Outlaw Ultima truck purchase – my very first ST

[XLR8]

They probably should make it more clear. Every other tire brand come with inserts so that's the assumption.

I've just taken the AE tires off the wheels (thankfully, they weren't glued) and they don't have inserts either. Without a hobby shop close by nor any desire spend more money on this project, I'm just going to rummage through the garage and see if I have some packing material or foam padding from which to make some inserts. Anyway, no worries. I'm sure the tires are going to work great.

While I have the tires off, I couldn't resist going after those wheels with some hot soapy water and a tooth brush. Overall, I think they're gonna clean up great. There are some rough edges to remove on a couple of them (should be quick work at the lathe or drill press) - nothing too extreme that can't be cleaned up.

I'm relieved that the wheels are in such good shape and aren't broken. I reckon that nearly every other part for this truck is readily available either as original, re-re or aftermarket. I could be wrong but I believe these wheels are exclusive to the Outlaw and as such, would be rather hard to replace.


Anyway, I'll post more pics when I have something to show.

[XLR8]

All the Schumacher tires I've recently ordered came without inserts. The off-road seem like there ok without, but the on-road I have are less likely to hold shape and definitely need them. Not sure about truck tires.

My local hobby shop guy was showing off all the coolness of his Arrma collection and he had this Pro-Line basher armor body on one of them. Not meant for painting, just to take repeated punishment. They aren't cheap and probably not a good fit on an AE truck with the tall rear shock tower, but might be worth considering on something like this.

https://www.prolineracing.com/bodies/pre-cut-brute-bash-armor-body-white-4x4.asp

FWIW, I've just mounted one of the tires and it required a screw driver to pry it over the wheel. I couldn't stretch it over the wheel by hand like I can with buggy tires. For a moment I thought perhaps the wheel was oversize but no, it's 2.2".
I guess it is due to the hard compound - the tires are very hard. Under the right conditions, one might actually get away without inserts and even possibly without gluing them. I'm gonna try doing both and see what happens.

What's the worse that could happen?
At full throttle, the truck loses a tire, goes out of control and flies into a can of gas knocking it onto a book of matches that spontaneously ignite causing a massive explosion destroying the house and setting half the neighborhood on fire.

Na, couldn't happen.

[Frankentruck]

What's the worse that could happen?
At full throttle, the truck looses a tire, goes out of control and flies into a can of gas knocking it onto a book of matches which spontaneously ignite causing a massive explosion destroying the house and setting half the neighborhood on fire.

Foam tire inserts, the unsung preventers of pyrotechnic urban disasters.

[XLR8]

haha.... Well, foam inserts and CA glue; they're a team.

The servo works and the motor runs. Not sure of the motor's brand since it's missing the can label and there are no markings of any kind on the armature. It's definitely a modified motor (adjustable timing and ball bearings) and it's a double wind but the actual wind count is a mystery.

I've finished cleaning the wheels and all the remaining plastic parts. The wheels sat in a acetone vapor bath overnight to loosen the CA glue and bits of old tires (probably remnants of the original kit tires since the AE ones weren't glued). Anyway, apparently I'm missing one of the shock spring preload adjusters. I've looked everywhere for it then went back to my photos and found that it was in fact missing when the truck arrived yesterday.

I've read that it's routine practice to slice off the adjuster's pins that project from the plastic shock body and replace it with ordinary preload clips but I'd very much prefer to keep the truck as original as possible. If anyone has an adjuster that they would consider parting with, please send me a PM?

[GoMachV]

I’m sure I have one kicking around. I’ll shoot you a message if I find one

[XLR8]

I’m sure I have one kicking around. I’ll shoot you a message if I find one

That's great, thank you Jeff.

By the way, if by chance you have a couple Kyosho black rear springs for sale, I'd like to buy those as well. The truck came with what appears to be AE golds on the front and they are entirely to stiff. The manual calls for the softer black springs on the front.

Either way, thanks!!

[XLR8]

A couple observations I forgot to mention...

I have no idea when this truck was ran last but I reckon it could have been many years. Nearly the entire chassis assembly was covered with a thick film of oil that has collected dirt and has even congealed in some places. It sorta reminded me of an old nitro RC that sat on a shelf for years. I get a sense that perhaps this RC was owned by a youngster who regularly pulled the top access cover off the transmission to fill it with oil. Inside the transmission, it was extremely oily but was otherwise clean and in excellent condition. It seems that as the oil leaked out from between the case halves and through the bearings, this prevented dirt from entering.

Also, this generation Ultima came with the cheap plastic non-rebuildable shocks so I fully expected them to be leaking or completely empty and trashed. While waiting for the truck to be delivered, I envisioned using a scribe or a straight pin to pry-out the old o-rings, then trying to determine how to squeeze new ones back in their place. Well, there are no leaky shocks here and actually, they're still full of oil. After removing the springs and cleaning dirt from the shafts, they still work very smoothly - similar to Kyosho's gold shocks.

