Ultima Build Manual and CD
Discussion
Folks,
I am seriously considering building an Ultima. My question is how good are the Ultima build manual and CD. I have read CJ's diary and think that was very usefl and spurred me on.
Considering I am budgeting around £45k for the build I want to be sure the manual is well written and accurate.
Thx
Wes
I am seriously considering building an Ultima. My question is how good are the Ultima build manual and CD. I have read CJ's diary and think that was very usefl and spurred me on.
Considering I am budgeting around £45k for the build I want to be sure the manual is well written and accurate.
Thx
Wes
I find the build manual to be on a par with most kitcar manuals i.e. fairly poor. On the other hand the build CD is excellent and chock full of pictures. Once you get used to the fact that the pics are of different cars, GTR & CanAm, left and right hand drive all is well.
What I did not have on my previous kitcar build was the support of this splendid forum or sites like CJs and many others. This by far overcomes any shortfalls of the manual.
If you want to know something just ask, if we've done the subject to death recently you will be pointed to that thread. If we haven't we'll do it all over again with the normal smattering of abuse and sarcasm.
My own site is just a gallery of the pictures taken during my build but they may offer alternative ways of doing things or just the close-up picture you need to clarify how something is done.
Steve
What I did not have on my previous kitcar build was the support of this splendid forum or sites like CJs and many others. This by far overcomes any shortfalls of the manual.
If you want to know something just ask, if we've done the subject to death recently you will be pointed to that thread. If we haven't we'll do it all over again with the normal smattering of abuse and sarcasm.
My own site is just a gallery of the pictures taken during my build but they may offer alternative ways of doing things or just the close-up picture you need to clarify how something is done.
Steve
I think the manual is so bad it's not even worth to open it... The build cd is better but in the end of the cd its just some pics and absolutely NO explenation/text at all. For you guys in UK it's probably easy to just call the factory ten times a day and ask questions but for us in another country and with another language it's not so easy. With a car this expensive the manual should be at least ten times better IMHO.
I have to agree with GTR-TT. The manual and build CD that I got (in June 2002) was not up to the quality level that I would have expected having paid for £35k+ in kit car parts.
In defence of the build CD. The photos are excellent and do point out pretty much all of the operations needed to build the car. Unfortunately I find that I only realise the full significance of what is in some build photos long after I have completed that stage. If the photos had even a sentence or two underneath to annotate the important things to look for I would have made far fewer mistakes (and judging by peoples build diaries so would many others).
CJ's and all the other build websites and this forum do go a long way, I feel, to improving the quality of Ultima build possible.
At the end of the day though it is up to every buyer to ask the right questions. Visit the factory and ask to have a look at the manual. Ask yourself if it is sufficient for you? (or in other words this is just my opinion and I might be a particularly stupid idiot)
In defence of the build CD. The photos are excellent and do point out pretty much all of the operations needed to build the car. Unfortunately I find that I only realise the full significance of what is in some build photos long after I have completed that stage. If the photos had even a sentence or two underneath to annotate the important things to look for I would have made far fewer mistakes (and judging by peoples build diaries so would many others).
CJ's and all the other build websites and this forum do go a long way, I feel, to improving the quality of Ultima build possible.
At the end of the day though it is up to every buyer to ask the right questions. Visit the factory and ask to have a look at the manual. Ask yourself if it is sufficient for you? (or in other words this is just my opinion and I might be a particularly stupid idiot)
As others have said, the build manual (hard copy) is a bit rudimentary. The build CD goes some way to help, but with a combination of Can-Am and GTR pictures, bother right and left hand drive - it can also be confusing!
That was one of the reasons I made the build site. Everything you need to know in order to build a car is there and if it isn't, there's plenty more advice from other builders here
Good luck!
That was one of the reasons I made the build site. Everything you need to know in order to build a car is there and if it isn't, there's plenty more advice from other builders here
Good luck!
Stig said:
That was one of the reasons I made the build site. Everything you need to know in order to build a car is there and if it isn't, there's plenty more advice from other builders here
I'd like to take a moment to thank CJ for all of the work that went into creating the build site. The pictures and commentary do a near perfect job of detailing the build, nearly down to every last rivet, nut, and bolt. Well done, and thanks again!
msv said:
That was one of the reasons I made the build site. Everything you need to know in order to build a car is there and if it isn't, there's plenty more advice from other builders here
I'd like to take a moment to thank CJ for all of the work that went into creating the build site. The pictures and commentary do a near perfect job of detailing the build, nearly down to every last rivet, nut, and bolt. Well done, and thanks again!
A pleasure msv! And remember, if there's anything I missed or you'd like more info on, just drop me a line and I'll include it
Whilst trying to decide whether to buy a fully built or component Ultima I decided it would be a useful excercise to take the build CD and combine the information from CJ's and others build sites to form a new CD, before I started with my own build. If someone was willing to take this sort of task on board it would grow to be the most concise build manual available.
I suspect the factory would be more than happy to endorse this as they don't earn anything from phone calls.
I suspect the factory would be more than happy to endorse this as they don't earn anything from phone calls.
jamieheasman said:
Whilst trying to decide whether to buy a fully built or component Ultima I decided it would be a useful excercise to take the build CD and combine the information from CJ's and others build sites to form a new CD, before I started with my own build. If someone was willing to take this sort of task on board it would grow to be the most concise build manual available.
I suspect the factory would be more than happy to endorse this as they don't earn anything from phone calls.
Jamie - you're in for a shock if you think it's that simple!
There are concerns from the factory that competitors will use the information for their own gain, so are fairly garded of the intricacies of the design/build (rightly so).
I considered (and still do) expanding the build site, embellishing the harder bits with video etc. In fact, I even offered to make a build video!! (I'm a producer by profession) but for various reasons, this didn't happen.
Unless I can get Granada Men & Motors or another satellite channel to commission it, as well as finding someone to fund it, it ain't gonna happen
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