Hey guys just wanted to tell you how my trip to Chuck Mallett’s shop in Ohio went.
First let me tell you that Chuck was a great guy. He was there to great me after my 2000 mile trek across the country from Arizona and spent a good 2 hours with me showing me the shop an talking cars before he took me to the airport. You can tell how exited he was to show me what he had been doing with the Kappa platforms, and what was in works.
So, let’s get to the meat. At the time of my arrival, Solstice #39 had just been started. I was the latest Sky and I got Mallett VIN #6. So, that is 45 KAPPA’s to date out of 100 that will be built in the limited run.
While I was there he also showed me one of the LS7 Sky’s that was in work. For any of you who saw the LS7 Solstice in this months “Hot Rod” mag, the Mallett guys contributed a great deal to it. There were about 8 or so cars already in work at the time I was there not including mine and Chuck’s personal Sky (He gave up his solstice for it). Also in the shop were several Vette’s and Caddy’s in various stages of upgrades.
The staff and the shop were all top notch and the detail to workmanship was exemplary. They have truly re-engineered the platform to show off the potential and done a heck of a job. Even Bob Lutz himself was so impressed that he has endorsed all of the Mallett work. (BTW, Saturn was much more “amiable” to the re-works than the Pontiac performance guys…go figure)
For those of you wondering what Chuck does with all the Ecotec engines he inherits from his conversions, rest well, because he is putting them to good use. You did not hear it from me, but for those of you not wanting to spend $25k on the 400hp LS2 upgrade, look for a forced induction kit of some kind to come out next year making ~330hp for about 1/3 of that. Chuck’s personal Sky will be the guinea pig.
I could go into all the racing war stories we swapped and the great ideas on performance tuning for the KAPPA’s ( BTW, the Duel Induction Super+Turbo that runs on E85 was my idea if it ever happens!
) but the bottom line is I had a blast and am really glad I went. It is always great to meet people that are passionate about what they do, and the Mallett guys certainly are.
Attached are pics of my Sky after just getting to the shop, Chuck Mallett and his sky, a newly finished solstice, a line of Kappa's being upgraded, and the new suspension kit on a sky. Enjoy!
First let me tell you that Chuck was a great guy. He was there to great me after my 2000 mile trek across the country from Arizona and spent a good 2 hours with me showing me the shop an talking cars before he took me to the airport. You can tell how exited he was to show me what he had been doing with the Kappa platforms, and what was in works.
So, let’s get to the meat. At the time of my arrival, Solstice #39 had just been started. I was the latest Sky and I got Mallett VIN #6. So, that is 45 KAPPA’s to date out of 100 that will be built in the limited run.
While I was there he also showed me one of the LS7 Sky’s that was in work. For any of you who saw the LS7 Solstice in this months “Hot Rod” mag, the Mallett guys contributed a great deal to it. There were about 8 or so cars already in work at the time I was there not including mine and Chuck’s personal Sky (He gave up his solstice for it). Also in the shop were several Vette’s and Caddy’s in various stages of upgrades.
The staff and the shop were all top notch and the detail to workmanship was exemplary. They have truly re-engineered the platform to show off the potential and done a heck of a job. Even Bob Lutz himself was so impressed that he has endorsed all of the Mallett work. (BTW, Saturn was much more “amiable” to the re-works than the Pontiac performance guys…go figure)
For those of you wondering what Chuck does with all the Ecotec engines he inherits from his conversions, rest well, because he is putting them to good use. You did not hear it from me, but for those of you not wanting to spend $25k on the 400hp LS2 upgrade, look for a forced induction kit of some kind to come out next year making ~330hp for about 1/3 of that. Chuck’s personal Sky will be the guinea pig.
I could go into all the racing war stories we swapped and the great ideas on performance tuning for the KAPPA’s ( BTW, the Duel Induction Super+Turbo that runs on E85 was my idea if it ever happens!
) but the bottom line is I had a blast and am really glad I went. It is always great to meet people that are passionate about what they do, and the Mallett guys certainly are. Attached are pics of my Sky after just getting to the shop, Chuck Mallett and his sky, a newly finished solstice, a line of Kappa's being upgraded, and the new suspension kit on a sky. Enjoy!
