Some one to build my car?
Discussion
Hi all, been following for a VERY long time. Question: if you can not build yourself, who would you recommend for a build project? Talking top end LS7, g50 box with top end parts and may be custom gears, road car registration but with all the track parts & performance. Any advice on establishing / initiating a build project / contract with a professional builder much appreciated? Would you have the car built by one outfit and the engine / gear box by a separate specialist or have all in house (and for this I don't mean American speed?) Your views much appreciated among owners of Ultimas.
Jim
Jim
Thanks Paul,
That's the list I have penciled in for planning, all respected builders
. My Caterham was rebuilt by Ministers in Kent, who did a brilliant job, they are very successful engine builders for formula Ford and Caterham and a like but was interested in relying on an established UK LS7 engine builder for that part of the build.
That's the list I have penciled in for planning, all respected builders
. My Caterham was rebuilt by Ministers in Kent, who did a brilliant job, they are very successful engine builders for formula Ford and Caterham and a like but was interested in relying on an established UK LS7 engine builder for that part of the build.ult jim; If you want a very very competant LS engine builder I will suggest Nils Castillo in Westlake Ca USA. Yes you will need to import it once the motors done. But I would venture to say that the lower cost for LS stuuf in the U.S. will more than make up for those fees. He has already built LS motors for one of the race teams in France and that was their input to him. Send me a E mail if you want an E mail for Nils. Lee
Ult-Jim said:
Hi all, been following for a VERY long time. Question: if you can not build yourself, who would you recommend for a build project? Talking top end LS7, g50 box with top end parts and may be custom gears, road car registration but with all the track parts & performance. Any advice on establishing / initiating a build project / contract with a professional builder much appreciated? Would you have the car built by one outfit and the engine / gear box by a separate specialist or have all in house (and for this I don't mean American speed?) Your views much appreciated among owners of Ultimas.
Jim
GTRCLIVE seems to have spare time on his hands.....Jim
My car was built by Steve Smith and the 700bhp LS7 by Peter Knight.
Steve Smith is a superb builder, the quality of the engineering and finish is 1st class, he will also answer any questions you have.
The cars handling compared with a standard Ultima is far superior - and before anyone disputes this, I know as i also have a standard car.
Steve Smith is a superb builder, the quality of the engineering and finish is 1st class, he will also answer any questions you have.
The cars handling compared with a standard Ultima is far superior - and before anyone disputes this, I know as i also have a standard car.
Martin " the handling is far superior to the standard car....." Before I made that comment I might take a good hard look at my "standard" car. If you throw the parts provided by the factory at the project, with no thought for proper alignment,construction practices,proper options offered, tires, ect then yes your "standard" car might handle in a matter as reflected by the application above. I don't mean to be prickly about this but I thought your comment was a little....... fill in the blank. Lee
Mr Smith is the most honest and skilled Guy I know, so he gets my vote. Question is if you get another person to build the car for you, you may need to pass the latest Emissions as who builds the car now has a bearing on the IVA test now....
Before you search for a builder understand if you don't build the car there are some different things to Know about IVA....
Clive
Before you search for a builder understand if you don't build the car there are some different things to Know about IVA....
Clive
Thank you everyone for all your comments and contacts provided. You have given me some research to do. GTRclive thanks for highlighting the IVA. I am British although spend most of the year working in France, however would like the car to be British registered. My strategy was to focus on quality of build & components to have a suprior handling car with a balanced high spec engine and gearbox, using the proven factory build process for passing registration requirements. Still have a long way to go, including the factory scare ride, but want to do my homework before wasting any ones time. Travelling at the moment and for the next few days so replies may be delayed.
I will help in any way i can but as you state you want a track focused car Steve Smith is your man. If you plan to IVA the car please give some serious thought to gaining the IVA pass first before jumping into lots of add ons that may cause you problems.
Im having fun getting tuned Ls engines through IVA emissions so again i would run stock GM ecus and engines to make your life a lot easier.
Im having fun getting tuned Ls engines through IVA emissions so again i would run stock GM ecus and engines to make your life a lot easier.
ROWDYRENAULT said:
Martin " the handling is far superior to the standard car....." Before I made that comment I might take a good hard look at my "standard" car. If you throw the parts provided by the factory at the project, with no thought for proper alignment,construction practices,proper options offered, tires, ect then yes your "standard" car might handle in a matter as reflected by the application above. I don't mean to be prickly about this but I thought your comment was a little....... fill in the blank. Lee
Ive have to agree with Martin as I know both of Martins cars and they are both set up very very well..His grey car is Kumo shod, the black one Toyo.The Black SS car Martin is talking about does handle alot better than the non SS car he has ( and that standard one of his is better than mine too)... its partly because of different geometry to the standard cars, far superior shocks, but the main difference is the much wide section front tyres, and the fact he has full aero,ground effect, diffuser,flat floor etc etc and the car is only 75mm off the ground, where as ours are 110mm..
Being in the passenger seat you can see the noticeable difference and he has complete confidence in the front end.. The car hardly rolls on corners(and yes anti roll bar is disconnected) yet soaks up the bumps in the roads..Very nice
|Dom
Power is nothing without control. Have learnt alot about that and have been very particular about it since owning a Caterham R500 with adjustable shocks, ride height, tyre tracking and anti roll bars. A few years back I was lucky to have a good look over a CanAm with triple adjustable shocks.which was suprising to see at the time. Along with IVA requirements, good car suspension set up, quality build process, I also see the choice of gear box requiring some thought and may be some compromise which has been discussed plenty on here in the past.
Yes
Autobionics gets my vote. See http://www.autobionics.co.uk/. They built my GTR to a very high spec and build quality for the track. Settings were far, far better straight out the box than my finely honed track specced Ariel Atom 300 (well you have to start somewhere don't you ;-)). The attention to detail was amazing and they have an excellent working relationship with Gail at AS, and Rich/Ted at Ultima. Plus they think outside the box, if you know what I mean ...
Also Ultima themselves do a very good job from my many visits to the factory and looking over the odd one or two builds they do - and are reasonably priced. However you do pay VAT for the build and not with Autobionics for the labour.
Now changing the engine over to a AS Supercharged LS7, but that's a different thread ...
Tim
Autobionics gets my vote. See http://www.autobionics.co.uk/. They built my GTR to a very high spec and build quality for the track. Settings were far, far better straight out the box than my finely honed track specced Ariel Atom 300 (well you have to start somewhere don't you ;-)). The attention to detail was amazing and they have an excellent working relationship with Gail at AS, and Rich/Ted at Ultima. Plus they think outside the box, if you know what I mean ...
Also Ultima themselves do a very good job from my many visits to the factory and looking over the odd one or two builds they do - and are reasonably priced. However you do pay VAT for the build and not with Autobionics for the labour.
Now changing the engine over to a AS Supercharged LS7, but that's a different thread ...
Tim
Edited by TimLees on Saturday 2nd April 09:03
Edited by TimLees on Saturday 2nd April 09:03
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