My poor neglected Ultima :)

[adam lancia]

Hi all,

Here are a few pics of the Ultima I bought back in the day. It's been sitting for about 10 years now but after seeing Mr.ED's threads about his Ultima's, that has kind of goaded me into getting mine running. I'm going to take it to a few races this summer. It needs a little work though

[Mr. ED]

Glad to have inspired you. that's one real buggy.
What you have there is the last ultima released with this gearbox: ultima pro 'black version' mostly called ultima pro II.
( there's a thread about the naming here somewhere)

The rear arms are definitely the originals with their own hubs and the toe-in adjusters.
If you really want to try the pro-x arms (be warned: hard to find) you'll need to mount the arms more outwards with longer hinge pins ( like the other ultimas before this one)
Front arms could be original or triumph as you wrote in the other thread: I don't have either and can't tell you for sure.
Front wheels are triumph: larger diameter and smaller offset to compensate for the wider arms. Rear wheels are pro-x.
The chassis could be from trinity (not just because of the sticker )
The added asso shocks and tower make it stand our further. I wonder which body you fitted

From the looks of it, I'd say you were a hard edge racer back in those days.
An A&L transmission with slipper was all you missed inthere, but probably wouldn't have worked with the pro 2 arms : the hinge pins and arms interfere with the outdrives. Same for a stealth... Unless you want to raise it.

If you plan using the original gearbox: I'm working on getting some 48dp sets for a full 48dp gearbox, inner and outer compartiment. I'll keep you posted.

[adam lancia]

Funny you should mention 48 pitch gears.....

The SST is complete but it doesn't spin freely....haven't been able to figure out why yet either. I'd use it instead of the other just to make my life a little easier since the SST diff keeps it's adjustment a little better than the original Kyosho diff. The Pure Ten diff's are a big improvement but still a far cry from an Associated Stealth diff. The SST comes with shims that fit under the case to raise it up in order to address the clearance issue you mentioned. I never thought about putting in a Stealth but that wouldn't be too hard now that I think about it. I DID think about an A&L but funds are a little tight for that right now. It is on the list though

I don't know who made the chassis, that's what came on it when I bought it from a fast guy at my local track. He was a hardcore racer and I wanted to be one (I was only about 14 at the time) so I got it. It didn't have the upper deck that is on there now. I think it's a Triumph upper deck but I'm not positive.

I think I'm going to stick with the current arm setup for now since it nearly matches my B4 for rear track width. It's a little shy at the front but nothing major. I may be able to put RC10 parts on to widen it out a little and allow me to use the B4 front tires that I already have rather than using the ONLY pair of Triumph front wheels that I have.

The shocks are actually Kyosho Ultimate shocks and Kyosho springs. I've got 1 pair of shorts, 2 medium pairs and 2 long pairs and probably enough springs to go with them. I've never raced with them though since I haven't figured out a way to keep the oil INSIDE the shock

I finally got the MIP RC10 ball bearing bellcranks to fit properly and without any bump steer. I'm using RC10 front axles as the bellcrank standoffs, it looks like it'll work....we'll see

The front shock tower is a B3 tower modified to fit but the rear is definitely an Ultima-specific piece as it's got the mounting holes in the correct place for it's bulkhead. The RC20 rear shock tower holes (the ones that I have seen at least) have a different bolt pattern. I have a sneaky suspicion it was made by JG Mfg. but I can't say for sure.

I'm going to try and get the SST smoother out tonight if possible. I'll keep you posted.

[Mr. ED]

It's like a treasure chest!
This would be a perfect racing buddy for mine. Pity canada is so far away.
Any thoughts for a body yet? Losi Jr-x2 or later Losi's look like they would fit the longer wheel base, general chassis shape and high tower nicely.

[adam lancia]

I'm really not sure what I'm going to do about a body. I've got an Associated Viper and 2 Protech's but I'm not sure they'll work. Any ideas?

[Mr. ED]

I'm really not sure what I'm going to do about a body. I've got an Associated Viper and 2 Protech's but I'm not sure they'll work. Any ideas?

