Thinking of joining the Ultima community

[pje1210]

Hi Ultima Owners,

So ive been out of a weekend toy for too long and the garage is getting filled with baby stuff and old furniture, this is something that haunts my dreams at night and needs to be remedied urgently.

Ive had a number of cars over the years and am well aware of what I would be getting into with an ultima, and just for clarity im looking at GTR's.

Im pretty knowledgeable when it comes to the main stream marques, but will admit my knowledge runs short when talking about Ultimas and chevy engines, hence why im here requesting your wisdom.

To my understanding you can have an LS engine or an american speed engine, not sure what the big differences are so some help here would be good, also I understand that as these are kit cars and not one will be the same, the options will vary drastically so can you kindly assist with what I should be looking for and essentials, and what can be added.

I have seen these cars on the road but haven't really paid much attention, I really need to see one up close and have a sit and ride in one to really see what they are all about, if there is anyone on here that is around the hertfordshire/essex area I would be very grateful to come and meet you with an offer of a coffee and maybe cake so I can see what the ultima experience is really all about.

Thanks in advance

[pje1210]

Hi Matthew,

Thanks for the reply and the offer of meeting, I would be happy to come to you, If the weather holds out may be next weekend unless your busy?, PM to discuss.

Edited by pje1210 on Sunday 9th July 17:18

Edited by pje1210 on Sunday 9th July 17:19

[pje1210]

renmure said:

Hi Peter,

I am in Scotland which is a long way to come to see one.... but if you bring cake then I guess I could stay in for the day

I'm not too techie or mechanically minded so will leave it to others to get into the nitty gritty of the various options or things to consider. When I was buying my priority was for something that would (hopefully) not need me to spend too much time in the garage faffing around with oily bits so I specifically looked for one with a more modern LS engine rather than the older short block engine on the basis that it was less likely to need me to know much about engines. Other than that, I was fairly open minded. In reality your budget will have a big influence on the spec you will likely be looking at.

I have a thread running in the Readers Wives.. err... Readers Cars section on my GTR which shows that you can start with one standard of spec and end up somewhere else.

There have been a few similar posts fairly recently or ones asking about various cars in the classifieds and a lot of good info has come through in these so have a search back over the past few months.

There is also a fairly active Ultima Owners group on Facebook and you might get more input there from folk not on PH.

HI Jim,

Thank for your input, unfortunately Scotland is a little far, but glad my offer of cake got you to consider an offer...
I kind of figured that if the car hasn't got everything wanted it could be added, things like stereo, spoiler, splitter etc etc
The engines really where i need to explore further, I understand the newer LS engines are fuel injected and would be more reliable as you say, is there a difference between the short block engines and the american speed engine, or are they the same engine?
Whilst im ok with a spanner I dont think I would want to be guessing if the car would start every time I wanted to drive it
ve had a look over the previous posts on here as suggested, ill check your thread on reader wives....oh sorry readers cars when I get a chance..Haha
Thanks again

Edited by pje1210 on Tuesday 11th July 20:25

[pje1210]

Hi All,

Thank you for your time and advise, all very helpful, I've been to see two examples now and was absolutely gutted when I lost out on the second one recently.
The search continues and all advise/information is welcomed.
Thanks again all.