Nuker's City Goblin build - 2007 SS SC Donor - Completed/Licensed

TheNuker

Goblin Guru
Well 500 miles down in 3 days! What a blast. Looking forward to the windshield, sand stings!

No problems at all so far, Have you guys that are on the road gone back and checked torque of all of the bolts after driving a few hundred miles? I'm thinking about going back over the car with a torque wrench. Hopefully will be able to drive down to Dallas and get body panels/windshield installed in a couple weeks.

Nuker-
 

JSATX

Goblin Guru
Well 500 miles down in 3 days! What a blast. Looking forward to the windshield, sand stings!

No problems at all so far, Have you guys that are on the road gone back and checked torque of all of the bolts after driving a few hundred miles? I'm thinking about going back over the car with a torque wrench. Hopefully will be able to drive down to Dallas and get body panels/windshield installed in a couple weeks.

Nuker-
I've been saying I was going to do that for months. Haven't been driving lately because of the heat but I'm taking it on COTA at the end of the month so will definitely do a complete preflight inspection before then. I'm super excited to get on that track.
 

TheNuker

Goblin Guru
Alignment is done, Shop just called. As I suspected my eyes are not straight lol. Apparently my back wheels and the fronts were off almost 1 degree each. So i'm looking forward to the street car takeover!

Nuker-
 

JSATX

Goblin Guru
Alignment is done, Shop just called. As I suspected my eyes are not straight lol. Apparently my back wheels and the fronts were off almost 1 degree each. So i'm looking forward to the street car takeover!

Nuker-
Should be much more stable now!
 

DanPerryy

Well-Known Member
I did my own alignment and it is great. It turns out it is pretty easy to setup front camber. I was worried that it would be a pain to adjust the heim joints but it was really easy.
 

DanPerryy

Well-Known Member
I will do that, not home now. That (comparing - counting threads) was my starting point with one of Lonny's cars. This was for both caster and camber setup - I did set the toe initially by measurement. Eyeballing it just does not work. When I drove it after the initial setup - just counting threads the car was really dodgey - actually scary to drive - it would dart. I just want to set expectations that without actually getting the caster, camber and toe set to real values don't expect it to handle.
 

TheNuker

Goblin Guru
Yep, they fit without any problems. And I'm pretty sure they are the 11" front with like 10.xx rears. I'll take a pic later to see how close it is.

Nuker-
 

Johvans

Well-Known Member
Yep, they fit without any problems. And I'm pretty sure they are the 11" front with like 10.xx rears. I'll take a pic later to see how close it is.

Nuker-
Perfect... ordered the same wheels in charcoal! I think it'll look pretty sharp with the silver frame. :D
 

TheNuker

Goblin Guru
Few questions for you guys on the road.

1 - does your car feel like it takes a lot of micro managemenet to keep in a straight line? I feel like the alignment is solid on a smooth road it will for the most part stay where it is pointing. Just feels like on highway at way 80 I have to micro adjust a lot to keep straight in lane. Feels nothing like my Prius at same speed I mean.

2 - have you found that the speedo lags behind a lot under hard acceleration and braking? While testing brakes tonight 60-0 using gps speedo gauge was indicating 40mph and gps was at zero (we just had stopped)

Thanks!
Nuker
 

Lonny

Administrator
Staff member
The speedometer does lag.

We would like to go over your setup to see how it differs from ours.
Also as you adjust the top of the control arm back to add caster it lowers the steering arm which can introduce bump steer.
We are going to send out some new steering arms for everyone that will give them the option to run more caster.

It could also be your tow settings front and/or rear are different than ours.

Make sure your front shocks are not too soft. We run about five clicks in.

I also think that they drive better with a nose installed. Air going over the stuff up front can make the air very turbulent.
 

TheNuker

Goblin Guru
Well that was one interesting trip! 1022 miles in 24 hours in the goblin. Round trip from Kansas City to Dallas/Red Oak and back! Not a single problem everything ran great no loose bolts no overheating.

Got the front nose/windshield and rear wing installed, Let me tell you that windshield makes all of the difference in enjoyment of driving the Goblin on the highway. You can actually talk to your passenger at 70mph.

New steering arm design parts were installed and this car is rock solid on the highway now. The alignment as Lonny found was not the greatest job in the world front tires were 3/16" pointing in.

Nuker-
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Chris Eggert

Active Member
I have noticed alot about the speedometer lag and working to correct it. It has crossed my mind more than once of just fabricating a gauge cluster replacement for the stock Cobalt gauges. Maybe just replace the factory speedometer and Tachometer with one like this Speedhut GPS Speedometer/tach unit. Then add a boost gauge for the supercharged and turbo guys..
http://www.speedhut.com/gauge/GR4-DUALGPS-ST-03T/1/Dual-Gauge---160mph-GPS-Speedometer---8K-Tachometer-(w--turn-signal-and-high-beam)

Use the two gauge set to cover everything you will need. Speed, tach, water temp, oil pressure, voltage, fuel.
http://www.speedhut.com/kit/GR4-DUAL-GPSQKIT-ST-03T/2-gauge-custom-set---Dual-Gauge---160mph-GPS-Speedometer---8K-Tachometer,-Quad-Gauge
 
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TheNuker

Goblin Guru
We had to move it up to the top of the radiator to get the nose to fit without any issues. But besides that none. I still feel like there is a little air in the system and after driving it hard for a while I can see the reservoir is in need of a bit more coolant. I have also never had the heat exchanger feel more than luke warm to touch after a hard run. I'll see what happens out on the track in a couple weekends.

I'm about to just hook the pump up to a switch so I can turn it on/off when I want to so I can be 100% sure the air is out.

Although in the future I'm wondering if the front mount that smaller size is going to be an issue running the TVS 1320 supercharger?

Nuker-
 
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