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PAINT AND BODY WORK (NEW PICS NOW!!!)
INTERIOR WORK (NEW FINISHED PICTURES!!!)
VIEW THE FULL VIDEO OF MY LAMBO I'll try to give you a little insight on the building of my Countach kit car. It started in 1995 when a friend brought me a "Kit Car Ill." magazine. I had no idea that there were so many kits out there. All I had known about was the Cobra, some VW kits, T buckets, and some coupes. I really had my eyes opened up.
I spent the next two years searching for a company that did the most for the money, and had the most complete kit. And I felt wasn't going to rip me off. I chose Exotic Illusions out of Dickson City, Pa. They had everything I needed to build my Countach, and they have built quite a few turn keys so I knew it was a kit I could finish. Demetrios Koroneos, the owner, was very straight forward with me and the kit was what I had expected. Of course there is alot of final fitting but that is to be expected when you buy a kit in this stage. I have had several people contact me about the completeness of the kit and instructions. I received a very good video and diagrams. But no matter how good the instructions are you will always have questions. Demetrios was always there to answer my questions. He has the knowledge because he has assembled alot of cars. In fact the body itself, without any extra support, was strong enough to allow me to stand on the roof and fenders. Something I wouldn't try on any new car coming out of any of the major auto makers now a days.
The donor car I started with was a 1985 Fiero auto with a V6. Before I did any disassembling I installed a Chevy 350 throttle body injected V8 with the help of an adapter kit from V8 Archie. I purchased the basic kit and put together the rest of the engine swap kit myself. I did this so I could work out any mechanical problems first.
I built an un-stretched kit after seeing several of both stretched and un-stretched versions. I went with the latter because the overall body dimensions are the same, all that is changed is the positioning of the rear wheel well. It is moved forward approximately 5 inches. And seeing either of these cars coming down the street people are in awe no matter what.
As far as wheels and tires, I opted for Centerline wheels and BF Goodrich Euro TA. 15X9 front and 15X12 in the rear.
The car is in the paint shop as of July and should have the painting done within a couple months, I hope. I have to keep my body man's arm twisted. Then all that is left is interior and glass.
Well, I didn't twist his arm hard enough. I Have the car back as of December 11th, 1998. All the major body work is done and a heavy coat of red acrylic urethane primer is on. It will get two more coats of red primer and block sanded on each coat before the red base color and then clear coat.
I will finish the dash work and have the windshield installed, then the final paint work. Sometime in February. I'm sure I will need to stand over my painter from now on.
A little info about me:
I have gained most of my knowledge from being self taught. I grew up on a farm. You just naturally work on your own equipment on a farm. I do my own mechanical work. I built and raced a drag car for 8 years, plus helping friends with their cars. I still drive it regularly on the street. I have always done my own work. It is something that I am very proud of. I am very determined when it comes to figuring out a problem. It is something that drives my wife crazy. I don't give up until it is done. That is why I know this project will be finished.
Well here it is Aug. of 2003. I have built a log home, and three car garage. That took up three years. The painter had the car for 1 year. the car sit for another year and I worked on it off and on for a year. I blocked out the red primer, shot a triple coat of Dupont high build primer. Blocked it with 400 grit wet dry. Headed to the paint shop a good friend of mine works at. He sealed it, shot with black base coat, and put three coats of clear on it. I came back the next Monday and sanded it with 1200 grit then he buffed it all out. I was ready to head for home.
Aug 16th 2003, J and P upholstry ordered the leather should be here in 5 days. I have all the lights installed working on door buttons and trunk switches. It is looking more like a finished car. I am shooting for a car show Sept. 20th.
October 19, 2003 I have 198 miles on the car so far. The only problem so far is engine heating at highway speeds. I called V8 Archie, he said that is a problem with Fiero based Countach kits. The radiator is tilted back at the top and on his 25th kit he tilted the radiator forward and made openings at the back of the hood to relieve the pressure behind it. I don't want to remount the radiator yet so I have a few things to try first.
At 40mph and slower the car runs cool. If you get to 55 and 60 mph it starts to warm up. On a cool day in a 15 mile trip it only gets to 200. But, on a hot day it keeps creeping up until you slow down. I built air dams behind the spoiler to direct the air into the radiator better. I put a larger pulley on the crankshaft to speed the waterpump up at highway speeds when the engine is running slower. I also have a 2000cfm fan on it as of yesterday. It uses alot less amps than the old one and seems to move more air. I cut the legs off the old shroud and the new fan slipped right into it with no problem. If all that doesn't do it I'm going to reverse the air flow through the radiator. I have a feeling air is getting trapped between the radiator, front axle and the ground at highway speed thus not letting anything through. At slower speeds the fan could possibly be strong enough to push the air out, but at higher speeds it is over powered by the air pushing in behind the radiator.
It is 8 AM now, today is supposed to get to the 80's so it will be a good test day.
