Barnoid

That 1:1 is insane!

It'll be totally fine. My runners have all sorts of combinations. My 5p - load up the front diff with Tamiya Anti Wear grease to stiffen it up, and put less in the rear. That'll help quell the chronic oversteer the chassis can display. :-)

Great job! Keep us posted :-)

I’ve broken one of the ears on my egress. I’ve come up with a shock mount that attaches to 4 points like the 2001, but I fear it’ll just transfer the force lower down the gearbox. I think the best/strongest solution would be a mount which attaches behind the ears and then bends 45 degrees to mount on the gearbox itself. I suspect it’d have to be alloy though...

Well, that’s disappointingly puny 🤣

Yup, no bother :-D

I've got a 55t HPI crawler 540 motor you're welcome to try. I think it spins at around 8000rpm at 7.2v. Regular silver can under no load is, what, 17k?

That's worked for me! (I'm on a Mac too). Thanks :-)

I'd say give it a go. What's the worst that could happen? ;-)

Is there a price on this yet? Need to decide whether it falls into the 'it's growing on me - hmm, maybe' or 'badword no' camps ;-)

I can't get photos to work either. Tried to upload a new model today, but no dice...

Well then, at least someone aftermarket will make a little cash ;-)

Yes - but fingers crossed they might have sorted that out for the rere?

They are, regrettably, totally different. They both fit in the same holes, so to speak, but they're a different shape to accommodate the different bodies. If you buy one, and go down the TBG body shell route, be advised that the 2001 undertray is a couple of mm too short. It's bodgeable, thankfully. The bodyshell itself fits fine though.

Yes yes yes to the steel A5 brace. It's a complete necessity!

Sometimes - only sometimes, mind you - insomnia can yield benefits. :-) Now for a spot of paint!

Oh god. *whimpers*

Looks totally sweet! Do you happen to know if you can upgrade to the two speed and lockable diffs on the sport kit?

For 'out of production body shells in general', google Kamtec, or check out Penguin on eBay. Sometimes Blue Groove is your only option (I had to get an Avante 2001 shell from them; I couldn't find any UK/EU ones) but it's pretty expensive to ship body shells over from Canada, obvs.

Good choice. I run those GooleRC motors (17 and 21t) in a few of mine (with Hobbywing 1060 ESC), and they're excellent. Good magnets, bearings etc. Plus, cheap :-)

Part way through the restoration of Optima Mid number 3. I think I have a problem. God knows what I'll do if they re-release them - (apart from buy one - that much is pretty obvious).

Porsche 956, and Hilux 3speed (the video of the kid being pulled along on his skateboard by one... ❤️)

I do! The lowers are definitely different (and they don't necessarily correspond) - although that's not to say that any updated shocks the putative new Mid would run would have any problems with them. I run the new arms on a new build racing Mid I've made (brushless, LWB, slipper clutch, Thorpe internals etc) and they match up with new and old shocks with little conflict. Here is a pic of an original arm on my original Mid. It's slightly different to the rere Optima one, but not massively so. They're a straight swap in terms of overall fitment. The major issue (such as is it) is placement of the hole for the anti-roll bar attachment - but it's hardly a game-changer.

They're pretty good! A little more bronze-y than the originals, But they're cheap, smooth as anything and they don't leak. What's not to love? :-)

WIlly, are you running an original or a rere? In my experience, the front springs on the rere are way to stiff; as stock there's no sag at all. I understand that the original springs were pretty soft though. I've swapped out the shocks for old RC10 ones - with the increased stroke length you actually get some sag, and the handling (esp. on astro) is much improved. But other than that I echo what Willy said. Aftermarket front and rear alloy hub carriers are available from Yeah racing, but the originals seem to hold up fine (and the alloy ones are heavier, if that matters to you). I personally keep the original wheels for the shelf, and use some 2.2s for running.