Topic: Mallett Cars

[ihawk95]

Hey Sting, did you or have you thought of contacting Chuck or Lance Mallett?  I thought I read somewhere Chuck was or did a stint for GM a couple years ago after his business closed?  I just called the Mallett Car website (http://mallettcars.com/contact-us/) and someone answered.  All I asked was if they were still in business and was told yes.  Maybe they could be a resource for some questions or directions on helping to getting the car to run correctly.  I know you said you weren't going to pursue the car anymore but wanted to throw the info out there.

Business hours (Eastern Time):
Monday - Friday 9AM to 5PM
Saturday: 9AM to Noon
Sunday: Closed
Phone: (216)-905-0029
11148 Treynorth Dr. Cornelius, NC 28031

I wondered this same thing.  I thought Chuck got back in it last year.  So I couldn't figure out why the last owner didn't go to him.  He was at Asheville in 2012, but I think he went out of business shortly after that.  Then about a year ago, seems like I remember he posted on FB he was back at it.

[ihawk95]

And he's still offering Kappa Converstion packages:

http://mallettcars.com/v8-solstice/

[DaveOC]

And he's still offering Kappa Converstion packages:

http://mallettcars.com/v8-solstice/

Too bad most of the information on that web site goes back to pre-2010, Berea, Ohio times.  The telephone number listed with the 216 area code is a cell phone (Chuck Mallett), the BBB listing for Mallett cars in Cornelius, NC list the employees as 1 (assuming that is Chuck).

He messed up all the people that had cars in his shop in Berea, Ohio when he went bankrupt there.  He messed up the guys that bankrolled him when he then moved to North Carolina (see http://mallettcarsltdliquidation.com/), disappeared for a couple of years while he was supposedly working for GM, and now he's back, renting a garage in NC, pitching 6 year old info on a new web site.

If you want to trust him to fix something he did years ago, good luck!

.

[Gentleman Jack]

Wow. Truth. With commentary.

[Sting Ya]

Some answers :The guy first told me he was looking to get between 25 to 30 grand for the car big jump I know ,the more interest I showed and the fact that I was a cash buyer the price started going towards the 30 grand mark . He brought up the fact that he paid $1800.00 to have the car shipped from Arizona ,dropped $3500.00 at Wade Lingers to have the rear end swapped ,a pillar pod & gauges installed ,the cruise fixed ( new tune)  to try and get the throttle hang problem fixed,and spent some money on maintenance items which he did not mention till I brought them up ie: changing the fluids and replacing the battery the car still had the OEM tires on it which he did not feel needed to be replaced I know better they are 9 years old .I know what these cars have been selling for I have followed them and there have been a few the past year for sale that have been in the 25 to 27 thousand dollar range with no problems .Sent a couple of emails to Mallett and left a message on Chuck's phone no response just as I sent an email to Wade Linger about this car trying to get some information and again no response . I agree with Dave OC 's statement Chuck used to be a pretty decent guy I know people that have Corvette packages and are very pleased with them I had a conversation with Mike Jonas president of SSBC he had one of the first Mallet conversions and pretty much said that Chuck got an offer from GM to do developmental work and let the conversion and modification business go by the wayside . If anyone has followed Mallett as I have the last bankrupsy cleaned him out as far as assets go including some of his cars so you have to wonder where his business is today .At this point I have spent way to much time on this car trying to get answers on a problem that the current owner feels is a "quirk" with Mallett cars I feel it's more then that yea it's a very nice ,super low mileage car ,but the bottom line is it has a problem and the price  the seller is trying to get for is for a car with no issues .

[DaveOC]

Everything I am about to say is based on opinion, personal research and experience. I just want to clarify a couple of my comments about Chuck Mallett.

The closing of the Ohio shop wasn't due to bankruptcy, but it was a state receivership started by his landlord due to Chuck's business not paying rent (I assume.).   Anyone that had a car in the shop when the landlord locked Chuck out had to hire an attorney to prove that the car in the shop wasn't owned by Chuck.  There were additional problems due to the cars being in pieces in the middle of conversions.  Most of the people with cars in the shop got their cars back eventually, but most probably didn't get them complete.

Chuck got private financing for his next shot, and the people providing the financing locked up most of Chuck's assets as security for the financing.  After a couple of years without showing the expected returns on their investment, the investors privately foreclosed on all the assets and proceeded with their liquidation in order to recover what they could of their investment.

Chuck then went to work for GM doing development, punching a clock and getting a regular paycheck. 

This brings us to the present, where Chuck is trying to get his conversion/modification business going again.

