

well , i think I got a good deal on . paid $40usd for the car and $20 for shipping .

I definitely agree! He shoots--he SCOOOORES!!!

[Mr.Pink]

I just looked over all the optima mid topics in the kyosho forum here .

I have much reading to do , I still need to find out what i should use to help restore the original belt and tires . What is safe on the rubber ?wd40 ?
I also need a good method for polishing the chassis , and aluminum knuckles . which dremel tool bit is recommend ? (not a sander disk )

any recommendations on what to use for assembly grease ? I have Tamiya brand grease , but it seems wrong to use it on a kyosho .

Just thinking out loud really .... not making a questionnaire

[Coelacanth]

I have much reading to do , I still need to find out what i should use to help restore the original belt and tires . What is safe on the rubber ?wd40 ?

I wouldn't use WD-40 on rubber. I find that I get the results I need with just soaking the tires in some hot water & dish soap, then brushing them with a toothbrush. That worked to remove the grey "tire rot" that appeared over the decades on several sets of You-G and Nichimo Exceed tires I had in my spare parts box, and also removed the weird funk (molding agent? preservative?) from the brand new Losi tires I bought for my CYANide build.

[Mr.Pink]

just a update .. .

I received the buggy a few days ago .

the wheels are just spray painted with black paint , it should come off very easily .

I have not done a tear done and cleaning yet .

the parts that I can see that will need replacing are ;

one bottom shock eyelet ,

the servo mount blocks are slightly cracked ,

a couple screws are not the correct kind ,

needs a wing and new decals(paint is in great shape)

original tires are not cracked or dryrotted , but they are fairly worn . they are not glued to the rims , so cleaning the spray paint off should be easy .

Found out that the motor is not a Le Mans , it is a Yokomo Twister ( redish label )

I will post up some pics after I get it cleaned up and re-assembled .

[RedScampi]

Great looking car! I love the Mids.

[myk]

Wow was that a car that was just on Ebay? Good catch. I thought about bidding but I already have one O-mid to worry about, lol. Are you planning to restore it or resto-mod it?

marwankw on eBay makes some really nice repro decals/body's, My Mid has his complete kit (Body, wing and decals)

Your car looks great-interesting choice on the clear look. Did your 'repro kit include an under-tray? My O-Mid didn't come with one so was that an aftermarket deal back in the day, or has that only been recently made?

[nvxwax]

Wow was that a car that was just on Ebay? Good catch. I thought about bidding but I already have one O-mid to worry about, lol. Are you planning to restore it or resto-mod it?

marwankw on eBay makes some really nice repro decals/body's, My Mid has his complete kit (Body, wing and decals)

Your car looks great-interesting choice on the clear look. Did your 'repro kit include an under-tray? My O-Mid didn't come with one so was that an aftermarket deal back in the day, or has that only been recently made?

Yeah, The kit includes the under-tray, I dont think it was an option back in the day, Its more of a modern thing so people can run their vintage cars without thrashing the chassis up to bad lol. I suck at painting so i normally dont lol.

[Mr.Pink]

Wow was that a car that was just on Ebay? Good catch. I thought about bidding but I already have one O-mid to worry about, lol. Are you planning to restore it or resto-mod it?

marwankw on eBay makes some really nice repro decals/body's, My Mid has his complete kit (Body, wing and decals)

I am going to restore to box stock , I started with the intention of running it , but I don't think I will now . Parts are just to expensive. I have a T4 that I bought to run when I have the urge to . I spend about 99% of the time just building kits and 1% running them .

this was not a ebay win , I bought it off of rctech .

I may even be putting this up for sale after I clean and rebuild it . I have tuition (college is $$$$$$ ) to pay for in the spring so I need the cash more than I need a shelfer .

[myk]

I may even be putting this up for sale after I clean and rebuild it . I have tuition (college is $$$$$$ ) to pay for in the spring so I need the cash more than I need a shelfer .

I hear ya-good luck with school btw. I'm torn on that issue myself-beautiful cars and fun to run but looking at ebay for replacement parts doesn't inspire a lot of confidence. I've started buying parts here and there just in case something happens...

[Mr.Pink]

just a few more pictures of the way it stands now .








what should I use to polish this chassis ?