Discussion
Well, everyone has their own story and reasons for wanting an Ultima and perhaps mine is a little different to the norm. In fact, to be honest until two years ago in March I had not ever heard or seen one. But more of that in a minute.
My story of loud cars started not with me but with my girlfriend of the time who was very much a fan of loud old American big blocks. 'Noise, it's all about the noise', as I dismissed them as ugly unrefined things and instead drool over E39 M5's and Alpina V8s's.
Anyway, over the years my relationship with these noisy cars changed and until one day that I remember so clearly, I said to her, I want a 1960 Corvette. She laughed and said fine... lets not make a trip of it and go to the US, have a good holiday and buy a car to ship home. And that was the plan for the year 2010. Anyway, as is often the case with plans, they don't always come about and she died at the beginning of January 2011. Yet before she died, some incredibly generous folks here are PH made a dying wish come true and they brought their very noisy V8 cars, or all sorts, sizes, shapes and colours to the Hospice and we all had a very very good afternoon. In fact, the last car she ever drove in was an immaculate pale blue C3 Corvette convertible.
... and when she died, I wanted one. In fact, I looked long and hard and finally one day, when I realised that the garage wasn't long enough and it would make me too sad, I decided not to go down the Corvette route.
.. and then one Sunday, about two years ago somewhere in the woody bits of the New Forest there was a breakfast car club meet and I went as I wanted to go meet and say thank you to some of the many who had supported us in our big cancer adventure.
And then, towards the middle of the meet, this noise made itself present. From a long way away, rumbling, spluttering and generally vocalising in extremis came a P reg red Ultima. I presume it must be a sport - but to be honest I didn't care. The noise and the drama of the car - even just sitting there clicking away as it cooled down was enough to scream 'want' inside in a way nothing had since the Corvette.
So a trip to the factory followed and a drive in the Ted Tardis of Terror and I was utterly sold. If anything, it wasn't the overall speed of the car that brought a grin to my face, it was the sense of occasion and the fact that the view was just the best view of a road i'd ever seen.
I waited a year... I wanted to make sure this was not just a moment of fancy or a passing whim, but then last year it got ordered. The kit got ordered and me, for all my wants and desires, knew my practical mechanical limitations and just by very good fortune I have found a man more than capable of building the car for me. In fact, he's doing a brilliant job. Many long phone discussions have taken place, many many photos along the way, and a stack more to come and the car is progressing nicely.
It will be a standard LS3 530 American Speed. The choice of the engine is a bit of a no brainer. The LS3 is a well proven unit and rock solid. The LS7 just strikes me as being too much for my needs as a touring car and even 530 is more than I'll ever need! I don't really plan to track it regularly, but do plan to take it on long jaunts up to Scotland and over into Europe.
It's a while away from finishing and already the bond I have with it is a complex one born of 'that noise' and a powerful association with the past, but also now a life very much going forwards. I don't see myself ever wanting to sell the car - it feel coiled tightly around my own mental DNA and part of who I am now.
Anyway, enough now. So, there you know. The story of this Ultima is for me, one of great emotional resonance. I promised my dear friend a tunnel run - so if you're reading this Brad, you're first and I expect to see you grinning from ear to ear
Anyway, the odd photo or two.
It's proved an interesting and fun time. I can't wait for the first time the engine starts. In my mind's eye I know my lass will be with me and I can see her smile and hear the words already...
'god, that's orgasmic'.
Not a Corvette... but close enough
My story of loud cars started not with me but with my girlfriend of the time who was very much a fan of loud old American big blocks. 'Noise, it's all about the noise', as I dismissed them as ugly unrefined things and instead drool over E39 M5's and Alpina V8s's.
Anyway, over the years my relationship with these noisy cars changed and until one day that I remember so clearly, I said to her, I want a 1960 Corvette. She laughed and said fine... lets not make a trip of it and go to the US, have a good holiday and buy a car to ship home. And that was the plan for the year 2010. Anyway, as is often the case with plans, they don't always come about and she died at the beginning of January 2011. Yet before she died, some incredibly generous folks here are PH made a dying wish come true and they brought their very noisy V8 cars, or all sorts, sizes, shapes and colours to the Hospice and we all had a very very good afternoon. In fact, the last car she ever drove in was an immaculate pale blue C3 Corvette convertible.
