Ultima GTR Maintenance

[builder]

Howdy All,

Well, my life is complete. I have found the car (Ultima GTR) I want to build and drive! And now I have found the on-line car club of people that have done this. Congratulations!

All I have to do now is figure out how to make the time and $£$£$ to make this happen!

Over here in the USA, one of my concerns is maintenance -- not the engine (I can buy GM parts at cost plus 15%), but the body and chassis. Please share your thoughts regarding the extra factory parts a guy should order to keep his GTR running. What other components would be good to have (that might not be handy in the States)? What parts am I likely to destroy in the build process; is there something just about everyone screws up? What about the finish? I think of boats when I think of GelCoat.

Thanks, and I look forward to becoming another satisfied GTR driver and fellow PistonHead contributor!

-- Scott
Reno, Nevada
www.ihp.com

[steve_D]

Welcome Scott

There is very little you will need that is not available Stateside.
Some people seem to get through swing arm bushes but this is probably a combination of engine power and driving style. Relatively cheap and dead easy to replace.
Brake pads should be available but the US guys will jump in if I’m wrong.
Can’t think of anything else just now.

Gelcoat becomes a problem if it is not maintained (or left in seawater). Plenty of polish should see it right. Red, as with paint, will more likely oxidise that other colours.

If I have learnt anything on this build it would be to ask more questions. Feel free to ask all you like. We also offer an out off hours service.

Steve

[bigmack]

Howdy Scott,
I thought only us Texas boys said that?
I guess we're the only ones who say "Howdy Ya'll" though?
I built an Ultima Sports several years ago..ughm..and still tinkering with it today. Your in Arizona and don't have to deal with moisture and salinity in the air like I do, but I still think it is wise to paint or powder coat any bare metal on these cars that isn't coated. The chassis is powder coated already, and you can touch up scratches, scrapes, and even rivet holes that shouldn't belong with body putty, primer, and black chassis touchup paint if needed. If you like the look of the aluminum panels, then you can spray a clear finish to them to keep them shiny. www.eastwoodcompany.com has some stuff called Nyalic. I didn't have a lot of success with that, and have decided just to paint the panels silver under the radiator and steering rack . I'm in the process of painting the master cylinders a gold CAD color and have painted the steering rack a wicked looking bright red candy color with gold CAD clamps. I'll probably go ahead and paint the uprights and hub flanges also.
Maintenance wise, the only things to consider aside from oxidation and rust, is the suspension bushings and ball joint boots. The factory used to not sell just the boots, but you can find universal replacement boots at your local Autozone, Pep Boys, or Orielly's. The suspension bushings are good for about 10,000 miles I've been told, but I would order the Nylatron rather than the polyuerathane. The GKN driveshaft boots will rip unless you push the rubber part of the boot into the housing. I've ziptied mine in place. The only other bit of advice is to find as many photos on the web as you can. There are some really nice looking builds out there. Good luck with it.
Cheers!
-Mack

[builder]

steve_D said:

There is very little you will need that is not available Stateside. ... If I have learnt anything on this build it would be to ask more questions. Feel free to ask all you like. We also offer an out off hours service.

Thanks, Steve. That's good to know. And, you can bet I will have lots of questions when it comes to getting started. I have a fair bit of groundwork to do before then...

Steve, do you work for Ultima? Your post says, " 'We' also offer an out off hours service."

-- Scott

[builder]

bigmack said:

I thought only us Texas boys said that? I guess we're the only ones who say "Howdy Ya'll" though? I built an Ultima Sports several years ago..ughm..and still tinkering with it today.

Mack, y'all ain't th'only ones! Besides, I figure our British Ultima brethren might get a kick out of some "Yank" slang.

What an awesome ride (the Sport)! That's my kind of tinkering. Arizona isn't too far. I am in Reno. We don't have the moisture or sea air of TX, but we have a different salinity to guard against -- salt from the roads (to disolve snow/ice). Good advise -- everything not aluminum will get a coat of something. It sounds like you are putting some very nice touches on the components. Please send any pix to me -- [e-mail].

It doesn't appear maintenance is much of an obstacle. Many pictures of GTRs have replace my usual collection of screen savers. It's my new motivation!

Thanks for the replies, gents. Perhaps we'll have a "US Ultima Owners" get-together some day.

