Great Vigor Beagle-Optima Clone ebay find

[tim.sanderson]

It may not be a kyosho but it is apart of kyosho's history and I feel it is in the correct forum.

Agreed.
Sometimes clones like these are more interesting, even if only because they are more rare.
[understatement] And even though it's not the prettiest body in the world, [/understatement] it would be shame if it got ruined while racing it! Maybe try fitting it with another less rare body for racing?
I'm looking forward to seeing the progress on this build!

[Coelacanth]

I'd love to compare one of these clones to the real thing to examine differences in quality. Clone manufacturers always cut corners to be able to offer under-cut pricing and I wonder which corners were cut on these Optima clones...?

[sgirouard]

Oh yeah, that body and those shocks are going to be put away and only go on the buggy for show. I'm going to get a set of gold shocks or platinums and an optima body. I'll race it like that. Based on the pictures, that beagle body is too nice to allow anything to happen to it.

I agree with the rarity issue. Not that there's necessarily a market for beagles LOL, but they have to be one of the more rare buggies around.

[sgirouard]

I'd love to compare one of these clones to the real thing to examine differences in quality. Clone manufacturers always cut corners to be able to offer under-cut pricing and I wonder which corners were cut on these Optima clones...?

I don't have my optima any longer, but I do remember it VERY well, considering I tore it down and rebuilt countless times.

First thing I'm going to look for is a better screw set. I hated how easily the screw heads on the optima would wear out.

[kaz_z]

wow i was watching that auction too , i thought it was just with after market arms , shell and rear guard , never knew such clone exist , thanks for sharing it here i think the buggy is in very good condition just need some cleaning up , and from the photos i can't see the chain , could it be belt drive or the cover is not transparent ? do let us know when u receive it

[sgirouard]

I'm going to do a full tear down, polish & clean and rebuild for the site. The buggy was sold without the chain or front dogbones. I'm hoping to work something out with Coelacanth on those.

[sgirouard]

Okay so the Beagle arrived at my door last night. Only started to get into the tear down phase. This is going to be a runner so I'm going to clean it up and polish up the chassis. First impression...I have an optima LOL. So I examined the body and it's in really good shape, the paint is a little faded toward the back and there are 4 cracks at the normal spots where the cutting was further in by the front and rear body mounts.

But overall I'm VERY happy with the body considering it's age and the fact I'd never find a replacement. Needless to say, I'm buying a new shell to run on it.


So off came the top.
Gotta love the RC10-ish mechanical speed control LOL and the ANCIENT Futaba FP-S28 indirect drive servos with the J-plugs (if anyone has a use for a jplug futaba receiver 1 mechanical speed control and 2 servos let me know)


I was suprised to see the foam seal on the gear cover still in good shape and the gears are still in very good shape

The shocks are silver shocks of the same size as the old red ones but a little different inside. The O-rings are "loose" in the shock although they do slide into the brass fitting and are held by compression.

Going to buy new shocks for this, fronts are 2.75" and rears are 3.5". Looking at yeah racing 70mm and 90mm for this one.

Tires are 1.6" ID and are in SURPRISINGLY good condition. The chrome is pretty much perfect and the tires are only a little worn. A little cleaning of the rubber and these will look real nice. I have some 2.2's coming for running. These tires will only be on the shelf.

[sgirouard]

Here is a comparison of a JRX2 front shock. No chance to use them (that was my first hope because they would've matched up in look compared to the original but just too long)


The original owner left the paper wrapping on the chain cover clear part. Was a nice surprise


The shock mounts are a little different.



The side rails look to be in VERY good shape. I was very worried about the screw holes being stripped and they weren't.


I'll post some pics of the gear boxes when I get those opened up. Then I'll continue the build thread when the chain and front dogbones arrive from Marc.

[nvxwax]

Its amazing how close that car is to an optima lol, Cant wait for it to be complete, should make a nice addition to your collection

[highwayracer]

the hobby shop I use to work at pretty much bought all of the beagles after the lawsuit filed against great vigor. I built one for the shot in hopes of selling them, but it wasn't quite up to par with the optima....all of the parts were just a little bit off. After showing it to the store manager, he told me to bring the car home and not to bring it back. I traded the car over 20 years ago to a local guy.

Over time, it would have probably been fine after the intial break in period.

the parts that had the most visible differences were:

front side plates
wheels / tires
shock towers
shocks
body
arms ( I think they were too narrow)
added motor guard

The parts that had differences but you really had to look were:
gear cover (says beagle instead of kyosho corp)
top plate (screws for the rear brace dosen't match up with the kyosho version)

Good luck with the restoration.

[Coelacanth]

The side rails look to be in VERY good shape. I was very worried about the screw holes being stripped and they weren't.


I'll post some pics of the gear boxes when I get those opened up. Then I'll continue the build thread when the chain and front dogbones arrive from Marc.

I have a nice chain & 2 used but perfectly straight dog-bones coming your way soon. As far as the frame rails go, I have picked up several frame rails for the Optima over the years, and it's surprising how well they hold up, very few of them had any stripped holes. You really have to work hard to be dumb enough to strip those out. I saw an example of this recently with an Optima parts lot I just bought. The parts were all mostly disassembled except the front half of a car.

I discovered why the car wasn't fully disassembled. Whoever had the car before had cranked some 3mm machine screws into the 2.6mm screw-holes near the front of the frame rails. I needed a Vise-grips to remove them! Needless to say, the rails were throw-aways.

[sgirouard]

My first optima was bought used back in 86ish....And the previous owner had done something similar. The car had been built and taken apart so many times that the screw holes were pretty much shot and the previous owner of mine did something similar with metal screws. I just went to the ONE hobby shop in CT that carried Kyosho at the time and bought new rails and screws.

PS in regards to the parts fitting. SO FAR everything is spot on, straight and spins VERY free. Anyone ever notice old (not dead) bearings spin FOREVER.

[kaz_z]

nice , i wonder if all the gears are exactly the same and if it has a harden final pinion

[sgirouard]

Well I disassembled the front end, haven't gotten to the rear in regards to a hardened final pinion.

I can say this, although the car is caked with some REALLY old dirt, everything is in really good condition. The A-Arms look new on the bottom, the bumper has a couple scuffs but as a whole, it's in really good shape. The front gears look new.

I have to admit one thing I had either forgotten or never realized. I didn't realize the front diff was either a 19 tooth or 18 tooth side. This gear box had 18 printed on one side and 19 on the other.

[Lonestar]

Well I disassembled the front end, haven't gotten to the rear in regards to a hardened final pinion.

I can say this, although the car is caked with some REALLY old dirt, everything is in really good condition. The A-Arms look new on the bottom, the bumper has a couple scuffs but as a whole, it's in really good shape. The front gears look new.

I have to admit one thing I had either forgotten or never realized. I didn't realize the front diff was either a 19 tooth or 18 tooth side. This gear box had 18 printed on one side and 19 on the other.

front overdrive as standard option - nice. Didn't recall the optima had that... was prolly a $50 kyosho option