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Got the wing done, it has the angle I wanted and I also positioned it a tad lower and more forward so air should flow more smoothly from the roof-line up to the wing. Barney looks like a monster compared to a stock Optima, so I thought I'd share some comparison pics.

Oh man, I ve been scrounging the net to find some of the alloy parts and hop ups in your build,, no luck! That is a trick buggy!

rccars4sal wrote:Oh man, I ve been scrounging the net to find some of the alloy parts and hop ups in your build,, no luck! That is a trick buggy!

Thanks! Some of those alloy parts are for more modern cars and you can still buy them (and they're all quite inexpensive, too!), but some modification may be required. The rear control arms/hinge pins are GPM arms for the Tamiya DF-02 and swap right in for the Optima rear arms; front C-carriers are GPM for the Kyosho Kyosho TF-3/4 and knuckles are Duratrax DTXC9953 for the Maximum ST, they're practically a direct swap for the Optima knuckles and fit quite nicely inside the Lazer carriers. The rear GPM arms are about 5mm longer than Optima arms so you'll need to upgrade to some 68mm Lazer CVD's.

Actually, the only really rare part was the rear hubs, which I bought from EvolutionRevolution here. I've never seen another set on eBay since. However, I believe you could use Yeah Racing #M05-007D2BU hubs, I used those with my OptiMutt Optima Mid project and they fit quite nicely with the aforementioned GPM alloy arms. As long as you have a good selection of alloy spacers with 3mm inside diameter, you can get all these parts to fit beautifully with almost no play or slop.

I gave Barney its first test-drive last week. I had the punch set pretty low as the Tacon 11T is a very torquey motor, but even then, giving it a full goose at mid-speed and I popped a wheelie for a brief instant. Here you have the first battle scars. Other than that, the car drove beautifully, turned very well--definitely less understeer than my stock Zebra Optima, understeer which is pretty common for the Optima. Probably the wider front track, better & bigger tires & wheels all helped. But since no wheelie bar exists for the Optima, I wanted to fabricate some kind of protection.
I saw that it would be pretty easy to bolt on a rectangle of spare Kydex to the motor guard, so I got out the hacksaw and file and fabricated a wheelie pad. (You'll note I already have a Lexan under-frame protector but it doesn't extend beyond the rear gearbox.)
And here's a pic showing the maximum wheelie angle the pad will permit; at least now I won't have to worry about wheelie damage!

Hi,
Love what you have done to the Optima, congrats!
I wanted to ask, what wheels are those? I am looking into making a green anodized Javelin and can't quite find alloy green anodized wheels or with green details.
Keep up the great work!
Ed

Thanks, Ed! They're Axial Rocksters 2.2 wheels. They come in a variety of styles...inners with chrome, black chrome, black, and various colors of anodized rings. Search for them on eBay.

I love this build,have to go through all the pages (pics only, hahaha), have to say....more pics ..action pics please...had one before...

I can finally call this project finished. Hard to believe it started almost 3 years ago, but I don't want to call something done until it's truly finished and the money shots taken.

Heeeeere's Barney!

Barney Undressed

Hi, very impressed with your work.

I am currently restoring a Turbo Optima as well, could you tell me where I can find these screws and any kind of wing that would fit, just like you have on Barney.

I also created a Website dedicated to the Optima, would you mind if I post a picture of your car on my site?

I will give credit and a link to this thread of course.

The site is http://www.kyosho-optima.fr.

Best Guillaume.

tintin74 wrote:Hi, very impressed with your work.

I am currently restoring a Turbo Optima as well, could you tell me where I can find these screws and any kind of wing that would fit, just like you have on Barney.

I also created a Website dedicated to the Optima, would you mind if I post a picture of your car on my site?

I will give credit and a link to this thread of course.

Merci Guillaume, I sent you a PM.