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

[Torchandregdoc]

We use latches on anything in the dirt because inverably camlocks get dirty and won't come apart or people that don't use them all of the time will not get one leg engaged. We put camlocks in the Goblin, but it is nice to look over at a passenger to see they are buckled at a moments glance without having to give a yank on everything.

 

[Ark :D]

I guess my biggest complaint about these is the bulky, cardboardish plate behind the buckle. Maybe I'll cut it off, since I have no plans to take this car to a track. Or maybe I won't.

 

[Rttoys]

I had those on my off-road rig. They work great, but a PITA to latch all in. I love my turn buckle ones on the goblin, though.

 

[Ark :D]

I responded back anyway, asking for an exchange, and they haven't answered me yet. I'm not certain they are going to, but if they do, I'll let you know.

@Anks329

I just wanted to bump this to let you know, Mad Hornets did finally make good on the replacement control box. It just got here so I haven't tested yet to see if it has the same quirks as the original with the lighting priority. I plan to get it installed tonight and find out.

 

[Ark :D]

So I went about trying to adjust the camber of my back wheels per THIS thread, and I really suck at this. I have the exact angle meter they recommended in that post, and the zero on it seems to change every time I move it. Additionally, I have the BC Racing coilovers, but there seems to be NO adjustability on the two bolts that hold it to the knuckle. So I gave up for the night.

Any tips for this? Do I do it with the wheels on the ground, or jacked up? I assume with the wheels on the ground. If not, maybe that's my problem.

Also looks like I have air working its way out of my coolant system, because now my cluster is reporting low coolant without having any leaks. I have to get another gallon of coolant tomorrow and add some. At least this is (probably) solid confirmation that my water pump is moving coolant around.

Finally, I haven't wired up my third brake light yet because I made a booboo. Since my clutch is bled now, I have to get in the car to start it. I was doing some work back there, and wanted to test something with a wire that gets power only with the ignition on, so I set my cheap-ass multimeter on top of one of the back wheels and hopped in. I started the car up, and I don't know whether my shifter cables aren't adjusted well or if (more likely) I am out of practice and forgot to take it out of gear before letting the clutch out, but my car lurched forward, stalled, etc. And my multimeter is now a pancake!

I have another one on its way.

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

So I went about trying to adjust the camber of my back wheels per THIS thread, and I really suck at this. I have the exact angle meter they recommended in that post, and the zero on it seems to change every time I move it. Additionally, I have the BC Racing coilovers, but there seems to be NO adjustability on the two bolts that hold it to the knuckle. So I gave up for the night.

Any tips for this? Do I do it with the wheels on the ground, or jacked up? I assume with the wheels on the ground. If not, maybe that's my problem.

Also looks like I have air working its way out of my coolant system, because now my cluster is reporting low coolant without having any leaks. I have to get another gallon of coolant tomorrow and add some. At least this is (probably) solid confirmation that my water pump is moving coolant around.

Finally, I haven't wired up my third brake light yet because I made a booboo. Since my clutch is bled now, I have to get in the car to start it. I was doing some work back there, and wanted to test something with a wire that gets power only with the ignition on, so I set my cheap-ass multimeter on top of one of the back wheels and hopped in. I started the car up, and I don't know whether my shifter cables aren't adjusted well or if (more likely) I am out of practice and forgot to take it out of gear before letting the clutch out, but my car lurched forward, stalled, etc. And my multimeter is now a pancake!

I have another one on its way.

Try this video, seems to explain the use of the camber bolts pretty well. I think you would want to do this with car on the ground to get an accurate reading. I would also recommend that you put at least 100 pounds in the driver's seat to simulate you being in the car.

 

[Ross]

I replaced the 2 camber bolts with
QUICK STEER K90473 Alignment Caster Cam Bolt Kit $23.34
but I didn't find I liked the results. The bolts are sloppy, and there was as much slop as there was adjustment.

GM recommends that you file a slot in the strut, and use the stock bolts to tighten at the right point.
This is a 2 person job, as my son held a pry bar, and I tightened the bolts. (I put a 2x4 between the rear tires, so I had something to pry against)
Then we checked the camber. Repeated a few times until we got it.

PS: Check your oil. Hopefully your coolant isn't mixing with the oil, but check!
Coolant might also be going out the exhaust.

 

[JBINTX]

So I went about trying to adjust the camber of my back wheels per THIS thread, and I really suck at this. I have the exact angle meter they recommended in that post, and the zero on it seems to change every time I move it. Additionally, I have the BC Racing coilovers, but there seems to be NO adjustability on the two bolts that hold it to the knuckle. So I gave up for the night.

Any tips for this? Do I do it with the wheels on the ground, or jacked up? I assume with the wheels on the ground. If not, maybe that's my problem.

Also looks like I have air working its way out of my coolant system, because now my cluster is reporting low coolant without having any leaks. I have to get another gallon of coolant tomorrow and add some. At least this is (probably) solid confirmation that my water pump is moving coolant around.

Finally, I haven't wired up my third brake light yet because I made a booboo. Since my clutch is bled now, I have to get in the car to start it. I was doing some work back there, and wanted to test something with a wire that gets power only with the ignition on, so I set my cheap-ass multimeter on top of one of the back wheels and hopped in. I started the car up, and I don't know whether my shifter cables aren't adjusted well or if (more likely) I am out of practice and forgot to take it out of gear before letting the clutch out, but my car lurched forward, stalled, etc. And my multimeter is now a pancake!

