Alcyon's Optima Mid and Lazer Performance parts
 

Maybe I am getting a little bit too ahead of myself here. Some of you already know I have made several upgrade parts for the Kyosho Optima mid and Lazer.
Here are several I have done and some I am planning to make in the future.
What I have done :
1. OT-85 delrin center gear replacement. I just received these in my hands today and they look good. Will be installing them in my Mid tonight to do testing. price is U$12 includes shipping, per gear.
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...psa14d5ed0.jpg

2. Optima Mid layshaft that uses associated B4 spur gears and slipper clutch.
Progress : So far i have made one working shaft and its in my optima mid custom special. I have had several enquiries by members here to purchase this shaft from me, but seems you guys wanted it quick. So here is my plan, i will sell OT-85's and from the profits i will make about 4 layshafts ready for sale.
I will just keep them and hopefully sell off all. A bit of a risk but i think i need to do this to market it better. making this layshaft aint that cheap cause its made of steel and requires intricate machining.
If demand is good i will make some more. price should be U$35 includes shipping with gearbox extension which you will have modify yourself to fit in.

For the Lazer ZX- I have made prototype shaft with several revisions, and welshy40 will receive a latest protoype soon, specifically for the associated VTS version. If this works out, mass production will begin.

Plans for the future :
1. Optima mid modern oil filled gear diff casings, you will have to purchase Tamiya TRF 417 geardiff internal components to complete your working geardiff.

If this works, I will also make for the Lazer.
2. Replacement gearboxes made out of either white or black Poly Ethelyene, for Optima Mid as well as Lazer (especially front for lazer).

3. High strengh Poly Ethlyene plastic arm mounts for the lazer ZX. will be wayyy cheaper than alloy ones made by Pargu2000, and hopefully almost just as strong.

So, just to gauge demand for these items, just let me know which parts you would be interested in, and do offer suggestions for some parts you want but I have not mentioned. Preferably made of engineering plastic.

I could well be interested in some of these parts

Would it be possible to dye the parts you have made in white plastic?

I have a few other ideas for parts but I may be the only person in the galaxy that wants them so might not be viable to make

I'd be interested in the layshaft/VTS setup for the Lazer as Welshy says this is the way to go, will it still allow the one-way roller for the front belt/wheels?

I'd also be interested in a replacement front gearbox if you remove the bit for the belt tensioner/rolling pin to beef it up a bit. Does that make sense?

Of all the items listed there's only the Lazer front gearbox half that's of real interest. Maybe the Lazer wishbone mounts as well if the price is right but they aren't too difficult to make from a length of aluminium square bar, back in the day I made plenty for others with a drill, hacksaw and file. My Mids and Lazers don't go anywhere near a racetrack so, like the vast majority of owners updated slippers and fluid filled diffs wouldn't be of much interest. Plenty of people would want replacements for the obvious weak spots on the Lazer though.

Im up for the pivot blocks but how strong are they. The pivot block behind the front gearbox needs to be made thicker by 2mm to give more strength as its the weakest item.

What I'd love to see for the Mid, are pivot blocks for the rear atleast that hold the wishbone shaft captive like the Lazer.

Interestingly in some pictures in the Kyosho Catalog the original Mid seemed to have such a block on the rear but it never seemed to make it into production or maybe it was on early kits?

I'd love white gearbox cases for a shelfer mid, and really for anyone that wants to race a Mid Lazer wishbones are easy enough to find seeing as Mid ones are a little sparse but the front gearbox case is hard to find so there is some merit to that piece.

I agree the market for the diffs may be a little small, I'm planning on running ceramic balls in my Mid runner project

After the front gearbox, that pivot block behind the front gearbox is the next most needed part.
A guy on eBay had four sets of pivot blocks but all four had that one missing!
Reminds me still need to replace the one behind the gearbox in that "NIP" set I bought on here that was missing that particular piece ...

looks like the center gears may be a failure. I put them in last night and during hard braking and acceleration, there is a horrible sound from the tranny. But to be fair, I did experience this noise with the kyosho as well as pargu ones, maybe the center gear shaft isnt aligned properly. I will try to re check and re test again.
Thanks for the suggestion guys, i will look into them. about making parts in white, its best to use white material itself instead of dyeing them another colour.

I dont think captured blocks will be good for the mid. i broke a rear gearbox becuase i used such a method. The e clips are there to prevent the rear arms from breaking off rear wards. This happened to me before while i was negotiating a 1/8 off road track. What happened was the rear arm mount came off from the gearbox, with the 2 screwes attaching the mount to the gearbox, with the plastic material still intact around the Screws! If you read my blog you will find pictures there. So best to keep the e clips in.

I remember seeing that in your blog, I thought the issue was because you used those clamps on the shafts like a ZX-S has. I want blue parts so thought I may be able to dye the white parts

yes those are one of the reasons, but i beleive it would have sheared off too just by the sheer rear wards force the arms are subjected to.

Wanted for a runner: An e-clips free design for the wishbone shafts would be nice. Maybe a partly threaded axle with M3 nuts in both ends and when those are fully tightened they should leave a perfect play.

Good or bad? Maybe everybody else love the e-clips? :lol:

Re - tested the center gear last night. Found out there was too much slop between the gearbox inner blind hole and the center gear shaft. I placed a thick washer between the gear and the gearbox, my theory is it will keep the center gear shaft from shifting under heavy loads like braking and acceleration. Well it worked, no more grinding noises, and the tranny is smooth as ever. So 8 pieces of this gear will be up for sale from now on. I will keep 2 for myself at this time.
If you want to make payment, my paypal is alcyon2sp@gmail.com.
They are U$12 a piece, shipping included.
Remember, only 8 is available for sale right now. I can get some more ready by end of next week if the demand is good.

Thanks guys.

thats a good idea, but i will prolly use lock nuts instead, and there is the issue of how strong will the hingepins will be, will probably bend too.

Payment sent! ;)

/j0pp3

yep, got it, and will pack tonight. Hope you will be happy with these.Hey, there was no address given ! Please pass me your address..

I'll take one

paypal payment sent - let me know if the postal address doesn;t come through.

Thanks

Sorry alcyon. Address sent by PM :)

got it, and got yours too jopp, going out tommorow.

My centre gear arrived in the UK last Thursday - looks a nice quality part but not had chance to do anythign with it just yet.

that's good. You may have some difficulty pressing in the bearing. Just take a hobby knife and chamfer the leading edge to guide the bearings in. A tap with a plier should get the bearings in. I have not had a chance to test drive my Optima Mid for long term because it has been raining almost everyday and busy with the Malaysian elections .