First time Ultima owner

[breck]

Scratch wheels from the list!

How much did it take to end that auction early?

[madweazl]

$50 buy it now on ebay. Thought I gooned up because I didnt notice the Ultimas ran hexes and figured I'd bought the wrong piece.

[longboardnj]

kinda wish i bought it for $50 .. i want one but with the green wheels, different shock tower and no pic of the bottom on the listing i wasnt going to risk it.. the pic of the bottom you posted looks like you got a real good deal.. to me the chassis is what what makes the difference of a good deal or a rip off ..

[madweazl]

I couldnt tell if it was the right shock tower or not. We'll see when it arrives I guess but it looks like the front may be fiberglass vice graphite.

[madweazl]

Well, the Ultima arrived today and wow, another basket case. I definitely payed to much for this one but I've already ordered a number of goodies to help out. The wheels I had purchased off of ebay also arrived; 3 of them are in nice shape but one of the front has had the silver rubbed off in a few spots (no scratches just missing paint that didnt show up well in the pictures). The front shock tower is a fiberglass piece so I'll need to pick up replacements for those. The shock caps have some road rash on them as well; I have a pair of front for the Optima build that are in pretty good shape so I can use those but I dont have anything for the rears yet. I'll snap some detailed pictures here in a bit so everyone can poke fun at my rookie mistake On the plus side, there were 2 new rear arms in a bag of parts along with two Kyosho manual speed controls (one of which is brand new and the other is in good shape with the exception of some cut wires that I'll have to repair). If these are the same units as the Optima Mid SE, I'm going to install one on that and pull the ESC just for the original look.

[madweazl]

Okie dokie, on to the pictures.






The keychain was an awesome item to see. What a cool idea that was! The gear cover that is on the car looks to be brand new or very close. The sway bar is in nice shape and it looks like the top plate is in very good shape considering what the rest of car looks like. Also found the MSC linkage in the bag-o-parts. The one silver front wheel it came with is in fair-good shape and I may be able to salvage that as a replacement for the wheel with the missing paint. Even though it's going to be quite a project, I'm still extremely excited to see it finished.

[madweazl]

I have some chrome paint here (for lexan) that I may experiment with a little bit on some other wheels.

[Diggley]

Are those early RC10 wing buttons or did Kyosho use something similar? How awesome is that! Cant wait to start tracking down parts.

The originals were round aluminum buttons. Since mine dosen't use a wing, they've been re-used elsewhere.

These should be what you're looking for though.

Welcome to the Ultima club, they're great cars!

You got a pretty good deal for a Turbo Ultima.

[madweazl]

Excellent, thanks for the info. I'll start tracking those down. Surprises me they didnt share wing buttons across the platforms (ie Optima Mids plastic style).

[longboardnj]

dont beat yourself up on what you got.. we have all bought stuff we were not 100% happy with.. i try to stop myself from the cheap "basket case" cars.. alot of the times $50 "basket case" cars cost total of $200 to make mint..then when i finish the now $200 mint "basket case" i find a mint shelf queen for $130 shipped on ebay.. so just go with it and have fun..

[Coelacanth]

As I mentioned in a PM, I have a very nice assembled front end; control arms, knuckles & the front bulkhead thing that people say is always cracking. I had it advertised in the BST section but the thread died. If you're interested, PM me and I'll get you some pictures tonight.

[madweazl]

I'm out of town right now and havent had a chance to tear it down and inspect what needs to be replaced yet but if any of those parts need attention, I'll keep you in mind.

[rangerg]

Much of the fun of this hobby comes in restoring. It's fun to figure out what pieces you have, and then whether you should keep it or go for something better: usually vintage stock, vintage upgrade, or a modern part that fits. Basket cases are the best, but you will NOT make money and a near shelf queen is probably a better deal. But, that's no fun, there is no ownership or sweat in it. These cars are already 30 years old, no need to speed, take your time and enjoy the hobby. Have fun!

[Coelacanth]

Good points, rangerg. I don't know what sense of accomplishment I would get from buying and receiving a built buggy in perfect condition--other than if it was just to add to a collection, I guess. If there were nothing to clean up, improve, make it look better, before/after pictures, etc...surely I'd be happy with the buy, but not feel like I accomplished anything.

[madweazl]

Much of the fun of this hobby comes in restoring. It's fun to figure out what pieces you have, and then whether you should keep it or go for something better: usually vintage stock, vintage upgrade, or a modern part that fits. Basket cases are the best, but you will NOT make money and a near shelf queen is probably a better deal. But, that's no fun, there is no ownership or sweat in it. These cars are already 30 years old, no need to speed, take your time and enjoy the hobby. Have fun!

I was thinking the exact same thing on my way home from work today. Really, what fun would it be to take it out of a box and toss it on the shelf? I've really had a good time tracking down parts and between this and the Optima build, I've had stuff come in from Japan, Thailand, Austrailia, Germany, and the UAE. It's truly amazing to think that these parts really did make it all around the world and the fact that some people still have them in the bags, wow, just incredible. I do have an update for the day The new chassis came in from the UK. I hadnt realized that it came with new stand offs and screws for the bottom; very cool!