Ultima Kit Car build

[THE ITALIAN]

Congrads Bob !
I have been talking with Ted and since I have a "thing" for the Can Am, but love the full cage of the GTR, they said they would accommodate me if I so choose. Seems the soft top will fit IF they do the double roll cage on the CAN AM frame, but with the forward braces instead of your rearward braces that fit under the rear clam. Kinda cool custom for me. They actually took measurements and let me know, nice guys. I figure I can get the stiffer frame this way with the CAN AM body. It's sunny Calif thingy- No rain, no snow and I can jump out if there's an earthquake! or jump in depending on the circumstances.
Oh, get a MAC, it's easier.

Mike

[Rscocca]

First day of actual work.
Got the body off with some help from friends.



Got 2 of the interior panels set up for riveting.

[svanlare]

Very nice looking, I'll be looking forward to the updates!

[Rscocca]

Here is a pic that should bring back a twitch in some.
rivots.jpg
Been a little busy,
I got the interior panels riveted in place and sealed to the chassis.

inside.jpgpass side.jpg

Next step is to flip the chassis to rivet in the floor pans.

[Rscocca]

Flipped the chassis upside down on Friday to rivet all the bottom panels in place.

upside down.jpg

Laid out the panels starting from the front edge, put all my little Indians in a row,

rivet panel.jpg

then knocked them down.

bottom done.jpg

There are a lot of rivets.
All total about 7-8 hours into the project already

[Rscocca]

Next I coated the bottom with Armortec bed liner to protect from stones and help a little with noise.
coated bottom.jpg
Felt like a shame to cover up all the rivet lines since they cam out so nice.

Next is to flip it back over and start with steering system.

[Rscocca]

Flipped chassis back over yesterday and continued riveting.
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Installed rack and Pedal assembly.

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Today front suspension, steering system.

[Rscocca]

got the front suspension mocked up,
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[Rscocca]

then moved on to the rear suspension

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[Rscocca]

then the front brakes , these rotors are HUGE

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[Rscocca]

Got a lot done in the last few days,
installed front brakes, These things are huge,

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Installed rear brakes and parking brakes, Special note-- make sure the large hole is facing up on the parking brake bracket.

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Laid out the wiring harness,

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[THE ITALIAN]

Bob
You said that you had (assuming) Cal motorsports tricked you transmission , which box did you choose ? I remember something about a G50.
and what did you do to it?
Reason why you did not go G96/50 ??
Thanks
Mike

[Rscocca]

Went with G50/52 after a small problem with G50/02 box that was orignally sent by Ultima,(They did the right thing in refunding cost).

California Motorsports had a G50/52 box that had just come in and was available.
Upgrades included new stronger side covers, provisions for oil cooler and spray bar, LSD, conversion to cable shift.

All the adapters for the LS7 sent with the car would not work with the G96/50. I'm sure they do make them.

[Rscocca]

Look what showed up the other day.





Mock up of AC



Riveted Brake, clutch lines,

[Rscocca]

Front suspension finished and aligned,



Rear suspension done and aligned,


Radiator installed

[Rscocca]

Coolant pipe mocked up

[David Hodgkins]

Wow, those are SERIOUS brakes! I don't think I've ever seen dual calipers before...

NICE PICS...

[OCCPete]

You're really flying on the build - looking good!

Wow, those are SERIOUS brakes! I don't think I've ever seen dual calipers before...

NICE PICS...

The second caliper is the emergency brake.

[THE ITALIAN]

You're really flying on the build - looking good!
Yes he is hauling a$$


The second caliper is the emergency brake.

It is a Brembo E brake
It looks to me like an incredible build, gonna be very fast and reliable.

Reply to below;

Yes, I would not try at 230MPH either, but you gotta love that 0 to 60 and that blistering 0 to 100
I've been watching several videos and even though the car has a not so great weight distribution sitting still, it makes that all up in the design when downforce is applied at speed- it is a true can am car and that is why it is so dam fast around corners, more like a Hoover Vac.
So even though a car can have a 50/50 distribution, that all changes when pushing through the wind, you are also buying a lot of R&D with the Ultima-this also explains the smooth ride other race cars don't share.
This also explains why McLaren used the Ultima's as a model for their cars, but they don't talk about that

[Rscocca]

It is a Brembo E brake
It looks to me like an incredible build, gonna be very fast and reliable.

Correct Brembo Parking brake.
I have always built a little over kill into a car for reliability. As far as how fast ????? who knows, gearing puts it at 230 but I don't have the stones or long enough straight road to try.

[Rscocca]

Its been awhile since the last up date so here we go.
Finished full alignment then installed rims and tire,
Rears are to say the least HUGE.



Fronts are by no means small either,




Got the chassis a little lower to the ground to install the side luggage pods.

