CodyP
Well-Known Member
Hello everyone! My name is Cody Pederson and I live in Victoria, Texas. I have been following this page for a few months now and pop in here and there every couple of days to see what's new.
I first found the Goblin on a hunt for a "buggy" of some sort. Growing up I wanted a go-kart more than anything but never realized the dream, as we didn't have the means or the place for it. Fast forward to about 5 years ago, still on a budget but with a bit more leeway, I bought a non running "Frankenstein" cart with the intention of swapping the powertrain from a 1986 Honda 350 4 wheeler I had picked up for 50 bucks. It was a differential driven 4 wheel drive quad that posed some interesting challenges but awesome potential so I was determined to make it work. After hundreds of hours of fabrication, more money than I intended(I'll never add it up to avoid the pain of loss), and a change in my schedule I decided to give it a break. I was designing the thing as I went from the ground up and it was honestly exhausting making little to no progress. There was still so much to do. After moving to a new house I got tired of looking at it collecting dust and rust and decided to part ways practically giving it away to see it go to a better home. I figured I'd buy a kart for me and the kid to take out eventually when I came across the right deal. I've gotten a new job(increased the budget), a bigger shop, and a renewed appetite for a project and speed. Well, being an adult, and wanting far far more than 5-10 horsepower I kept coming back to a sandrail based off of a VW bug. I've been intrigued by them for a good 15 years now since I saw my first street legal one. It's a man's go kart! So I started searching about a year ago for the right fit and couldn't decide between buying a complete one, building one, or finishing someone's project. Finishing someone's project just doesn't feel right to me, it's like taking over cooking dinner halfway through and the other person can only tell you about where they left off. I knew buying one that wasn't perfect to me would mean tearing apart and modifying the thing and that didn't feel right either. I saw someone drive by in a decked out slingshot and that created a new branch of searches(so indecisive). I found my first glimpse of a goblin while searching for something like a slingshot or sandrail on Facebook. It was Canyon B's purple one that he is selling. It was awesome, but still out of my price range considering I could build a sand rail for a few grand. But it also sparked something else, kit cars. A much more elegant solution to building what I was looking for. So I began looking at kits for various cars. Over and over I returned to the goblin. I knew I didn't want to spend what others were asking for goblins, but I liked the idea. Once I looked at the order page and found I could build a kit for cheap from a base model with an inexpensive donor, I knew it was obtainable and what I was after. It's literally the epitome of a grown man's go kart!
So after a couple of months of steadily hyping myself up from watching builds on the forum and a couple of months of searching I have finally picked my car and kit. And of course it's increased from budget minded to "if you're going to do something once, do it right". All of this means I've landed on fully built LSJ-T with all of the bells and whistles(pun intended).
I made a half-hearted jokingly offer on the 06 SS/SC that BigKID was selling on the forum classifieds and he replied with a counter offer. We ended up making a deal and after a few weeks he agreed to deliver the car himself to South Texas all the way from Panama City, Florida! He arrived with the car Friday afternoon on 3/5/21. The specs he listed on the 84k car are as follows:
Factory options:
-2.0L Supercharged LSJ
-5 speed manual trans
-G85 limited slip differential
-Recaro seats
-18x7 wheels
Aftermarket additions/mods:
-OOTP Poly trans mount
-ZZP Cold Air Intake with K&N filter and pre-filter
-Pacesetter shorty header
-mild tune for cai and header (PCM can be returned to stock if desired)
Here's a linked photo album of the car
The car has some rust because of where it was driven(or what it was driven through rather), but I was under it last night changing the oil and from what I can tell it's mostly just the lower body panels and frame that have been affected. It looks like most of what I will use is in great shape for a 15 year old car. Was told that the car has been parked for about 5 years. When unloading, the car started right up and drove down off of the trailer. It started right up again to pull it up on ramps and change the oil.
I've also ordered my kit and I am officially frame #296! I really wanted 300 but I'd rather have the kit than wait for a number. Haha. I was going to wait to order my kit until I had the car in my driveway. But, in all of the excitement on Friday I jumped the gun and ordered it. The kit I ordered is for a SS/SC extended track frame. I'm only 5'7" but I like the idea of stashing things behind the seat(maybe a subwoofer?). I'm after comfort as well as functionality. There aren't any tracks close by where I live but I may add a rack or sun cover at some point. I added almost everything to my kit except some things I may change or get from elsewhere. The things I didn't add were; the headlights(I intend to use some motorcycle ones that another builder outlined in one of his builds), fenders(they're just not go-karty enough ), the engine cover, and the seats.
