I have really enjoyed looking over many of your builds and finally found some time to start a build log, so here it goes.
It was probably close to 20 years ago when I came across the Ultima GTR - a supercar you could build in your garage! Despite being young and broke I was intrigued...one day, I thought. Fast forward a decade and I read about the Ariel Atom. It was such an awesome car, but I wasn't willing to eat ramen for the rest of my life. I found the Goblin while researching Exocets, and really liked the platform. I thought to myself that this might be doable for a novice mechanic on a budget. So I started reading all of your unique builds and then I saw Paul had a partially complete kit for sale in my state. My wife and I just had a baby, so I knew time would be a limiting factor and Paul was fantastic in answering my questions. A little encouragement from Brad (and sitting in his impressive car) pushed me over the edge and just over a month ago I picked up Paul's project. Paul and his build log are great, so I'm not going to repeat everything he did here.
I got the project with a good deal of stage one finished and was waiting for some parts from DF before I could continue. They just showed up last week along with my stage 3 stuff.
While I have definitely saved some time and headaches not having to deal with stripping the donor, there are a few unique challenges I think I will have. Since I didn't take anything apart, I think I might have a tough time recognizing what came from where. Also, Paul's kit was an early model and I have noticed there are some updated pieces and parts that are either different or only included in later versions. Finally, it is definitely possible I'm missing some hardware, bolts, etc.
Despite the head start, my build will likely be slow (this is definitely not second nature to me) and I will try to keep this thread updated with pictures and notes since I have found them so helpful.
It was probably close to 20 years ago when I came across the Ultima GTR - a supercar you could build in your garage! Despite being young and broke I was intrigued...one day, I thought. Fast forward a decade and I read about the Ariel Atom. It was such an awesome car, but I wasn't willing to eat ramen for the rest of my life. I found the Goblin while researching Exocets, and really liked the platform. I thought to myself that this might be doable for a novice mechanic on a budget. So I started reading all of your unique builds and then I saw Paul had a partially complete kit for sale in my state. My wife and I just had a baby, so I knew time would be a limiting factor and Paul was fantastic in answering my questions. A little encouragement from Brad (and sitting in his impressive car) pushed me over the edge and just over a month ago I picked up Paul's project. Paul and his build log are great, so I'm not going to repeat everything he did here.
I got the project with a good deal of stage one finished and was waiting for some parts from DF before I could continue. They just showed up last week along with my stage 3 stuff.
While I have definitely saved some time and headaches not having to deal with stripping the donor, there are a few unique challenges I think I will have. Since I didn't take anything apart, I think I might have a tough time recognizing what came from where. Also, Paul's kit was an early model and I have noticed there are some updated pieces and parts that are either different or only included in later versions. Finally, it is definitely possible I'm missing some hardware, bolts, etc.
Despite the head start, my build will likely be slow (this is definitely not second nature to me) and I will try to keep this thread updated with pictures and notes since I have found them so helpful.