[Rscocca]

pass side pod installed



LS7 crate motor was opened up,
Installed stage three LG cam,
Fast 102 intake,
Nick Williams 102 DBW throttle.
Coil relocation kit.
G50/50 Trans axle installed with many upgrades done by California Motor Sports.
Front pulley system installed.
ARE stage 2 oil pan,
Katech high scavage/pressure pump

[Rscocca]

Well its been a long while since an update. Here we go folks,

diet the wire a little and move things around, ( I think they gave me a Right drive harness) all the plugs ended up on the wrong side of the car.

mounted both side pods.



Installed fire bottle in drivers side pod

[Rscocca]

Mounted up and plumbed the fuel system


As some may have noticed I went the route of using the Fuel Safe cells, I plumbed them to act a one tank instead of two separate ones.


Mounted oil cooler in drivers side pod above tank.

[Rscocca]

Mounted ac Condenser on the pass side pod above fuel tank, This is held in place with one rivet, Yes 1 rivet. Factory says they have never had a problem.


Next was to install RaceLogic traction control, everyone I spoke to about this cars stated they are a handful on Accell. Figured it cant hurt.


With al this done it was now time to slam this thing to the ground, You know what I mean, this car is loooow.
My butt sits and inch and a half below this lower edge.

[Rscocca]

Next job the factory says is a four man job. well the redneck in me says different.

[IMG][/IMG]

Body resting nicely in frame waiting for finish of interior and wiring.
[IMG][/IMG]
That's all for now, time for a beer or two.

[Olli]

Looking good. I'm sure that I will see it one day.

Olli

[THE ITALIAN]

Thanks for the updates…
The T/C sensor is on the front , not the drive wheels ??

[Rscocca]

Thanks for the updates…
The T/C sensor is on the front , not the drive wheels ??

The sensors are on all four wheels, as long as both fronts are the same count side to side and both rears are the same count side to side. you can run different sensor rings.
Rear sensors will count from two rings mounted to the transaxle.

[Rscocca]

Hello everyone, its been a very productive summer so far.
I got the gauges all from Intellitronics, Digital blue lights.
Excuse the wire mess. all neaten up as of today.



Wired in the switch panels.



And steering wheel all wired up, Its a quick disconnect with wires running down center of column.

[Rscocca]

All the interior stuff was done with the center section on rolling chassis dollies.

Had to find a convenient way to hide three sat antenna (Radio, Navigation and Speedo)
Luckily Ford aftermarket came to the rescue.
For the mustangs they have this.



I removed the antenna from there original plastic bases and mounted them inside this cover.

I then set about mounting the body for the last time, not too bad only had it off tree times.
Finished the firewall with al the extra stuff, Oil tank, Expansion tank, swirl tank for coolant, ac evaporator.



very close to dropping engine in, just need to neaten up a few things that will not be easily gotten to once engine is in..

Ran gas thru then entire system for about an hour to get all the little bad things trapped in the filters.
Not real happy with the primer pump (noisy).

[longislandwrx]

fantastic build, hope to see it in person soon.

[Rscocca]

Some engine porn to wet the whistle.

[THE ITALIAN]

All that C F is really nice ! Never thought white would be a good color, but if there was an oil leak or to tighten/check header bolts, that's the program

[onelastproject]

Great progress and quality of build so far congrats on that. Where in the world did that intake box come from, that is realy nice not seen it before.

I've been wanting to build an Ultima for somewhere near 13 years now and this summer I may start but been eyeing the SL-C as well, somehow part of me likes the Ultima better. Many folks are not a fan of the front end, but I did see this guys front end and the head change altered the character of the car, look more contemporary, not sure if you saw it, I linked the build below.

[David Hodgkins]

That motor is SICK!!

Wow.

[Rscocca]

Thanks Dave thought you would appreciate the art of technology I was going for.
Mike covers and scoop both have 4 bolts holding everything in place.
One last project--ill send you link once I get home to maker of snorkel, on the road right now.

[Rscocca]

All that C F is really nice ! Never thought white would be a good color, but if there was an oil leak or to tighten/check header bolts, that's the program

The white is White Lightning from Swain Coatings, It lowers under hood temps significantly.
I used it on the Roadster and you can grab side pipes with in three minutes of turning off car.

I'm going to Gold foil the lower half of the air box as well to control air temps.

[onelastproject]

GM crate motor or from American speed, Is that Ultima factory exhaust?

Wiring, are you using the Chevrolet Performance LS7 Engine Controller Kit for wiring and sensors or something else?

[Rscocca]

GM crate motor or from American speed, Is that Ultima factory exhaust?

Wiring, are you using the Chevrolet Performance LS7 Engine Controller Kit for wiring and sensors or something else?

GM Crate LS7 and controller kit ecu and throttle pedal, wiring harness from American speed (longer length), GM's harness was way too short, based on front engine car.
Factory Exhaust with Swane white lightning coating. Much thicker then most coatings and really keeps the temps down under hood. I used it on my cobra.

I reversed intake used fast 102 intake with Nick Williams 102dbw tb.