... and when she died, I wanted one. In fact, I looked long and hard and finally one day, when I realised that the garage wasn't long enough and it would make me too sad, I decided not to go down the Corvette route.
.. and then one Sunday, about two years ago somewhere in the woody bits of the New Forest there was a breakfast car club meet and I went as I wanted to go meet and say thank you to some of the many who had supported us in our big cancer adventure.
And then, towards the middle of the meet, this noise made itself present. From a long way away, rumbling, spluttering and generally vocalising in extremis came a P reg red Ultima. I presume it must be a sport - but to be honest I didn't care. The noise and the drama of the car - even just sitting there clicking away as it cooled down was enough to scream 'want' inside in a way nothing had since the Corvette.
So a trip to the factory followed and a drive in the Ted Tardis of Terror and I was utterly sold. If anything, it wasn't the overall speed of the car that brought a grin to my face, it was the sense of occasion and the fact that the view was just the best view of a road i'd ever seen.
I waited a year... I wanted to make sure this was not just a moment of fancy or a passing whim, but then last year it got ordered. The kit got ordered and me, for all my wants and desires, knew my practical mechanical limitations and just by very good fortune I have found a man more than capable of building the car for me. In fact, he's doing a brilliant job. Many long phone discussions have taken place, many many photos along the way, and a stack more to come and the car is progressing nicely.
It will be a standard LS3 530 American Speed. The choice of the engine is a bit of a no brainer. The LS3 is a well proven unit and rock solid. The LS7 just strikes me as being too much for my needs as a touring car and even 530 is more than I'll ever need! I don't really plan to track it regularly, but do plan to take it on long jaunts up to Scotland and over into Europe.
It's a while away from finishing and already the bond I have with it is a complex one born of 'that noise' and a powerful association with the past, but also now a life very much going forwards. I don't see myself ever wanting to sell the car - it feel coiled tightly around my own mental DNA and part of who I am now.
Anyway, enough now. So, there you know. The story of this Ultima is for me, one of great emotional resonance. I promised my dear friend a tunnel run - so if you're reading this Brad, you're first and I expect to see you grinning from ear to ear
Anyway, the odd photo or two.
It's proved an interesting and fun time. I can't wait for the first time the engine starts. In my mind's eye I know my lass will be with me and I can see her smile and hear the words already...
'god, that's orgasmic'.
Not a Corvette... but close enough
A great way to remember a loved one...
I like the progress of your build. Are you using real CF panels?
Looks also you are going down the double front bulkhead panels: one at the rear of the rad and one also in the cockpit in front of the pedals. I'm installing an extra panel behind the radiator to force hot air up and out of that area and not around or into the cockpit. I have not thought about that second panel in front of the pedals though, but I know that has been done by others.
I like the progress of your build. Are you using real CF panels?
Looks also you are going down the double front bulkhead panels: one at the rear of the rad and one also in the cockpit in front of the pedals. I'm installing an extra panel behind the radiator to force hot air up and out of that area and not around or into the cockpit. I have not thought about that second panel in front of the pedals though, but I know that has been done by others.
Thanks.
There are a number of real carbon panels to replace the factory ally ones. The interior ally will also be covered in real flexible CF wrap. This task has already been completed and from the photos it appears very good. I think the sill of the completed car will look very striking. The floor will have the standard 'boat carpet', though for pragmatic reasons it seems to make sense to velcro it to the floor rather than bond it. For that reason I will get the edges overstitched in a contrasting charcoal black.
As the build progresses I will add more pictures.
(edit: tried to add a few more images but thumbsnap is completely and utterly rubbish)
There are a number of real carbon panels to replace the factory ally ones. The interior ally will also be covered in real flexible CF wrap. This task has already been completed and from the photos it appears very good. I think the sill of the completed car will look very striking. The floor will have the standard 'boat carpet', though for pragmatic reasons it seems to make sense to velcro it to the floor rather than bond it. For that reason I will get the edges overstitched in a contrasting charcoal black.
