RC10Talk - The Net's Largest Vintage R/C Community

Where there a mid motor conversion ever sold for the Ultima?

I don't recall ever seeing one as the bulkhead and suspension bracket need to stay in place for toe and anti-squat purposes.

I did a mid motor oval version with a direct drive a while back by cutting and modifying the rear suspension

That's a good mod; or you can convert an Optima Mid quite easily to RWD and make-your-own mid-motor RWD car:

Joel Johnson ran one BID. But several drivers I raced with in the late 80's were already making 2wd cars with the Mid rear Transmission on a 2wd chassis plate.

good call aaron! that reminds me....Bo Wallen's custom off road mid motor Ultima...
http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=27785

Hard to tell if Joel was doing the same thing, or what. And Pictures of his rides are horrible when found!!

These are all homemade conversions. Didn’t companies like A&L and others make conversion kit?

None that I recall. It had fairly major things against it- the trans was not reversible making a reverse rotation motor necessary, and the bulkhead and mount are not reversible making for major modifications. I don't ever recall seeing a mid motor conversion from anyone for the ultima

It is possible to modify the trans to run the opposite what...but the only negative is that you now relied on the 3 screws to keep everything lined up vs. having that large round lip to keep every thing aligned. One good smack and it becomes a gear mesh nightmare.

The other option (which I had years ago) was to use the hyperdrive belt kit. Still allowed you to run the normal motors, and it eliminated the external counter gear.

Regards,
Roger

https://www.shapeways.com/product/SWTBXTJER/ultima-mid-rerelease-conversion-kit-v2?optionId=153718417&li=shops
This is from Mr. Ed's, he's a member here.