All of the above I have learned through internet research, and my past experiences as an attorney and businessman. I have never spoken to Chuck, nor have I attempted to talk to him. I don't really care enough, though I feel sorry for the people who have lost money and/or cars in this saga.

Chuck knows his stuff when it comes to Vettes.  He tried to expand his business in the Cadillac, Solstice and Sky venues.  He got caught by the downturn and recession, and wasn't able to recover.  He also had to rely of third party venders for a bunch of stuff, and I would guess, though I don't know, that some of them also didn't get fully paid when the crash hit.

The result of all the above is that if you have a Mallett conversion from the past, there probably is no recourse or inexpensive fix available for any issues pertaining to the conversions.

I'm done and probably won't comment further on the subject. 

[ihawk95]

I think what you have said Dave, is exactly what I gathered from similar research and seeing the guy in Asheville trying to drum up business.

The investor assets are still for sale if you look up Mallet Cars LTD.  I assume, as you do, that he got caught in the economy downturn (bankrupt in 09), tried to stay alive via private investor (economy still in the toilet) and he wasn't able to recover.  He probably made a little money working with GM, perhaps found another investor, and tried to start up shop again.

Still, it was worth a shot for the previous owner to contact him since he still had his old assests until late 2012...or most of them.  Unfortunately, sounds like the guy didn't think it a big enough problem to really fix and didn't take that path.  Sting Ya has tried at least, Chuck hasn't answered...acknowledge and move on.

[DaveOC]

Personally, I think the throttle hang issue is related to the Ken Kelly tune that seems to be common to everyone that does the V8 conversions.  I have heard of similar issues with respect to PAW and DDM conversions too. 

There are at least 4 different ECM modules in the Sol/Sky conversions depending upon original year and whether it is NA or turbo.

It's like the cruise control issues, some work, some don't.

Only the Shadow knows, and he's not talking!   

.

[Sting Ya]

My  comments on this : Dave is right on as far as what went on with Mallett Enterprises and right now if he is trying to start up his business , again my thought is it's based on his prior reputation and is Chuck involved or is it his brother Lance who is behind the start up . I'm going to the Cleveland Piston Power car show in the next few weeks and hopefully meet up with Mike Jonas who still talks to Chuck from time to time  and get some updates. From all the information I have gathered searching for Solstice stuff it pretty much looks like a lot of odds and ends don't know about the cars that are still for sale  .As a matter of fact there is a guy on Ebay who from time to time has Mallett stuff for sale sway bars ,springs etc . so I think he bought up a lot of the stuff they were liquidating .At this point once again with this car I'm done I don't think Chuck could help let alone return my calls or emails and I don't have the car here to try and find a fix . I've had some people that I have all the respect in the world for as far as automotive things go tell me that I could be looking at a nightmare from a financial standpoint to clear this thing up .Speaking for myself I would never buy a car sight unseen unless I had someone I trusted look at it or I knew the owner  , hell I drove 7 hours one way  to look at an Impala wagon (looking for a base to make it a SS car) a few years ago .The other thing that troubles me and once again just the way I look at things if I bought a car sight unseen for 30 grand and had problems with it they would be fixed or I would cut my losses and get rid of it not ask premium money for it .The great thing for me is I have my beautiful Solstice sitting in the garage waiting for me to spend some serious time with it life is good !

[Sting Ya]

Dave he took the car to Wade Linger and had a new tune put on it but the problem is still there not as bad according to the owner . My problem is the fact that I emailed Wade and never got a response so did he contact the owner and maybe it's not the tune ? I don't know but as I said earlier it might be a cheap fix or I might be breaking the bank and at this point for what the owner is looking to get out of the car we are nowhere near what I 'm willing to offer let alone a car that to me has a serious problem .

[DaveOC]

The investor assets are still for sale if you look up Mallet Cars LTD.  I assume, as you do, that he got caught in the economy downturn (bankrupt in 09), tried to stay alive via private investor (economy still in the toilet) and he wasn't able to recover.  He probably made a little money working with GM, perhaps found another investor, and tried to start up shop again.

That website hasn't been updated in quite a long time. The domain registration for MALLETTCARSLTDLIQUIDATION.COM is set to expire on 28 March 2015.  So, hold your breath 'til the end of the month and see if this site is still available come April.

[DaveOC]

Dave he took the car to Wade Linger and had a new tune put on it but the problem is still there not as bad according to the owner . My problem is the fact that I emailed Wade and never got a response so did he contact the owner and maybe it's not the tune ? I don't know but as I said earlier it might be a cheap fix or I might be breaking the bank and at this point for what the owner is looking to get out of the car we are nowhere near what I 'm willing to offer let alone a car that to me has a serious problem .

