Progress up to June 2018
Since the chassis arrived in the beginning of May, I have spent almost 150 hours working on the Ultima. It has been a great experience so far, reminding me of building a big Lego Technic model. Ultima send all the little extra’s needed for the build with every stage and component you attach and label every plastic packet accordingly. Sometimes the build manual is not 100% clear on the instructions, but the pictures in the build manual as well as build diaries from other builders help to clear up any confusion.
My advice to any other builders are to read the instructions many times over for every stage as well as check pictures from different builders, but also be careful to check the differences between the older GTR builds and the new Evolution builds. Even the Ultima build CD contain many pictures of older cars which could be confusing. One of the examples are the radiator fans. Most pictures on build sites as well as the build manual talks about the radiator fans being fitted on the top of the radiator, but I noticed on Huzi’s Evolution build that he fitted the radiator fans on the bottom of the radiator. I had to connect the fans to a battery first to identify the airflow direction before I was convinced which side the fans should be fitted. The new builds need the fans fitted on the underside (front) of the radiator.
In one month, I managed to accomplish the following:
- Modify, shape, drill and fit most of the aluminium panels
- Skin the interior, front bulkhead and battery panels with real Carbon Fibre
- Fit the wishbones, uprights, brake callipers and rotors
- Fit the steering rack, column and steering wheel
- Fit the radiator and radiator pipes
- Fit the brake and clutch lines
- Fit the wiring harness
- Shape and pre-fit the side pods
- Fit the engine side bulkhead panel
- Fit the gear selector, handbrake and associated cables