Pituk's Optima Project

[pituk]

Here's my Optima , I picked up locally on craiglist along with a Rc10 for $100 . Besides some dirt and rust , the Rc10 looks to be in good shape...the Optima not so much . There is some extra gears , arms and also the left over chain drive but most of is very worn . Already have most of it apart for cleaning and soaking to remove the grease, dirt and rust . I am missing the 2.6 pillow ball and ball nut for the steering , are they available from any current kits or is there any recommendations for the steering set-up . On the extra metal chassis rail by the front holes , there seems to be a crack . Is this common for the Optima , thanks in advance .

[Coelacanth]

Pituk, that looks like that'll clean up very nice. As far as the cracked chassis rail, that's VERY uncommon. I've acquired perhaps 10 or 12 Optima parts cars over the years and some of them had stripped out chassis rails--where idiots tried forcing 3mm screws inside the 2.6mm screw holes--but honestly, I've never even seen a single bent rail and NEVER seen a cracked one.

When you get further into your resto, keep a list of any parts you need, I'll help you out. I upgraded all my Optima cars to 4.8mm ball ends & cups, I even did away with all the pillow balls & open-ended ball ends, because those wear out & pop off too easily when worn. I have plenty of those pillow balls and won't be using them.

Keep a list and PM me with what you need.

[keithrc]

Was this on ebay as well recently? I seem to remember a similar car listed with a Turbo body and the white 5 spoke wheels. Agreed, it should clean up very well, there doesn't look to be anything missing as far as the rolling chassis is concerned so it's a really good starting point.

One of my chassis rails had a crack in it, is it on the edge of one of the offset holes for the steering bellcrank?


Keith

[Hcp22]

I think it’s great material for a renovation

[GJW]

Very nice turbo indeed. Have fun restoring

[pituk]

Thanks guys ,
Keith my chassis rails are also cracked in the same spot , right on the offset hole . This is a different one from Ebay , I picked it up locally from craiglist . It was listed as r/c car and parts with a very blurry picture of some buggy's upside down in a box . Saw the metal rails and decided to make the hour drive and pick them up , ended up being an Optima and Rc10 plus several spare parts . Speaking of parts , there is a gear with a spring and without a spring , curious what the difference is in performance and which one is recommended to use . There is also some red alloy parts , do these go to the Optima . Thanks Coelacanth , I will get the list started .

[Coelacanth]

Thanks guys ,
Keith my chassis rails are also cracked in the same spot , right on the offset hole . This is a different one from Ebay , I picked it up locally from craiglist . It was listed as r/c car and parts with a very blurry picture of some buggy's upside down in a box . Saw the metal rails and decided to make the hour drive and pick them up , ended up being an Optima and Rc10 plus several spare parts . Speaking of parts , there is a gear with a spring and without a spring , curious what the difference is in performance and which one is recommended to use . There is also some red alloy parts , do these go to the Optima . Thanks Coelacanth , I will get the list started.

I wonder if those cracked rails you guys are talking about were caused by the previous owners forcing 3mm screws into 2.6mm threaded holes?

Re: the counter gear: The solid one with gear molded onto the shaft is for the original Optima/Javelin. The one with the spring was in the Turbo Optima/Salute kits, it was a rudimentary slipper gear to help protect the gears when landing from jumps, with the high-powered motors that were included with these cars (Le Mans 240S). By all means, use the gear with the spring, if you have the choice. Those are getting hard to find on eBay these days and when you can find one, they're usually pretty expensive. The part number is OT-74, Limiter Gear Assembly.

[keithrc]

I don't think those holes are threaded Coelacanth, the screws pass through them into the threaded posts that secure the steering bellcrank.

The red "U" shaped piece is a "HOT TRICKS" replacement for the plastic front brace on the Optima, the other smaller red piece I'm not sure about but I'd say it's also a HOT TRICKS part, possibly a chain tensioner by the looks of it.


Keith

[RichieRich]

I've seen several cracked rails on the Optima cars. It happens. These cars look great and should look pretty good after a bath.

[Coelacanth]

Pretty much every used Optima that fell into my hands had bent or broken bumper braces, shock towers and the "chin" skidplates...out of more than a dozen cars (not including my own 3), I never had a single one with cracked or even bent rails. It may happen but just going by the odds, I think it's pretty rare. Those must've been rode hard and put away wet!

[RichieRich]

Oh yeah, busted bumper braces and crushed front skidplates are more common. I would say it's standard in any used Optima. Though, for about the dozen or so Optimas I've run across, nearly half have had at least one cracked rail. Right now, I have 3 sets of rails in my junk box and two rails are cracked. I don't even know why I'm saving them.

[markbt73]

Wow, that looks like a lot better starting point for a restoration than what I started with. And for a much better price, too...

[naushad]

I agree..you got a nice resto there!

[Coelacanth]

Oh yeah, busted bumper braces and crushed front skidplates are more common. I would say it's standard in any used Optima. Though, for about the dozen or so Optimas I've run across, nearly half have had at least one cracked rail. Right now, I have 3 sets of rails in my junk box and two rails are cracked. I don't even know why I'm saving them.

I throw out anything that's stripped out, broken, or otherwise damaged. I don't know why people here try selling parts in the BST section that are damaged, like ripped tires or broken control arms. Who wants to buy garbage? I wouldn't want to sell or use a part that was damaged so I toss it out before I forget, and avoid a future nasty surprise.

[keithrc]

Oh yeah, busted bumper braces and crushed front skidplates are more common. I would say it's standard in any used Optima. Though, for about the dozen or so Optimas I've run across, nearly half have had at least one cracked rail. Right now, I have 3 sets of rails in my junk box and two rails are cracked. I don't even know why I'm saving them.

Not to mention broken screws with the heads snapped off in the chassis rails, the smaller ones that screw the front side guard plates onto the chassis, I've got 2 of those. Out of the used 7 or 8 chain drives I own I think 3 of them came to me with straight lower chins and bumper braces. I've seen a few for sale where the bumper brace is actually broken in half and still on the car!

The lower guards can always be straightened out with the right size piece of wood on a hard smooth surface, I've done that more than once.


Keith