As the build progresses I will add more pictures.
(edit: tried to add a few more images but thumbsnap is completely and utterly rubbish)
Edited by drivin_me_nuts on Saturday 9th February 18:47
No links yet, later
One of the things that really nagged at me was the fire risk. Having seen the GTW at Stonleigh we had a good look at fitting several fire extinguishers near the battery, but the logistics and practicalities of it seemed somewhat awkward. Then we thought about the sidepods and having the pull handles therein. But what if there was a side impact and I could not pull them? So in the end, it made most sense to mount them behind the rear seats. So, two black powder coated extinguishers courtesy of Lifeline are the answer. One will routed in to the engine bay, one will remain in the cabin. I will also add a small 'show' one is a complementary colour to the body, between the seats.
In one of our long conversations, we also talked of future upgrades and the sometimes expressed difficulty of adding electrical wiring from front to back of the car. A simple solution has been to add these details now by way of a bundle of additional cables. All will be tidied up later.
For the well observed, you will see that the build is using slightly larger rivets. These are 4mm zinc coated anodised.
By way of chassis preparation and protection, the chassis has also been injected with very decent amounts of Dynax S50. Handy stuff that, well regarded and less mess than other similar products.
(Bother, posted these up has made me feel impatient now. Seems indeed the case that the waiting is the hardest bit... and I never thought i'd be writing that again in a happy frame of mind )
One of the things that really nagged at me was the fire risk. Having seen the GTW at Stonleigh we had a good look at fitting several fire extinguishers near the battery, but the logistics and practicalities of it seemed somewhat awkward. Then we thought about the sidepods and having the pull handles therein. But what if there was a side impact and I could not pull them? So in the end, it made most sense to mount them behind the rear seats. So, two black powder coated extinguishers courtesy of Lifeline are the answer. One will routed in to the engine bay, one will remain in the cabin. I will also add a small 'show' one is a complementary colour to the body, between the seats.
In one of our long conversations, we also talked of future upgrades and the sometimes expressed difficulty of adding electrical wiring from front to back of the car. A simple solution has been to add these details now by way of a bundle of additional cables. All will be tidied up later.
For the well observed, you will see that the build is using slightly larger rivets. These are 4mm zinc coated anodised.
By way of chassis preparation and protection, the chassis has also been injected with very decent amounts of Dynax S50. Handy stuff that, well regarded and less mess than other similar products.
(Bother, posted these up has made me feel impatient now. Seems indeed the case that the waiting is the hardest bit... and I never thought i'd be writing that again in a happy frame of mind
)Edited by drivin_me_nuts on Wednesday 13th February 12:22
A little update.
Well, she's back from the factory post prefit and my first impression upon seeing her is holey moley that Gelcoat is spectacular. I mean it's stunning. It's quite something and my first reaction and the words I said out loud were, 'I can't believe she's mine'.
Still a great deal to do, but the satisfaction in just being able to realise this far is immense indeed. Somewhere, over the pond an engine is being redied and the merging of the two will be a special moment indeed.
Sometimes words are incapable of expressing what lies within and as cliched it might sound, seeing this car today is very much the ending of something sad and the beginning of something new. Sometimes, just sometimes, change needs to be touched to be made real. Anwyay, enough of my ramblings.
Well, she's back from the factory post prefit and my first impression upon seeing her is holey moley that Gelcoat is spectacular. I mean it's stunning. It's quite something and my first reaction and the words I said out loud were, 'I can't believe she's mine'.
Still a great deal to do, but the satisfaction in just being able to realise this far is immense indeed. Somewhere, over the pond an engine is being redied and the merging of the two will be a special moment indeed.
Sometimes words are incapable of expressing what lies within and as cliched it might sound, seeing this car today is very much the ending of something sad and the beginning of something new. Sometimes, just sometimes, change needs to be touched to be made real. Anwyay, enough of my ramblings.
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