I look forward to getting started after I clean up the shop and make some room.
I first found the Goblin on a hunt for a "buggy" of some sort. Growing up I wanted a go-kart more than anything but never realized the dream, as we didn't have the means or the place for it. Fast forward to about 5 years ago, still on a budget but with a bit more leeway, I bought a non running "Frankenstein" cart with the intention of swapping the powertrain from a 1986 Honda 350 4 wheeler I had picked up for 50 bucks. It was a differential driven 4 wheel drive quad that posed some interesting challenges but awesome potential so I was determined to make it work. After hundreds of hours of fabrication, more money than I intended(I'll never add it up to avoid the pain of loss), and a change in my schedule I decided to give it a break. I was designing the thing as I went from the ground up and it was honestly exhausting making little to no progress. There was still so much to do. After moving to a new house I got tired of looking at it collecting dust and rust and decided to part ways practically giving it away to see it go to a better home. I figured I'd buy a kart for me and the kid to take out eventually when I came across the right deal. I've gotten a new job(increased the budget), a bigger shop, and a renewed appetite for a project and speed. Well, being an adult, and wanting far far more than 5-10 horsepower I kept coming back to a sandrail based off of a VW bug. I've been intrigued by them for a good 15 years now since I saw my first street legal one. It's a man's go kart! So I started searching about a year ago for the right fit and couldn't decide between buying a complete one, building one, or finishing someone's project. Finishing someone's project just doesn't feel right to me, it's like taking over cooking dinner halfway through and the other person can only tell you about where they left off. I knew buying one that wasn't perfect to me would mean tearing apart and modifying the thing and that didn't feel right either. I saw someone drive by in a decked out slingshot and that created a new branch of searches(so indecisive). I found my first glimpse of a goblin while searching for something like a slingshot or sandrail on Facebook. It was Canyon B's purple one that he is selling. It was awesome, but still out of my price range considering I could build a sand rail for a few grand. But it also sparked something else, kit cars. A much more elegant solution to building what I was looking for. So I began looking at kits for various cars. Over and over I returned to the goblin. I knew I didn't want to spend what others were asking for goblins, but I liked the idea. Once I looked at the order page and found I could build a kit for cheap from a base model with an inexpensive donor, I knew it was obtainable and what I was after. It's literally the epitome of a grown man's go kart!
So after a couple of months of steadily hyping myself up from watching builds on the forum and a couple of months of searching I have finally picked my car and kit. And of course it's increased from budget minded to "if you're going to do something once, do it right". All of this means I've landed on fully built LSJ-T with all of the bells and whistles(pun intended).
I made a half-hearted jokingly offer on the 06 SS/SC that BigKID was selling on the forum classifieds and he replied with a counter offer. We ended up making a deal and after a few weeks he agreed to deliver the car himself to South Texas all the way from Panama City, Florida! He arrived with the car Friday afternoon on 3/5/21. The specs he listed on the 84k car are as follows:
Factory options:
-2.0L Supercharged LSJ
-5 speed manual trans
-G85 limited slip differential
-Recaro seats
-18x7 wheels
Aftermarket additions/mods:
-OOTP Poly trans mount
-ZZP Cold Air Intake with K&N filter and pre-filter
-Pacesetter shorty header
-mild tune for cai and header (PCM can be returned to stock if desired)
Here's a linked photo album of the car
The car has some rust because of where it was driven(or what it was driven through rather), but I was under it last night changing the oil and from what I can tell it's mostly just the lower body panels and frame that have been affected. It looks like most of what I will use is in great shape for a 15 year old car. Was told that the car has been parked for about 5 years. When unloading, the car started right up and drove down off of the trailer. It started right up again to pull it up on ramps and change the oil.
I've also ordered my kit and I am officially frame #296! I really wanted 300 but I'd rather have the kit than wait for a number. Haha. I was going to wait to order my kit until I had the car in my driveway. But, in all of the excitement on Friday I jumped the gun and ordered it. The kit I ordered is for a SS/SC extended track frame. I'm only 5'7" but I like the idea of stashing things behind the seat(maybe a subwoofer?). I'm after comfort as well as functionality. There aren't any tracks close by where I live but I may add a rack or sun cover at some point. I added almost everything to my kit except some things I may change or get from elsewhere. The things I didn't add were; the headlights(I intend to use some motorcycle ones that another builder outlined in one of his builds), fenders(they're just not go-karty enough ), the engine cover, and the seats.
I look forward to getting started after I clean up the shop and make some room.
. BTW, welcome to the forum.
