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Since it's damn near impossible to find an original Optima bumper in decent shape (at least without breaking the bank), and the aftermarket Kydex repros looked pretty clunky, I figured I could come up with something better. After some measuring and a general idea of a sleek, simple design, here's what I came up with.

It just needs a bit of time in the oven to form an angle and mold it over the round bump in the skid-plate. I plan to drill a couple holes so I can add heavy foam onto it for on-road use.

Fantastic build! Really looking forward to seeing this pan out, particularly with the offroad wheels and body (when you get round to it)....

After a month of waiting, I finally received a brand-new upper chain guide from fireboy on eBay, and was finally able to finish the upper deck/basic rolling chassis assembly. Here's how the offroad wheels & tires look. I also swapped out the rear 62.5mm CVDs for 60.5mm units. The rear end & on-road tires look a tad better now, with a little less of the rear tires sticking out from the wheel-wells.

Brilliant work!
When will it see the track?

walfre wrote:Brilliant work!
When will it see the track?

The delay I'm dealing with now is finding 2mm threaded rod to make the connecting rod for the steering servo. I originally wanted to use 3mm rod, 4.8mm balls and ball-cups, but the ball-cup mounted on an aluminum servo horn would stick out too much and rub either the servo or the oval slot in the upper deck, either way it's mounted. I installed 4.8mm ball cups but I'll have to stick with the stock ball ends to avoid rubbing. I also wanted to avoid using the usual L-angle bend at the servo horn by using a ball-stud there.

The problem is I can't find 2mm threaded rod anywhere in town! One hobby store had rods but only the outside 1" on one end was threaded, not the whole rod.

There's plenty at my local hardware store. In sweden. It's pretty cheap too. How much do you need?

walfre wrote:There's plenty at my local hardware store. In sweden. It's pretty cheap too. How much do you need?

I tried 3 different hardware stores here and about the smallest threaded rod I could find was 1/4"--which is way too big. 6" of it would be more than enough. Let me make a few more calls, there's a nut & bolt store near my work that I'll be checking soon.

EDIT: This is starting to piss me off. The other day, I went to Canadian Tire (kind of like a Canadian version of Wal-Mart) trying to find metric drill bits. Would you believe they didn't have a *(&$%(*$ SINGLE set of metric bits?? This is Canada, a metric country, and a Canadian franchise--that doesn't sell metric drill bits! WTF?? Finding a piece of metric threaded rod is like finding a needle in a haystack, it would seem!

Coelacanth wrote:

walfre wrote:There's plenty at my local hardware store. In sweden. It's pretty cheap too. How much do you need?

I tried 3 different hardware stores here and about the smallest threaded rod I could find was 1/4"--which is way too big. 6" of it would be more than enough. Let me make a few more calls, there's a nut & bolt store near my work that I'll be checking soon.

EDIT: This is starting to piss me off. The other day, I went to Canadian Tire (kind of like a Canadian version of Wal-Mart) trying to find metric drill bits. Would you believe they didn't have a *(&$%(*$ SINGLE set of metric bits?? This is Canada, a metric country, and a Canadian franchise--that doesn't sell metric drill bits! WTF?? Finding a piece of metric threaded rod is like finding a needle in a haystack, it would seem!

Then I can recommend this web-shop in Scotland, wary affordable prices, and have PayPal to!
http://www.engineeringsupplies.co.uk/index.php

Thanks Hcp22, I already bought some on eBay...it just annoys me that a Canadian store in a metric country doesn't stock metric drill bits.

I haven't made much progress since I'm figuring out what to do for my steering servo linkage. Because 4.8mm ball cups are too tall when used with an Integy blue alloy servo horn & the stock servo saver, the only ball-ends that would work are the stock skinny ones that thread onto 2mm rods. Those were just plain crappy, and I didn't want to use a sloppy L-angle in the horn--it wouldn't fit, anyway. I want to use a 3mm turnbuckle. I might have a solution, but we'll have to wait another week or two to see how/if it'll work.

In the meantime, I cut some dust covers from spare Lexan. I wanted something to limit dust but not be as messy-looking as a silicone caulk-job. I think this will work pretty good, and it's easily removable.

I also installed an antenna mount that's supposed to prevent the antenna tube from bending during roll-overs. It looks nice and has a blue aluminum cap on the top (more on that when I have the receiver installed).

The last thing I did was install the rear stabilizer with some nice Tamiya blue alloy balls/chrome set screws. Now back to waiting...

all i have to say is.... AWESOME!!!!!!

Coelacanth wrote:I also installed an antenna mount that's supposed to prevent the antenna tube from bending during roll-overs.

Waiting for more info on this antenna mount....

Wow, what a great job!

esaresky75 wrote:

Coelacanth wrote:I also installed an antenna mount that's supposed to prevent the antenna tube from bending during roll-overs.

Waiting for more info on this antenna mount....

Thanks for the comments! Here's one on eBay exactly like the one I used:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Blue-Spring-Antenna-Tube-/160490564698?pt=Radio_Control_Parts_Accessories&hash=item255dfbac5a

Unfortunately, the eBay picture isn't as easy-to-understand as mine. I basically just used the Optima's existing antenna hole to run through the antenna tube, and drilled a 3mm hole through the upper aluminum deck, stopping when it went through the aluminum plate. I then used a smaller bit and drilled into the nylon W-shaped chain guide separator piece/antenna mount. I then used a 3mm flat-head screw to bolt the spring mount into the deck/W-piece.

The opposite end has an aluminum cap that you screw onto the top of the spring after running the antenna wire through it.

No update pics today, but the last few free evenings I've spent working on the 'Cuda body and fitment. I'll say one thing, by having separate pieces to cut out and fit for the rear deck spoiler and rear bumper/valance, this sure adds to the complexity! Even when I cut exactly along the lines, the 2 extra pieces did not fit as perfectly as I'd hoped--in places, it wasn't even close! But several hours alternating between Dremel grinding, sanding, and test-fitting, I must say things are looking very nice.

I thought I'd wait until painting was finished before posting new pictures, as I've already posted clear body shots and more of the same would just be boring.