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After all the restoration projects almost finished I've come up with the idea of creating an Optima rally car. A big reason for this particular combo is that I've got an original Kyosho Citroën ZX body unpainted and with N.I.P scale accessories. It's from a rally series based on the Raider chassis from around 1991. It just happened to have the same wheelbase as an Optima Mid LWB. I've started doing some custom work, copying an original aluminum LWB chassis to create an FRP version. This also means I will create FRP towers, top deck etc. The towers will have a slight change in the design to make it more unique.

More to come later!

Cheers
j0pp3

Update! So.. a few days later and a lot of cutting in FRP with the Dremel. I took an original aluminum LWB chassis and traced it. Kind of happy with the result. It almost looks like a Mid Custom Special chassis. This will be the sturdy base for my rally car. Next on the list is to craft some shock towers in the same material.

Nice work on the new chassis. Where can you find the chassis material?

Thank you!

I got it from China. Up to six weeks delivery though.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/400mmx300mmx2-0mm-Fiberglass-Glass-Fiber-Plate-Sheet-/280972907827?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item416b4a5533

Got some proper wheels and tires for this project. OT-90 together with W5053 looks amazing.

Good work on this, glad to see you back here.

Jake

Seabass wrote:Good work on this, glad to see you back here.

Jake

Thank you Jake, feels great having you here, Mr Engineer!

Let's have an update!

First out, I found some original scale parts (Kyosho SI-12) for the body a while ago. Kind of rare stuff.




Then some build progress. Went through the Optima pile and found some good gears and a belt. The white center gear is probably a Thorp 5022. Got it with a donor car and it feels tough! Standard gear differentials all around. Took a classic see-through-photo of the drive train. My home crafted chassis works!

This will be a cool project and I like it when people use there NIP parts instead of hiding them away in some attic.

Hcp22 wrote:This will be a cool project and I like it when people use there NIP parts instead of hiding them away in some attic.

Exactly...what good are parts if they're not used to assemble something? They're just parts. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts!

I totally agree. Collecting NIP parts and hide them in bags like an investment is a whole different hobby. I would rather be day trading on the stock market. Anyway, I think this is my first Thorp upgrade ever. Yes Lars, you can laugh now Another planned upgrade will be an Alec & Lane steering setup.

Further more I'm thinking of adapting the suspension a bit to fit rally/onroad rather than buggy/offroad. Kyosho made a Ferrari F40 based on the Optima Mid and they changed the shock geometry a bit compared to the buggies. I will probably make the chassis a bit lower and use harder springs or something. There are many options as I'm about to craft the towers myself in the same material as the chassis.

I have one of those F40 Mids, well not an original. It's been converted to from a LWB Mid, just need to get around to painting and trimming the bodyset, ahh.....too many projects.

There was a Nissan R32 Skyline aswell.


Keith

Sweet! Would be nice to see some photos of yours.

I have the silver rims from Skyline R32 on my Turbo Optima Mid SE

j0pp3 wrote:Further more I'm thinking of adapting the suspension a bit to fit rally/onroad rather than buggy/offroad. Kyosho made a Ferrari F40 based on the Optima Mid and they changed the shock geometry a bit compared to the buggies. I will probably make the chassis a bit lower and use harder springs or something. There are many options as I'm about to craft the towers myself in the same material as the chassis.

The front shock tower is the same, while the rear end only uses the lower mount. You'll also need one of the Scale Car body mount sets to mount the body (or come up with something yourself).

Here's my Skyline for reference.

Thank you EvolutionRevolution! The bumper you are using, does it fit the Optima Mid without any modification? I have only seen it on models based on Ultima.

I found three full sets of Optima Mid Custom shocks yesterday. The black plastic ones. One of my ideas is to use short shocks all around like modern Tamiya rally cars and craft a custom rear tower.

Cheers

It's the same front bumper as the F40 and it fits straight on, no mods required. I'll take some pics and download them later.


Keith