Ark's City Goblin #187 (2008 SS/TC donor)

jamesm

Goblin Guru
Ah yes. The crazy people. I’ve never had anyone block me in, although I do have people ask about it any time I stop anywhere. I generally enjoy talking to people about the kit but when I’m ready to go, I tell them I gotta run, get in the car and leave.
 

Torchandregdoc

Goblin Guru
We wear helmets. If you don't want to talk, you leave the faceshield down and act like you can't hear them well and talk real quiet when you talk. If you have a minute, you put the faceshield up and talk. If you have a half hour, you take your helmet off. It's worked very well so far. Not sure how it will be in another month.
 

Ark :D

Goblin Guru
Just took the car out for my first actual night drive. Amazing. I'm loving the car more and more, for sure. My wife asked me again if I've thought about selling it. I told her the same thing: everything has a price, but someone would have to knock my socks off to take this car off my hands.

Just crossed the 200-mile mark. Soon I'll change the oil and check coolant level. Also, I'll check critical bolt torque.

Deer Spotter 9000 does its job. Too well, actually. When it's on, I can't see **** because the inside of my windscreen reflects a lot of the light back at me. I think it's mostly because I chose the extended-height windscreen. What's the recommended way to trim it down? I feel like, if I was choosing again, I'd go standard-height so maybe I'll trim this one down.
 

JBINTX

Goblin Guru
 

Ark :D

Goblin Guru
Thanks JB, I had forgotten all about that. So just a jigsaw with a metal blade, easy enough. Did you sand the top edge?
 

JBINTX

Goblin Guru
Thanks JB, I had forgotten all about that. So just a jigsaw with a metal blade, easy enough. Did you sand the top edge?
Yes. The fear of the whole process is mostly unfounded.
The worst part is small scratches from not protecting the whole piece when cutting. Use a lot of soft towels to support it. The shape you choose really affects the look. I chose the rounded look. Much different than the straight lines of the others. The notch in the middle really does allow a lot more air into the driver area but not in your face.
 

Sparvy

Active Member
My Experiences with Registration and Insurance - Montana Edition

I did not expect to get to this point so quickly and easily, so I apologize for the excessive amount of bumps of this thread over the last couple days. But, I am now well on my way to getting registered and insured, all that remains is the waiting game. Tomorrow, I will ship off my packet to my Montana agent, and wait for the Montana DMV to issue me a title and a plate.

First, let's talk Montana registration. O-Prime already wrote up a great guide for this, so I will not go into a ton of detail here. If you need help filling out the various forms, he detailed it perfectly, here: https://dfkitcar.com/forum/index.php?threads/guide-montana-registration.1971/

  1. Get DF Kit Car to issue your MCO (Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin). They will issue it in YOUR name, not in your LLC's name. This is a fairly new development as I understand it, but it is NOT a problem.
  2. Hire a Montana agent (I used 49 Dollar Montana Registered Agent). Fill out the web form for "LLC with car or truck registration", pick your LLC name, and pay up ($849). Within two days, your LLC will be established and they'll send you the documentation. Beyond that, they will assume you're an expert and not offer any info on the next step. They will answer questions though.
  3. Fill out the top box on the back of your MCO, listing your LLC's name and the agent's address, along with the odometer reading. The agent will handle the rest of this.
  4. Download and print out Montana's Bill of Sale form MV24. Fill it out as detailed in O-Prime's guide. Then, to complete this requirement, take the form to a notary and have them notarize it. For me, my bank refused to do it, so I just went to Brimmer's and paid them $5 to do it. Some clarification here: you are, in fact, selling your kit car to your LLC for $0 here. You should have no problem putting zero dollars as the final sum. The reason my bank gave for refusing to notarize my form is, they did not feel comfortable notarizing an automobile sale for $0. At first, Brimmer's wouldn't notarize my form either, citing PennDOT being unwilling to recognize auto sales for less than $100; in PA, cars cannot be "gifted" apparently. I told the lady, "Look, I'll withdraw $100 from an ATM and hand it to myself if that's what you want, what I am doing here is selling my own car to my own LLC." Finally, she noticed the Montana logo on the header of the form and said "Oh, this is something else entirely, sorry I am just used to PennDOT's rules". Then she notarized the form.
  5. Download and print out Montana's Inspection Checklist: Unconventional Vehicles form MV70A. Fill this form out per O-Prime's guide, but be careful on #9 (ONLY check one box, not both). It is fine to sign this form, yourself.
  6. Download and print out Montana's Level 1 Vehicle/OHV Identification Number Inspection form MV20. I added this file to my Google Drive because O-Prime's link was broken and the version I found online was different than this one, which was sent to me straight by my Montana agent. Fill out the top part per O-Prime's guide, then have a member of law enforcement in your area come out to fill out the rest of the form. I thought this would be painful, but my local police were chill as hell about it; the officer filled out the form, shook my hand, and told me not to speed. Make sure you get either a business card from the officer (preferred) or a photo of his badge.
  7. Photocopy all the forms for your records, then ship all the ORIGINALS, plus your MCO and the officer's business card, off to the agent, addressed to your LLC name with their address.
  8. Wait.
Now, let's talk insurance.