You are doing the right thing, just walk away from it.  It is not going to be a cheap fix.  If it was a cheap fix it would have been fixed by now.

I know you'll find a good one, keep up the search.  They aren't collector's items yet.

[LatinVenom]

What about the one in Orlando that has been mentioned a couple of times in this thread?.

[Sting Ya]

The guy sent me an email the other day he is a member of the other forum   Bagerhound I need to get back to him but he is in Orlando and I'm in Ohio  need to get some more information on the car and what I would need as far as looking at the car if I'm interested , getting the car here , and everything in between 

[DaveOC]

Dave he took the car to Wade Linger and had a new tune put on it but the problem is still there not as bad according to the owner . My problem is the fact that I emailed Wade and never got a response so did he contact the owner and maybe it's not the tune?

Just remember that you are not Wade's customer, the other guy is his customer.  Given the situation, if I was Wade, I wouldn't respond to you either.  If Wade were to say something to you that screwed up the deal, he could be found liable if the guy selling the car was to sue him.  The car conversion/modification business is a cut-throat business, and most guys involved in it for profit are very careful of what they say and to whom they say it, especially if there are big bucks involved.

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[Gentleman Jack]

Is offer 14,577.55 and take your chances.

[Sting Ya]

Dave :when I emailed Wade it was general information on the car and this was before I knew he did the tune . Your right as far as your comment goes I keep forgetting about what our world has turned into everyone suing everyone else I'm used to building things when people did not have this cloud over their heads and would give you an opinion or information without fear of reprisals .

[LatinVenom]

Sting Ya, there a re a few of us here in Florida that if you get serious could take look for you.

[Sting Ya]

THANKS SO MUCH ! before I get to the point of asking someone to look at it for me I have some things that I need to take care of  right now I'm trying to get some more information on the car  and everything that I need to do from my end to get the car here in Ohio if I decide to buy it .My thought is to fly down and drive the car back now that the weather has finally gotten better it's basically a 14 hour drive (been there done that ) The other car kind of burned me out with all I went through trying to get a handle on the problem and at this point I have other options if I want to pick up another car

[L-N-Fn]

Recent Email from john!

I keep meaning to send you these pics but forgot about it. With all the talk about cruise control not working on V8 swaps, you can post these on the forums if you want. Lol. 700whp and not only does my cruise control work, it tells me what it’s set at!

I’ve been running it on full E85 for awhile now, I have about 7k miles on the V8 swap. Last dyno was 650/650 on pump gas, I know it’s well over 700/700 now. Daily driving it with no problems. Redid some of the stereo stuff, it sounds insane! I’m using 12 speakers and two 10”subs running off of two 4 channel amps. Also using high resolution lossless files from the onboard PC to a separate 24bit digital to analog converter. Absolutely the best stereo I’ve put together so far. I also put in an onboard security camera that sends me a text through the onboard WiFi to my phone if it detects noise or motion! I can watch a live video feed from my car anywhere I have cell service or WiFi.

[elff]

Soo let me get this straight
He took the Engine, ECU, Gauges, steering wheel, stick shift and maybe some other stuff from a corvette, and moved them to a Sky.
And they all worked together while in the corvette
Soooooooo
I am trying to figure why I should be impressed that they still work together in a different car frame?

[Gentleman Jack]

Soo let me get this straight
He took the Engine, ECU, Gauges, steering wheel, stick shift and maybe some other stuff from a corvette, and moved them to a Sky.
And they all worked together while in the corvette
Soooooooo
I am trying to figure why I should be impressed that they still work together in a different car frame?

Well, partly because all the corvette parts were in a Cadillac. Partly because he did it all in his garage, and partly because he did it all and it looks cool, sounds cool, and I presume, goes cool.
I'm only slighty less annoyed by his forum granading that you, but this is a really well done setup judging by the pictures.

Perhaps I am more able to separate person from product, but if this was my car, you'd be impressed. It doesn't even look like it was crashed in an open garage.

[Sol Asylum]

And it belongs in a thread asking for information about a Mallet car why?

[Gentleman Jack]

And it belongs in a thread asking for information about a Mallet car why?

That is valid. But if we followed those rules, we'd have 22 posts combined.

[Sting Ya]

Glad to see these pics again, I did talk to John asking his opinion on the purchase of the car because I respect him and his opinions the pictures just show his skill and knowledge in doing a conversion of this type and I love his attention to detail  the guy is a genius in my book  !