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Photos of my 20v 4AGE finished install
sgraber - 26/8/08 at 09:07 PM

I am very pleased at how the engine bay turned out.















CRAIGR - 26/8/08 at 09:08 PM

Looks stunning !!!!


tootall - 26/8/08 at 09:12 PM

great engine and sounds amazing with open bell mouths. i put one in a mk1 mr2 last year couldnt belive how well a 1.6 can go in standard trim.


COREdevelopments - 26/8/08 at 09:13 PM

wow, that looks one tasty car, really smooth looking and a bloody good engine to finish it off!! love the colour btw.


Rob


les g - 26/8/08 at 09:56 PM

i would be more than pleased i nearly wet meself !!!! oh dear i think i might have
les g


sgraber - 26/8/08 at 10:03 PM

So I'll take it you approve? It is a very nice engine and very easy to clean up and make look pretty. But the kicker is that the performance of these little 1.6L screamers is outstanding, so the car should be very happy revving (and me too).

Just to cover my bases - the Stock airbox does fit over those ram tubes, but for the photos I decided it would be more fun to show them. Kinda like showing the knickers if you know what I mean.


001Ben - 26/8/08 at 10:18 PM

that looks so sweet....


skydivepaul - 27/8/08 at 02:20 AM

pure automotive porn. I like it.


bimbleuk - 27/8/08 at 05:22 AM

Again stunning car and great choice of engines.

I'm re-building my Silvertop this week with a few improvements after a year running with a Rotrex SC.


Kriss - 27/8/08 at 09:45 AM

wow wow wow looks stunning

great build there, what car is it though?


nick205 - 27/8/08 at 09:56 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Kriss
wow wow wow looks stunning

great build there, what car is it though?



That's Steve's very own scratch designed and built La Bala - check the web for graber cars


Steve - I too need clean shorts, stunning execution as always


Paul TigerB6 - 27/8/08 at 10:13 AM

quote:
Originally posted by nick205

That's Steve's very own scratch designed and built La Bala - check the web for graber cars


Steve - I too need clean shorts, stunning execution as always


I agree - pass the tissues. Now when will you be exporting to the UK??

Steve's website is listed in the autosignature under his pics.

graber cars

[Edited on 27/8/08 by Paul TigerB6]


sgraber - 27/8/08 at 02:53 PM

Thanks gentlemen!

I have 4 builds going in the USA (from my Plans mind you), so they are going at about the same pace as a locost build would from the book. It's the same premise as the locost; Buy the bodywork and the detailed plans with my parts list and BOM included. Then buy your materials locally and source your donor parts, buy the new parts required, then build the car and Drive it! La Bala is easily converted from LHD to RHD. The chassis is a mirror down the centerline so the steering swaps right over using your version of the MR2. I don't think there are any donor parts that you can't purchase in the UK. Bespoke parts will need shipping from USA but the exchange rate is still so silly... I also get great prices on steel and now offer pre-cut steel tube packs (non-mitered ends) the prices which I can quote via email. I am willing to ship the steel in the same crate with the bodywork so you can get everything in one crate. I have not shipped anything to Europe or UK yet so those types of issues need to be researched.

Here in the USA the cost of the build is coming out to be in the $13K - $15K range for the DIY builder. You can see where that translates in UKP.

I have seen very little interest coming from the UK for La Bala and I've not been active in promoting La Bala in the UK. However if there is a company in the UK that would be interested in building, or 'repping the La Bala or discussing licensing I would be open to that. If you just want to build one we can discuss that too!

(waiting for my account to be revoked now)


nick205 - 27/8/08 at 04:33 PM

If I were to build again that would seriously tempt me Steve. Might be costly to reliably transport the GRP parts though.


sgraber - 27/8/08 at 09:47 PM

quote:
Originally posted by nick205
If I were to build again that would seriously tempt me Steve. Might be costly to reliably transport the GRP parts though.


Freight cost as a discrete number appears expensive, but when you realize that with the currency exchange rate sitting at 2:1 it's like a 50% off sale! Add the freight cost back in and it's very likely that you can get the product delivered to the UK for LESS than the equivalent cost to get the product delivered in the USA!


Alan B - 28/8/08 at 01:53 AM

Looks really good Steve......my only complaint (if you could call it that) is that I don't like black wheels..on any car...other than that...awesome.


sgraber - 28/8/08 at 03:42 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Alan B
Looks really good Steve......my only complaint (if you could call it that) is that I don't like black wheels..on any car...other than that...awesome.




I've wondered myself what the car would look like with a clean set of alloys like you've got on Tiki... Black is ok by me, but I will definitely go with a more standard look the next time. I've even debated machining or sanding the outer rim of my blackies to get a raw aluminum trim look...


cloudy - 29/8/08 at 10:26 PM

Beautiful!