With regard to overall performance, what are some disadvantages that come with plastic shocks? Or, what are the advantages of metal shocks?

[juicedcoupe]

The plastic shocks are rebuildable, sorta. Similar to an AE top load shock, they have a internal retaining clip.

I have a set of those shocks. I removed the clip with the mini screwdriver, through the shaft hole. After cleaning the body, I reinstalled the components with a new o ring.

[XLR8]

The plastic shocks are rebuildable, sorta. Similar to an AE top load shock, they have a internal retaining clip.

I have a set of those shocks. I removed the clip with the mini screwdriver, through the shaft hole. After cleaning the body, I reinstalled the components with a new o ring.

I have been misinformed - this is the first set of vintage Kyosho plastic shocks for me. I recalled reading somewhere that they're not rebuildable so I guessed that the o-rings were co-molded within the shock body. Maybe that discussion was about a different Kyosho plastic shock.
Anyway, having a close look at the cross-section in the manual, it does look like they are top-loaded. Thanks for setting us straight on that.
They definitely feel lighter than the gold shocks.

Another observation; that "Kelron" plastic chassis without a top plate is as rigid as a wet noodle. It definitely needs a top plate and I'm working on that.

[Delorean]

Great to see another Outlaw truck being worked on! I've done some work on mine with a bit more to come

I built it along side my rere Ultima that was fitted to an ultima ii chassis

My outlaw is a bit of a mish mash, i fitted a triumph belt drive gearbox to it, some rtr Losi shocks, tamiya Blitzer front knuckles so i could fit blitzer rims that i already had mounted with tyres. I've always love the Texaco Sierras from the 80's so i did the body up like that

I've got a few more things i'll be working on over the next few months, as you say, the kelron chassis has no strength on its own, I'm going to try to use some 90 degree aluminum stock bolted along the chassis to provide strength and a channel for the battery to fit and hopefully then not need the top deck except for a small one at the front to brace the steering posts etc. The other thing i want to do is hex convert the front end using optima hubs/knuckles

[XLR8]

Your truck looks great Delorean, thanks for posting the pics. Seeing the black paint and Texaco livery reminds me of the Robert Yates’ T-Birds that Davey Allison drove bitd.

My Outlaw won’t look that nice unfortunately as I’m trying to work with the original, well used and abused body and just make it a decent looking runner. I’ve found with these resto projects that if I give in and paint-up a new body, I’m reluctant to get it in the dirt and the vehicle just ends up setting on the shelf. I don’t want that to happen with this one so I will trade some appearance for utility.

Speaking of the body, I have all the breaks and cracks reinforced so it no longer sounds like a crumpled potato chip bag while it’s being handled. It’s very strong and solid now and I just have a few holes to fill and it’s ready for paint. Where would we be today without Shoe Goo, dry wall tape and JB weld??

For a chassis top deck, I think I’ve found a design that will work; it will accommodate the battery and won’t require any new holes to be drilled in the chassis. It’s a tight squeeze between the stanchions but the battery will fit if I make them 5mm dia.

[XLR8]

All cleaned-up, patched-up, scuffed-up, taped-up and ready for paint.
Frankenstein's monster truck.

I've wet-sanded the outer surfaces with 600 and the plan is to apply some white polycarbonate paint as a bonding agent, then gray primer and finally, the white and black Krylon (or whatever I have on hand). I'm substituting black for blue on the box-art model.

The original owner trimmed away the two oval shaped mounting recesses for the body posts at the rear of the bed so I've Shoe Goo'd a lexan patch in that area. Looking at the manual, I can see why he thought those areas were to be removed - it could be a little confusing to someone new to the hobby.

It appears to have been painted with pearl purple and I happen to have an ancient bottle of Pactra poly paint in that color.
As it is, with areas of missing paint, it is affecting the colors in stripe decals.
So that the decals look more uniform, I'll apply a few coats of the purple in those areas with missing paint.
Probably not a big deal since this is a beater body but I have the paint so might as well use it.

Anyway, it's raining here again today so the most I can hope for is to apply primer.
I probably should wait for a dryer day before applying the final colors.

[juicedcoupe]

Be glad that you don't live on the coast. Waiting for a day that doesn't rain (or threaten to rain) could take a while.

[XLR8]

Be glad that you don't live on the coast. Waiting for a day that doesn't rain (or threaten to rain) could take a while.

I hear ya.
It's been abnormally wet this summer here in north Alabama.
There's no a/c in the garage so I guess I could hang some plastic sheets and cover the floor, etc in the laundry room and use it as a paint booth but, man, that's a lot of work.
I've done that once for the Blazer a few years ago. I just got tired of waiting for dry weather and wanted to get it painted.

You've been doing a lot painting lately, do you have a booth or someplace dry to paint?

[juicedcoupe]

No. If the weather looks sketchy, I bring the body inside between coats.