-- Scott

[steve_D]

builder said:

.....Steve, do you work for Ultima? Your post says, " 'We' also offer an out off hours service." -- Scott

When I say 'We' I meant the forum.
No, I don't work for Ultima but your not the first to suggest it. Have to say I would quite like the idea.
Steve

[bigmack]

Hi Scott,
I'll take a few photos for you and send them over to you. Sorry, for some reason I thought you said you were from Arizona. My bad. I've been to Reno once. Nice town. My last memory of that area was staying in Lake Tahoe at Ceaser's and getting food poisening from some Irish/Mexican food restaraunt. Could have been all that green beer on Saint Patty's day though. Ah...the old days...
It would be great to get the US owners all together for a trip of some kind.
Cheers!
-Mack

[builder]

steve_D said:

When I say 'We' I meant the forum. No, I don't work for Ultima but your not the first to suggest it. Have to say I would quite like the idea. Steve

That makes two of us!

[builder]

bigmack said:

Hi Scott, I'll take a few photos... Sorry, for some reason I thought you said you were from Arizona. My bad. I've been to Reno once. Nice town. My last memory of that area was staying in Lake Tahoe at Ceaser's and getting food poisening from some Irish/Mexican food restaraunt. Could have been all that green beer on Saint Patty's day though. Ah...the old days... It would be great to get the US owners all together...

Great! I will drool over them like they were pix of some goddess.

Well, you know us Reno-ites. You can call us anything; just don't call us late to the black-jack table!

Oooh, that's too bad about the food poisening. At least you picked a great place to (Have always wanted to use a vomiting Smiley!)

The western region of our current car club has had a summer event in Reno for 5 years. I helped out with the organization, cooking at the bar-b-que, and navigation of the troops. There are three suitable times of year; father's day, same weekend as the Virginia City Hill Climb; Hot Autust Nights (Reno), an event that draws about 20,000 vintage hot rods and clasics 700,000 people; and Cool September Eves, which is Tahoe's version of the same. If you are looking for an excuse to beer (green, or otherwise), perhaps it could be arranged! I am not sure how to pole the fleet, though.

-- Scott

[bigmack]

I've seen some highlights of the August nights event on Speedchannel. Looks like a great time! I'll bet GTR owner Jeff Schwartz is up for something like that also.
Cheers!
-Mack

[builder]

"HAN" is quite an event. Do you want to forward this thread to Jeff Schwartz? Do you suppose Ted or Richard (Ultima) would send an email to all US-based Ultima builders? I wouldn't mind engineering the event, if there was interest.

I KNOW the Ultima cars would be a HUGE draw for the car-loving attendees...

[Stig]

Welcome Scott,

As others have said, this is a great place for help, advice and inspiration.

Just watch your wallet though

[builder]

Stig said:

Welcome Scott, As others have said, this is a great place for help, advice and inspiration. Just watch your wallet though

Thanks, Stig. I hear'ya! It would be very easy for me to mortgage the house in exchange for speed...with a little extra saved for the speeding tickets!

Where'abouts are you?

-- Scott

[Crazy of Cookham]

Good luck with your build across the pond Scott.

Interested your note your comments on US builders getting together. Do you have an independent Forum in US for Ultima builders. I note many post on this which makes it very interesting. How many US Ultimas now exist. It would be great to see a poll of where everyone is.

Brian

[builder]

Crazy of Cookham said:

Good luck with your build across the pond Scott. Interested your note your comments on US builders getting together. Do you have an independent Forum in US for Ultima builders. I note many post on this which makes it very interesting. How many US Ultimas now exist. It would be great to see a poll of where everyone is. Brian

Brian, I hear numbers of 75 in the USA. But, I don't know how to reach them to let them know of an event -- like Hot August Nights (HAN). There is a "USA" section on this forum, but not much going on in there.

Of course, it would be great to have an event here. Nevada is a good place to go fast. There are lots of long, straight, flat highways here. I regularly don't go 150 mph all the time. And HAN is the perfect venue to show off the beautiful GTR creations.

Do you think someone at Ultima would email all US Ultima owners with an electronic SPAM about a get-together?

[k wright]

The factory reported 50-60 Ultimas in the USA a month ago to me.

Ken

[shithotfast]

Hi guys.... only thing i would add is I noted the comments :

The suspension bushings are good for about 10,000 miles I've been told, but I would order the Nylatron rather than the polyuerathane......

I have found that these last around 500 miles! The main problem ones are the rear inside which go oval very quickly! Nylatron are much better, but still only 1,500 miles ish. Fronts are fine, but watch for play on those rears!

[bigmack]

Sounds like rose joints with dust boots are a good idea? Not exactly a cheap solution though.
Cheers!
-Mack