I have another one on its way.

Well at least no large collateral damage like the Goblin or the house!

 

[Ark :D]

Try this video, seems to explain the use of the camber bolts pretty well. I think you would want to do this with car on the ground to get an accurate reading. I would also recommend that you put at least 100 pounds in the driver's seat to simulate you being in the car.

I'll check this out DS, thanks!

I replaced the 2 camber bolts with
QUICK STEER K90473 Alignment Caster Cam Bolt Kit $23.34
but I didn't find I liked the results. The bolts are sloppy, and there was as much slop as there was adjustment.

GM recommends that you file a slot in the strut, and use the stock bolts to tighten at the right point.
This is a 2 person job, as my son held a pry bar, and I tightened the bolts. (I put a 2x4 between the rear tires, so I had something to pry against)
Then we checked the camber. Repeated a few times until we got it.

PS: Check your oil. Hopefully your coolant isn't mixing with the oil, but check!
Coolant might also be going out the exhaust.

I bought the BC coilovers though, shouldn't need to file those at all, no?

Also, why/how would coolant get mixed with the oil? Sign of a damaged block/head? Dear God, if that happens with this go-around, I'll sell the **** car on the spot.

Well at least no large collateral damage like the Goblin or the house!

Indeed. I almost put a hole in the drywall, but not quite!

 

[Ross]

Bad head gasket can mix the oil and coolant and exhaust.
Not catastrophic... but a bit of work.

 

[Murcielago311]

On my bc setup, I left the rear camber alone and just tried to match the front camber to the rear. If you're tracking the car you may want more camber added but mine's just street for now.

Maybe check my build thread for the video on how to purge the coolant with air pressure. Should be just a page or two from the end. I would think if your reservoir is full-ish, you shouldn't get the warning though.
Edit: post 107

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

Did I see a posting a while ago on bad coolant reservoir sensors? I was searching and didn't find it.
Edit: found it, not sure if it will help.

Coolant Tank

You'll probably need the tab since it clips into a spot on the frame. Any idea if I need to get the Ss tank?

dfkitcar.com

 

[Torchandregdoc]

Ark, how high is your car off the ground when it's sitting on the rubber? We pulled our adjustment as far as we could and couldn't get the right camber. I decided I wanted the car an inch lower, and after we did that, went back to check camber and picked up another degree. We are right on now. Sorry, I don't remember the ground clearance number and we are back on the stand now changing things.

When you filled your coolant system, did you purge the air from the top of the radiator? If you didn't, it will take a while to get all of the air out. Even if you did, by slightly pulling the top hose, there will still be around a quart of air left in the corner of it that has to work out. .

 

[ctuinstra]

I dumped the adjustable bolts. See my thread about them being loose and causing all kinds of problems. Went back to solid bolts and adjusted the camber using this sight hole (between the upper and lower bolt) in the BC coilovers. Make it the same on both sides and that should get you **** close. If you need to tweak it more, the slots in the BC should allow for adjustments.

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

I believe the Cobalt bolts are 12mm diameter, would it make sense to drill out to a 14mm or even 16mm to go to a stronger bolt that can accept higher torque? The cam bolts come in different sizes and it seems a bigger diameter bolt may give better results.

 

[Rttoys]

There’s a lot of places air can get trapped on the goblin. Getting some burps, will drop the coolant pretty good. Top it off and go from there. Plus, the sensor can go wonky at times, when it sits, so don’t get too worried yet.

mine didn’t adjust much with the adjustment bolts. Might need grind the strut, like linked above. You’ll get it.

 

[JBINTX]

I had to top mine off at least 3-4 times after driving the first 40-50 miles. I kept looking for drips. All the air finally worked its way out. I think the intercooler is the last place it purges from.

 

[Ark :D]

Changed the oil and it was clean, no coolant. I'm also not losing coolant out the exhaust, so I'm going to credit it to "burping" the system. The reservoir was a bit low so I added some coolant. I didn't burp it very well when I filled it, so I was expecting this, tbh.

On my bc setup, I left the rear camber alone and just tried to match the front camber to the rear. If you're tracking the car you may want more camber added but mine's just street for now.

This is what I ended up doing. The front wheels pretty much match the back wheels now. Still have to check the toe but I am out of willpower to work in my hot garage any more this weekend. I launched up and down my alley a few times and the wear pattern on the tires looks fine ... I know eyeballing it isn't good enough, but I'll take a proper look later.

Also finished wiring up my wing as well as the resistor to enable cruise control. We'll see how that works once I have my button panel.

Finally, I cut and test-fit my engine cover. It's not perfect, but it's pretty close.



What's left?

1. Trim off a little bit of the front third of my tunnel cover then rivet it on (my harness isn't shaped perfectly up there)
2. Take my seats out (again) and untrap the crotch belt from under my seat brackets (woops)
3. Drill the holes for the side panel rivets (yes, I will avoid drilling into my coolant hoses)
4. Wrap/mount side panels
5. Wrap/paint hood/engine cover
6. Wire up license plate light/drill holes for future license plate mount

Some obligatory "almost there" pics. It's very difficult to resist the urge to drive this thing out on the street, but I MUST resist!

 

[Rttoys]

Looks finished to me.

 

[Ark :D]

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