New Optima Build: Project CYANide - Finished!

[Mr. ED]

where are those spacers and the extra 5mm? confused

for which car are the blue knuckles? Are those the duratrax parts mentioned in another tread?

[Coelacanth]

where are those spacers and the extra 5mm? confused

for which car are the blue knuckles? Are those the duratrax parts mentioned in another tread?

You can barely see it in the picture, this should clarify. The control arms came on a small plastic tree, and there were spacers of 2 different thicknesses on the tree. I tried one and it was a perfect fit. The knuckles are for the Lazer ZX-5, I believe. Here they are, P/N: DTXC9953

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/WTI0095P?FVSEARCH=DTXC9953&search=Go

I found 'em on eBay for about $10 less, and didn't have to get gouged for over $20 shipping (Tower refused to ship in a more economical manner).

[Mr. ED]

clicked the link and it says on top of the page "DuraTrax Hub Front Aluminum Blue Maximum ST/BX/MT (2)"
Those were the ones I refered to

thanks for clarifying where the spacers went

[Coelacanth]

I rebuilt a front belt diff I received with fresh diff lube, sealed bearings and sweet chromed Duratrax joints. Fed a new belt through it that I received from Mad Racer (thanks man, your gold shocks, belly skid-plate & gear will ship tomorrow after work!).

[Mad Racer]

Looks really sweet Marc.

Glad i can help you with the belt conversion.

Lets hope we can find a solution on the rear diff gear.

Cheers.
Mark

[Coelacanth]

Had a few spare hours this evening and was able to attach the short control arms, hubs & knuckles, and short CVD joints. Also began assembling the servo saver. Unfortunately, I'm at a bit of an impasse until a new Main Gear for the rear belt diff and some turnbuckles arrive.

If I'm not mistaken, the CVD's and control arms are from a Kyosho Spider SP-1. highwayracer was extremely helpful in helping me spec out the exact lengths & fitment of the shorter arms & joints, and aip47-2008 deserves credit for selling me a set. Thank you, Aaron & Roger, I wouldn't be at this stage without lots of research, a dozen questions, and your help!

Speaking of the shorter control arms, I have 2 sets of aftermarket strengthened control arms from a PureTen Alpha GP or EP 2/3 nitro racer that aren't being used. Although they fit perfectly exactly the same way as the stock Spider arms, they move the front wheels about 3 or 4mm forward, slightly increasing the wheelbase. I didn't want to change my wheelbase any as I already have wheel-wells cut out for my existing on-road bodies and didn't want to mess up that look.

[Hcp22]

Damn, it’s looking so nice...

[Hotshotman]

That's a striking shade of blue. Can't wait to see it finished!

[losiXXXman]

Kind of surprise you didn't go for that blue front bumper brace from Pargu while you were at it!!

[Coelacanth]

Kind of surprise you didn't go for that blue front bumper brace from Pargu while you were at it!!

I actually avoided getting it for a reason...that part is frequently damaged by a collision. Replacing that plastic piece with a stronger alloy piece--attached directly to the alloy frame--means that a front-ender is likely to cause possible structural damage somewhere else, such as the plastic gear-box, bent gear-box side-plates, frame rails, or damaged screw-holes. I have a few spares of the bumper brace so I'm happy to have one break on impact, if necessary.

There's a method to my madness!

[sgirouard]

Kind of surprise you didn't go for that blue front bumper brace from Pargu while you were at it!!

I actually avoided getting it for a reason...that part is frequently damaged by a collision. Replacing that plastic piece with a stronger alloy piece--attached directly to the alloy frame--means that a front-ender is likely to cause possible structural damage somewhere else, such as the plastic gear-box, bent gear-box side-plates, frame rails, or damaged screw-holes. I have a few spares of the bumper brace so I'm happy to have one break on impact, if necessary.

There's a method to my madness!

Leave it to the Optima to pioneer crumple zones!

[Coelacanth]

Kind of surprise you didn't go for that blue front bumper brace from Pargu while you were at it!!

I actually avoided getting it for a reason...that part is frequently damaged by a collision. Replacing that plastic piece with a stronger alloy piece--attached directly to the alloy frame--means that a front-ender is likely to cause possible structural damage somewhere else, such as the plastic gear-box, bent gear-box side-plates, frame rails, or damaged screw-holes. I have a few spares of the bumper brace so I'm happy to have one break on impact, if necessary.

There's a method to my madness!

Leave it to the Optima to pioneer crumple zones!

Exactly...on a runner, sticking with the plastic brace is probably the wise choice. I'd definitely go with the alloy one if this car was going to be a shelf-queen, but I don't believe in that...a car's meant to be driven!

[Coelacanth]

I finally received one of the parts that was holding up this build...I wasn't able to assemble the rear diff & gearbox until I'd tracked down and received a sprocket set--and specifically, the all-important Main Gear. It finally arrived today. Hopefully I'll have spare time this weekend with some updates!

[Coelacanth]

Had a free night tonight, so I rebuilt my rear belt-drive diff with new parts from a Kyosho SG-25 sprocket set I found on eBay, which meant I was finally able to get the ball rolling again on this car. Finished the rear gearbox and bolted on the side-plates & shock tower, attached everything to the frame rails, then bolted on the skid-plate & side-guards.

[Coelacanth]

One issue I had to deal with, as a result of the shortened front control arms & CVDs, was shock length. One option was to go to short, dinky little shocks, something I didn't really consider because I wanted off-road driveability without major disassembling. The 3racing shock kit I bought had front shocks a bit longer than the stock Kyosho Golds, which was fine--I just had to fabricate shock towers to make them work. I had to think exactly where to mount the shocks, because the wide shock bodies & adjustment rings prevented me from mounting the shocks the same way the Turbo Optima shocks would've normally mounted. I had to position them more upright and out-board to clear the shock tower itself.

I built the tower from a spare piece of carbon fiber from DW911, thank you Dave! I gave myself a pair of mounting holes; one allowing the CVDs to be close to horizontal, and one giving me a good amount of offroad clearance.

I'll do more filing to clean up the lines later, I just wanted to make sure everything fit and worked nicely...it looks like my '70 AAR 'Cuda body will fit like a glove, even though it seems like the shock tower is so high. I cut out the body but have yet to sand the edges smooth...this is going to look killer when it's done!