Some news from the factory, SVA confirmed for 9th May, delivery shortly after so due back on the 18th. Can't wait!! :)
Fingernail nibbling day today - SVA! Having heard nothing by 5pm, I finally contacted the factory who confirmed that the Can-Am had sailed though :) - very, very happy bunny now and am hugely excited to get the car back which has been confirmed for the 18th - time for a little toast I reckon :)
So today is the day, the Can-Am is finally coming back to me....well, no, it's not :( The factory contacted me yesterday to say that it wasn't going to be ready. So when will it be ready? Well, the 25th is the new estimate - just have to wait and see. I just hope that the weather is poor between now and then!
The factory did send me some pictures of the, car. More news as it happens.
Finally - it's here!!! :) Despite pouring rain all week, amazingly a break in the weather bathed the UK in sunshine with almost clear blue skies - ideal for the delivery of the car. Prompt as always, Graham turned up with the now familiar trailer/Discovery combo and we set about getting the car off. First impressions of it with the windscreen and sidescreens were fantastic, it makes such a difference to the looks of the car. Now, I don't mind admitting that when the Can-Am was introduced, I wasn't a fan of the styling. In fact, I couldn't stand it! But, the original version only had the option of a fly screen with low side screens like the older Spyder, but with the full height versions of both, the car's looks are transformed. The rear deck smooths the side profile making it look even more squat an mean. For such massive road presence, the Ultima is actually pretty tiny compared to other supercars. In short - it looks awesome! :)
Still, pictures speak a thousand words so have a look for yourselves:
I didn't have a lot of time to spend playing with the car, but the weather was so good I would have been rude not to go out for a quick blast in it :) Hels had come down with Charlie, so it seemed appropriate to give her the inaugural ride. After some pre-flight checks - made easier with the reassurance of the canopy latch warning lights that show that the rear clip is locked down properly - we got strapped in an I fired her up. The .350ci engine that I've got in the Can-Am is a beauty for the road. My mantra with the Can-Am has been that you CAN have too much power in a road car. The Can-Am has 406hp and after driving it (and I don't hang about) I'm absolutely convinced that I made the right decision. It's just such a different animal to my old GTR. The GTR had you constantly dial watching, checking temps/pressures etc., it didn't like traffic, it was hard to hot start, it hated being driven slowly which, let's face it, is an unavoidable fact of life on British roads. The Can-Am on the other hand is an absolute gem. It's like a velvet lined boxing glove. One minute, you can pootle along in top (6th) at 1500rpm and the engine is a smooth as you like, then you drop it a couple of cogs, let loose the horses and BANG - you're gone! Well, bang(ish), I was going easy with the right foot as the engine is still being run in, but that didn't stop us from going into driving ban territory in just a few seconds :-o In short, I'm really happy with it, especially with the Getrag 6-speed. It was weird as I found myself reaching down with my right hand a couple of times out of habit in the GTR! :) Another unexpected bonus came in the form of the giggle inducing induction roar and carb venturi vacuum! The GTR sounded stupendous with the supercharger whine, but the Can-Am make a fantastic roar/slurp sound when you give it some beans - highly amusing!!! :) Stalks are a revelation, no more fumbling abuot for the toggle switch or rocker switches on the wheel, within easy reach of the wheel they are totally natural - and conventional - to operate. VERY pleased with them. Small touches like the handbrake warning light! are just great - it sounds daft, but it just makes the driving experience so much easier/convenient. I took her out a couple more times with my brother and best bud Martin in the passenger seat, both who've helped immensely during the build - thanks again buddies :) A more comprehensive road test will happen soon with some video so you can get an idea for yourselves, but for now, she was put away until the weekend where I could spend some time making some (ahem), post SVA changes ;)
Well, it felt very weird being back down the workshop to tinker on the car after so many weekends away from it! Still, coffee and stereo on, a quick sort out of the tools and I was good to go.
The objective today was to have a quick check around the car to see what the factory had done and to revert to my pre-SVA dash, which would have been marginal in terms of a pass at the test. First job was to move the aircon controls back onto the dash face where they are much easier to adjust. I was reminded on Thursday during my test drives what a pain it is having them under the dash (sorry factory), but it makes it alot easier to pass SVA that way. So the dial switches were removed from the mounting plate and put back in the dash.
Another little glitch I'd actually noticed when taking the car to the factory in the first place was that the heater solenoid seemed to have stopped working? You can usually hear it when you turn the ignition on as it gives a subtle 'clonk' when the solenoid operates (with no power feed it is open - ie. heater on), but this give-away noise was absent? Further investigation led me to believe the solenoid was stuck, so I stripped it out and checked it against a replacement that Martin had (well, he had it once we'd whipped it off a car that he's got in his workshop ;). However, further testing showed it to be fine? More fiddling and testing (whilst lying on my back with my head in the passenger footwell - not fun I can assure you) and I realised that the problem was actually that the terminal connectors on the solenoid were shorting out against each other - doh! I hade made these up with blade connectors, but as you push them onto the terminal spades they spread out and shorted at the ends. The OEM fitment has a connector on the loom that insulates between the terminals and fortunately, Martin had one lying about in his workshop, so a quick snip and solder and all was well again :)
With the aircon controls in place, I could use the mounting plate for its original purpose, which was to fit an air/fuel guage under the dash. I'd left this off for SVA to play safe. The guage takes a feed from an O2 sensor on the offside header which I'd run in previously. I wired it all up and whilst the backlighting seems to be working, the guage did not? I only did a quick test run of the engine and it takes a while for the O2 sensor to work properly as it's a single wire job (no pre-heat) so I decided to wait and see what it would do on a longer run.
With the work on the dials and knobs done, I could final fit the air vents. I'd left the ducting off the back of these for SVA. Now that they were connected and tested I can confirm that they work fantastically! You can get a full power blast of air direct from the blower to your face - should make for far better driving comfort in hot weather :)
Last job was to fit a replacement steering wheel with two working horn buttons. The original wheel had a knackered button and a replacement was not available :( eBay to the rescue where I picked up another wheel which turned out to be in better condition than the first one anyway! :)
Here's a few pics of the finished interior which I'm really pleased with. Lots of Ultima firsts here , some may not be to everyone's taste, but they make a lot more sense once you've lived with an Ultima for a while :)
I decided not to fit the head unit until it's been in for paint.
So that's it for today. I'm reluctant to drive the car as a) The weather is complete pants at the moment and b) I want to wait for it to be resprayed. The car has been inspected by the painter and he's going to do the whole body again! A bit of a pain, but it's the only was to be sure that the paint is perfect and anything less in this car, is not an option :)