2009 turbo SS

Lonewolf170

Active Member
Meanwhile we are giving you advice and it’s slipping through you fingers. Lol.
Haha, the advice or the car slipping through my fingers?
It's a four hr drive from me so already wouldn't be able to pickup til weekend. Am curious what his build invoice shows though.
 

Lonewolf170

Active Member
Option 1- SS Racecar
Option 2- Turbo
Option 3 - SS Supercharged

I swear, more and more of these are popping up as I am looking. Found three more options. The turbo would be sweet although the furthest. The owner only has had the car for 2 months so doesn't know much sadly. Option 1 my brother lives 15 minutes from in Wisconsin but i worry about it's use as a racecar, though it looks like some of thee interior is out already and body doesn't matter much. Am leaning towards option three just because close and guy seems to know a little more about it.

You all have been very helpful so far!
 

Rauq

Goblin Guru
As far as my personal preference, I'd go with #3. I am a little biased, though, as I preferred an SS/SC donor as well. I'm a little concerned by the soot on the rear bumper. Could be pig rich, could be burning oil, could be a too-short exhaust on the bumper? Could probably be talked down a bit over that point. In my personal experience, it's not worth mentioning to the seller that you're building a kit car because then you lose your ground on negotiating for a joke of a paint job.

Option #2 could also be a decent value if talked down. Replacing the slave cylinder isn't bad if you're already planning on throwing a clutch in there.

I'd have a hard time talking down Option #1, being caged and all. Probably a great starting point for champ car, not so much for a Goblin. Would make for a good donor providing all the wiring is still there, but still, your savings on the donor can go right back into the Goblin.
 

Lonewolf170

Active Member
As far as my personal preference, I'd go with #3. I am a little biased, though, as I preferred an SS/SC donor as well. I'm a little concerned by the soot on the rear bumper. Could be pig rich, could be burning oil, could be a too-short exhaust on the bumper? Could probably be talked down a bit over that point. In my personal experience, it's not worth mentioning to the seller that you're building a kit car because then you lose your ground on negotiating for a joke of a paint job.

Option #2 could also be a decent value if talked down. Replacing the slave cylinder isn't bad if you're already planning on throwing a clutch in there.

I'd have a hard time talking down Option #1, being caged and all. Probably a great starting point for champ car, not so much for a Goblin. Would make for a good donor providing all the wiring is still there, but still, your savings on the donor can go right back into the Goblin.
Sounds like option three is running catless with a tune that didn't account for it (check engine light on). Wonder if reason for some soot. How do codes get cleared on the goblin? I imagine there is no cat? Would the check engine light be something to worry about? He says his reader doesn't show anything...
 

Desert Sasqwatch

Goblin Guru
If there is that much soot on the rear bumper the inside of the engine is likely all carboned up as well. Plan for that in your buying decision.
 

Torchandregdoc

Goblin Guru
Sounds like option three is running catless with a tune that didn't account for it (check engine light on). Wonder if reason for some soot. How do codes get cleared on the goblin? I imagine there is no cat? Would the check engine light be something to worry about? He says his reader doesn't show anything...
On an LNF, running catless shouldn't change the need to tune from a running correctly standpoint. The ecm only uses the downstream O2 sensor to check the cat. The soot could be caused by the absence of the cat simply because it's not burning off the carbon. The SEL will definitely throw without the cat with a p0420 code. There is concern though, if it has been running super fat for some reason, the rings and cylinder walls will have taken a beating from fuel washing away oil. Make sure you put a scanner on it, you really need to know what codes have been thrown before you buy it. With a sooted up bumper and no cat, if he says there's no codes, he's lying.....or he just cleared the codes.

I wasn't to worried about running fat until I was. I always thought too lean was the big thing to watch,turns out that to rich is a problem also. We may have had a little too much timing in the mix as well. We are hours away from having an new motor installed. I'll learn more when I tear down the old one
 

Lonewolf170

Active Member
On an LNF, running catless shouldn't change the need to tune from a running correctly standpoint. The ecm only uses the downstream O2 sensor to check the cat. The soot could be caused by the absence of the cat simply because it's not burning off the carbon. The SEL will definitely throw without the cat with a p0420 code. There is concern though, if it has been running super fat for some reason, the rings and cylinder walls will have taken a beating from fuel washing away oil. Make sure you put a scanner on it, you really need to know what codes have been thrown before you buy it. With a sooted up bumper and no cat, if he says there's no codes, he's lying.....or he just cleared the codes.

I wasn't to worried about running fat until I was. I always thought too lean was the big thing to watch,turns out that to rich is a problem also. We may have had a little too much timing in the mix as well. We are hours away from having an new motor installed. I'll learn more when I tear down the old one
I thought the Ss supercharged were lsj engine codes? But hear you about the running rich part. I def have a scan tool that I'd bring and check the codes on. It sounds like he has a stage two PCM tune from zzp which could be causing issues? I wonder how long he's been tuned.
 

Rauq

Goblin Guru
I thought the Ss supercharged were lsj engine codes? But hear you about the running rich part. I def have a scan tool that I'd bring and check the codes on. It sounds like he has a stage two PCM tune from zzp which could be causing issues? I wonder how long he's been tuned.
SS/SC = LSJ, you're correct. The LNF = sooty comment was probably just a mixup. I wouldn't think a ZZP tune would be that sooty but it would make sense if it were originally tuned for 42lb injectors and then swapped to 60s without tuning... no idea why that would've been done, though, and I'm not sure that it would "drive great." The mystery remains!
 

Indy Lonnie

Well-Known Member
FYI... LNFs are known to be "sooty".
Where did that information come from, the Cobalt Racer Boi forum?
Since I have been driving my finished Goblin for almost 2 years now tuned and untuned I can tell you - it will leave a mildly sooty footprint with the exhaust moisture on the ground on warmup. Tune is solid. I have had this "soot" conversation at ZZP while being on site and dyno-tuned.
soot.jpg
 
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Lonewolf170

Active Member
Since I have been driving my finished Goblin for almost 2 years now tuned and untuned I can tell you - it will leave a mildly sooty footprint with the exhaust moisture on the ground on warmup. Tune is solid. I have had this "soot" conversation at ZZP while being on site and dyno-tuned.View attachment 23501
I wasn't too worried about some soot. My mini runs soot in the muffler being catless. These cars are selling quick though. Both my top choices sold within a day or two!
 

Rauq

Goblin Guru
Where did that information come from, the Cobalt Racer Boi forum?
Since I have been driving my finished Goblin for almost 2 years now tuned and untuned I can tell you - it will leave a mildly sooty footprint with the exhaust moisture on the ground on warmup. Tune is solid. I have had this "soot" conversation at ZZP while being on site and dyno-tuned.
We're getting off-topic here, but I'd add that gasoline particulate filters are becoming a thing for DI motors in Europe for this reason. And that's on factory tunes.
 

Ross

Goblin Guru
Well it has some hop up parts on it, and it says it is hard to get into gear sometimes. My old F35 transmission wouldn't let me into 2nd gear when the engine was above 5,000 RPM, as the synchros in the transmission were getting worn out.
Go check it out, see if it has been maintained, could be a good donor.
 

Torchandregdoc

Goblin Guru
Yep. That's your donor. Talk him down to 1700and after you sell off parts, you'll only be into it for $500 or so. That trans may have problems, but I've also seen syncros not behave because they had no or poor gear lube. Sometimes, you just need to put in some decent oil and they jump back to life. Worst case, you go for the trans upgrade.
 
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