Oct. 31, 2003: Well that didn't work. But it does stay cool now. I cut a opening in the center of the front air dam just below the bumper. I called Demetrios of Exotic Illusions. He told me to cut the opening 3" tall and 19" long. That helped some but not enough. I had already made a extension to go below the radiator about 4". It is made of heavy rubber so as not to break if there is a high spot in the road. A lot of production cars have them. As I said before I had also made some air scoops to go behind the bumper on each side just behind the openings in the bumper and lower air dam. They direct the air toward the radiator and blocked the air from going past the radiator on each side, since the air will follow the path of least resistance. I think just blocking the air was a big benefit. I reinstalled those pieces. With the hole cut and the air scoops on, it was 75 degrees, and the car never got over 175 degrees. When the temperature reaches the 90 degree mark next summer it may still want to heat up. If that happens, I am installing an aluminum radiator that is about 4" taller. That was the last suggestion Demetrios made to me. The aluminum will transfer heat better. If the car stays below 205 degrees on the hot days, I will leave the 4 row brass-copper radiator in. We have about 300 miles on the car so far. It has been in the mid to upper 40's the last two times out and the car stayed at a constant 160 degrees. I should put a 180 to 195 degree thermostat in but I will wait until next spring. I know that too cool of a thermostat in hot weather can cause a car to heat up. The cooler thermostat sometimes will not close long enough to allow the water to cool down in the radiator before it circulates back to the engine. Then the engine will get hotter and hotter. I started with a 195 degree thermostat and worked my way down to a 160. The fuel injected engine will operate more efficiently in the 195 to 200 degree area. But, I was more concered about keeping it cool right now.
It is funny how many people don't know what a Countach is or looks like. So far it has been called a Viper, Corvette, Pantera, and a DeLorean. Several people ask what year it is. Usually then I will tell them it is a replica. And usually they say "oh, it's a kit". With the sound in their voice as if that is a bad thing. Funny how you never hear anyone say that about a fiberglass street rod. One thing I can show them, it is titled, model: Lamborghini, make: Countach. That is according to the State Department of Transportation. But, whatever. I enjoy making people smile. That, is the important thing. I built the car to drive and that is what I do.
Jan. 19th 2004: One of the main questions I get is, "How much did it cost you to build? I have about 1500 hours of labor into the car as of now. Out of pocket money is about $18,000. The bad thing about the answer to that question is, not every one can build it for the same money. Some people can save money by doing more of their own work. They could build the body from scratch and spend a fraction of what it cost me. But then you have to figure your time into it. But if money is tight and you have the time, then that would work out to your advantage. I can save some cost on parts because I work in the auto parts business. Some people are willing to spend more and buy a turn key. One thing about doing alot of the work yourself is, you know exactly what and how everything is done. When people find out it's not the real thing some will say, "You built it yourself!" They realize how much work had to go into it. Any one with the money could go out and buy something with the look of this car, but not everyone could build one.
November 2nd 2005 It has been a long time since I added to this page. This spring I changed the car from a automatic to a 5 speed and love it. I thought my wife might like driving the car some time so I left the auto in, but she didn't feel comfortable behind the wheel. After third gear started to slip in the auto I started searching for a Getreg transaxle. I found one on ebay with the shifter and talked the guy into selling me the clutch and brake pedal assembly instead of the flywheel. It came with shift cables, master and slave cylinder. When it arrived the crate had fallen apart so the aluminum slave bracket was broken and the piece was missing. So I frabricated a new steel one. I shortened up the shift lever and gave the shift cable bracket (also part of the slave bracket) a slight angle so the cable would line up better. I had to buy a different engine adapter and a flywheel from V8 Archie and the clutch straight from Centerforce. Everything is in and working great. The car is getting between 20 and 23 mpg and the motor doesn't work as hard at 65 mph.
I still have a few things I will change in the future. I have had it to a few shows. Got a trophy for most photogenic at the Mayor's Charity Car and Bike Show in Des Moines in spring of 2004. Got a 1st place trophy at the 2004 Labor Day Car Show at Holmes Oldsmobile in Des Moines. It benefits the Muscular Dystrophy Association. They raise quite a bit of money. I was in the 1970 to present sports car class. Had 7 Corvettes and a real Farrari in my class. I think the Corvette Club was a little upset. Had alot of the cheers from the crowd when I picked up my trophy. I think alot of the older street rodders that realized what it took to build the car voted for me. Not that I have any thing against corvettes, its just I over heard several people say they were tired of the corvette club getting first place.
Now I'm helping to get a local car club started. There has been small shows and a cruise we have been on. There are no trophys or classes or entry fee. We just get cars together at a local parking lot to show them off, give away some door prizes and have some fun for a couple hours. Then 2 weeks after that we have a cruise to another town close by. We are going to try it every month in 2006. One weekend a show then 2 weeks later a cruise then 2 weeks a show. We have had a lot of fun so far.
July 21,2006 Well the club named C.I.A. "Central Iowa Autos" has had serveral cars shows and three cruises so far this year. The shows are great but I would rather be on the cruises. It's fun when you show up unexpected some place with several nice cars. It attracts alot of attention. Just driving down the road in a group is great.
June 25, 2007 Finally met another Lambo kit builder in my area. Saturday night at Porky's resturant in Des Moines in pulled a beautiful Diablo kit. It was great meeting someone that knows what you go through in a build like this. The quality of his work was top notch. It was very impressive. I have added a link to his build. Switta's Build Diary It is a large diary with 30 pages of pictures.
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