Tanaka from Timetunnel has a cut down tomahawk on his A&L ultima, put the one you suggest should work also, or the losi repro's. Someone was selling off soe in the BST before.

For your front wheels: one of the japanese guys showed he's using ultima RB(R?) uprights and knuckles in the front, because those axles take B3(?) wheels.
The B4 stuff may work also, but you'll have to ream the hinge holes in the arms for the larger diameter hinge pins (stupid metric-imperial thing again)

[adam lancia]

Who made/makes the tomahawk? I've never heard of it.

Good call on the Ultima RB parts, I forgot about those. That will make life much easier. I'll have to take some scissors to the Viper body and see if it'll work out. If so, I'll have to get some paint on it and then drive the thing!

[Mr. ED]

Tomahawk is from kyosho: trailing arm type buggy with rail chassis.
I guess an rc10 body will work: seems almost likely that 'd have been the choice at the time with this tower. I should d have noticed the holes for the arm link: dead give-away it's not an asso part. For these shocks: maybe try green slime on the gaskets (if that stuff is till for sale???)

[adam lancia]

Yeah, Associated still sells the green slime, it's awesome stuff. I'll give the body a shot this evening sometime and post some pics to get input. I've never really tried to mount a body that isn't necessarily meant for another chassis. Should be interesting

[adam lancia]

Maybe I'll call it the VIPUltima It's a little hacked up around the front shock tower but nothing too serious. I think I'll try to mount the Protech as well just to see what it looks like. Might be able to pull off more of an old school look with that one. I've got a sweet old school paint scheme that I'll be using as "my" scheme that I think will look pretty cool...Then I can call it UltiTech

[Mr. ED]

Use this one as a mould to put down the cutting lines: but, yeah, you might want to go a bit tighter 'round the front tower

[RichieRich]

I think it looks great. The only suggestion I have is getting rid of the 90 degree corners. You'll tear at the inner corners and poke yourself on the outer corners. I use a 1/4" dremel sanding drum to keep everything smooth.

[adam lancia]

I think it looks great. The only suggestion I have is getting rid of the 90 degree corners. You'll tear at the inner corners and poke yourself on the outer corners. I use a 1/4" dremel sanding drum to keep everything smooth.

Use this one as a mould to put down the cutting lines: but, yeah, you might want to go a bit tighter 'round the front tower

Both excellent ideas! I will be doing both of those things with the next body I trim. I've also got a modification to the MIP RC10 ball bearing steering in order to run the servo like it is on a B4. Pics coming...

[Mr. ED]

Funny you should mention 48 pitch gears.....

Those white counter gears are from robinson. I have one of these ut the the center hole is not in the right place so it doesn't run true. Kind of stinks since I can ot use the spurs I got to go with it.
These spurs would be the shiny black ones in your picture. I have a few now and again robinson was pretty disappointing: the spare out to fit over the back gear is not centered well either on about half of them
and then my dog chewed up a good one too

Thesets I'm looking at now are from a different company. I just hope they turn out to be true 48dp and not the kyosho mdule that comes close. then at least I can use the couple good spurs from robinson still.

I think I'm going to stick with the current arm setup for now since it nearly matches my B4 for rear track width. It's a little shy at the front but nothing major. I may be able to put RC10 parts on to widen it out a little and allow me to use the B4 front tires that I already have rather than using the ONLY pair of Triumph front wheels that I have.

I have made the pro-x mod complete with lazer parts and will put up a post with explanations and pics, but yes, I'd stay with the adjustable proII arms too. they are pretty unique. For the front, check your C-carriers: there should be an extra holee a little higher and more inward. It's for use with the adny's arms or original ultima arms. You can use it to bring the front wheels further out. (Maybe need a new top link or longer RPM ballcups then)

[adam lancia]

Yup, I noticed those extra holes and that's how it is setup now

That's pretty shady about toe off-center gears...I should probably check mine too. Let me know what comes of the gears you're working on, It would be nice to have all of those spurs I have mounted.