I was able to secure insurance through Rally Insurance Group, Inc., underwritten by American Modern, for $482 per year which includes liability that matches my daily driver policy (apparently a thing in my state, PA) and a $1,000 deductible (my request). The stated value of the car is $20,000 and the policy covers 6,000 miles/year. You must also sign a Track Exclusion form (so no track use, which stinks, but ok!).

The insurance process was utterly painless. You need:
  1. The completed application (they will send it to you)
  2. Signed track exclusion (they will send it to you)
  3. A copy of the declarations page for your daily driver's policy
  4. Photos of the front, back, driver side, and passenger side of your Goblin
  5. Payment
In my case, I delivered items 1-4 in an email, and the insurance agent called me to complete payment. I paid over the phone with a debit card, but they can also use bank routing information if you prefer.

My agent's contact information is below. She is superb. ZERO trouble getting insurance. She also gave me permission to share her contact information, but don't consider it a referral, it's not. Just the handing off of the name of a helpful person!

View attachment 21150

So now, I play the waiting game. Current wait time for Montana registration is 35 days.

Hopefully, this along with O-Prime's guide and everyone else who has contributed to the knowledge of Montana registration and getting Goblin insurance, will get you where you need to be to drive legally. I will amend this post if any difficulties arise.

Good luck!!!
Great reference and very helpful. Just a few questions. Do I need a title in my name from the donor? I have a title for the donor but never got a new one issued in my name. It doesn't appear I need it to register in Montana but if so I would need to do that soon as there is a several month waiting period to get a new title back. Second question is in reference to the inspection by local police. The local PD here laughed when I called to have the form filled out and the vin verified....said "we don't do that kind of stuff". The other state police branch that inspects cars that are going to be registered here said they wouldn't do it either since I wasn't registering it here. Any suggestions?

Thanks
 

Ark :D

Goblin Guru
Great reference and very helpful. Just a few questions. Do I need a title in my name from the donor? I have a title for the donor but never got a new one issued in my name. It doesn't appear I need it to register in Montana but if so I would need to do that soon as there is a several month waiting period to get a new title back. Second question is in reference to the inspection by local police. The local PD here laughed when I called to have the form filled out and the vin verified....said "we don't do that kind of stuff". The other state police branch that inspects cars that are going to be registered here said they wouldn't do it either since I wasn't registering it here. Any suggestions?

Thanks
No, you won't need your donor title. You do have to pass an inspection from a local LEO though, so requirements there may vary. My inspecting officer was cool as a cucumber, just matched the DF serial on the frame against that on the MCO, handed me his business card, and signed the form. Unfortunately, I don't have any advice for you on that front; best I can offer is, the inspecting officer does not have to be a state cop or even one in your locality. Maybe be a bro and offer to tow the car to them for inspection. You can't attract flies with vinegar (not saying you were a jerk, just saying that being as open/forthcoming and accommodating as possible will get you where you want to be, easier).
 

Ark :D

Goblin Guru
So it's time to ask the question I've had on my mind since my first street drive. I suspect something is wrong ... my mind tells me, maybe a vacuum leak, but I don't know enough about turbos and engines and whatnot to say for sure.

My boost gauge, under light or no acceleration at all, reads between 20 and 30 VAC. In moderate acceleration, it reads between 5-10 VAC. Only during heavy acceleration, does it ever get into the positive PSI range (5-10 under heavy acceleration, until I approach red line, where I've seen it spike to 20 PSI once or twice). Is this normal?

My engine idles perfectly. It revs up in RPM's perfectly, it doesn't backfire, and it seems to have plenty of power. But without having driven or ridden in another Goblin, I can't say for sure. I know the car can make you feel like your teeth got knocked out of your mouth (my wife's description), but my mind keeps wandering back to the boost gauge.

School me!
 
Top