Blue Man
Well-Known Member
I've been on the forum in a couple of different threads for awhile now trying to get off the ground on this project, and I've reached the point that I think a build log will be the best way to do this moving forward. Looking back, I should have started with this, right? All part of the learning process though, so here goes . . .
Hi! I'm Chris and I'm a dentist, not a mechanic, and my son, Boston, is an electrical apprentice. Neither of us has much car experience. I have changed oil and brakes and a few bulbs, but that is about the extent of my expertise with cars. My son has even less. When the car breaks down, we take it to the shop and say, "It doesn't go." That's where we are coming from. One grandfather was a life long automechanic and the other was a life long carpenter, so that kind of stuff is in the blood though.
We wanted a project that we could do together that resulted in something tangible and worthwhile. We wanted something that did not involve a screen and something we could be proud of. We searched around and thought we might try to restore a car, but were advised to start on something "simpler" first. (I think "simpler" is a relative term here.) Kit cars was a suggestion. So we looked up kit cars and came across the goblin and thought that this might be the perfect fit to see if we were cut out for this type of project and if we enjoyed it.
We jumped on the forum here and started asking if people with our background should even attempt this. We got some good feedback and support. It was also suggested that we try and meeting up with one of the two goblin buildings in the valley here. We were able to meet up with Todd. He and his son had built a goblin. They were kind enough to hang out with us for an hour and show us their goblin, take us for a ride, talk about the build and the challenges and offer advice if needed along the way. That kind of sealed the deal for us.
We had already been watching for donors. We posted a couple on here. One came up that would have been perfect but was gone in a day. The auctions seemed the best route, but the shipping costs put things out of our price range for the project. So we went back to one of the first cars we saw. A base automatic 2005. We were interested in this car because it was reasonably close, very cheap and only had 75K on it. The downside was that it had been in a front end accident 18 months ago and had sat in a field ever since. The owner said she had driven the car for 30K miles and never had an issue with the engine or the transmission, just an unfortunate meeting with a deer on the freeway.
We knew that this was like the most plain jane car you could get for a goblin, but all we are hoping to do is make something that looks cool and runs. If things go well to that point and we like it, we can work on upgrading things. If we REALLY like it, we could even build a second one or replace the engine with something a little better. This just seemed like a simple, cheap and easy way to start. (Hopefully we still feel that way when it's done!)
So we settled on terms, placed our order with DF (open cage, full door bars frame) and went to get the car.
Hi! I'm Chris and I'm a dentist, not a mechanic, and my son, Boston, is an electrical apprentice. Neither of us has much car experience. I have changed oil and brakes and a few bulbs, but that is about the extent of my expertise with cars. My son has even less. When the car breaks down, we take it to the shop and say, "It doesn't go." That's where we are coming from. One grandfather was a life long automechanic and the other was a life long carpenter, so that kind of stuff is in the blood though.
We wanted a project that we could do together that resulted in something tangible and worthwhile. We wanted something that did not involve a screen and something we could be proud of. We searched around and thought we might try to restore a car, but were advised to start on something "simpler" first. (I think "simpler" is a relative term here.) Kit cars was a suggestion. So we looked up kit cars and came across the goblin and thought that this might be the perfect fit to see if we were cut out for this type of project and if we enjoyed it.
We jumped on the forum here and started asking if people with our background should even attempt this. We got some good feedback and support. It was also suggested that we try and meeting up with one of the two goblin buildings in the valley here. We were able to meet up with Todd. He and his son had built a goblin. They were kind enough to hang out with us for an hour and show us their goblin, take us for a ride, talk about the build and the challenges and offer advice if needed along the way. That kind of sealed the deal for us.
We had already been watching for donors. We posted a couple on here. One came up that would have been perfect but was gone in a day. The auctions seemed the best route, but the shipping costs put things out of our price range for the project. So we went back to one of the first cars we saw. A base automatic 2005. We were interested in this car because it was reasonably close, very cheap and only had 75K on it. The downside was that it had been in a front end accident 18 months ago and had sat in a field ever since. The owner said she had driven the car for 30K miles and never had an issue with the engine or the transmission, just an unfortunate meeting with a deer on the freeway.
We knew that this was like the most plain jane car you could get for a goblin, but all we are hoping to do is make something that looks cool and runs. If things go well to that point and we like it, we can work on upgrading things. If we REALLY like it, we could even build a second one or replace the engine with something a little better. This just seemed like a simple, cheap and easy way to start. (Hopefully we still feel that way when it's done!)
So we settled on terms, placed our order with DF (open cage, full door bars frame) and went to get the car.
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