Joel's "new-to-me" standard track Goblin #007 - '10 SS/TC manual
- Thread starter Jm12
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Jm12
Active Member
Not a progress report so much as a drive report. I took the car up to US-129 for a quick spin last weekend. The car wasn't really ready for it for a variety of reasons that I've mentioned previously, but I wanted to see what was out and about for Ecotec Nation and it's close by. I got a late start so my time was a bit limited and I didn't manage to get in a full lap, but about 2/3rds of the way through my eastbound run I saw Justin Reed's car headed in the opposite direction so I turned around when I could and chased him down (he'd pulled off, otherwise it wouldn't have happened). Made a quick introduction with him and Paul (what's your username on here?), ogled the car for less time than I would've liked, and hopped back in to hurry home. Between the u-turn and the little bit of time I got to run with Justin after the meet and greet I managed to get in about half a lap of traffic free, spirited driving. This was my first opportunity to get a feel for how the car behaves in low speed technical turns and I have to say that I was very impressed. I still haven't done an alignment and the car is only running front coilovers that I haven't put any effort into setting up thus far. As it sits (and it's largely my fault) the car really does not handle well at interstate speeds and above, especially in high speed sweeping turns. It has a tendency to roll, compress outside suspension, catch and dart, and this becomes cyclical/harmonic without a lot of effort to correct. I expected this to be reduced in slower speed driving, but I was surprised to find that it was basically not an issue at all. By and large the car stuck to the road well and handled predictably. That said, I can't say that I'm a big fan of the Falkens. They feel vague to me and the weight distribution of the car accentuates this. Additionally, the front end loses grip in corners very suddenly. All will be good and then the slip angle quickly increases and traction drops off of a cliff- it's like a rubber band snapping. It's not unpredictable but it's not gradual. I can't attribute this entirely to the tires- as I mentioned the car's setup leaves a few things to be desired- but I do look forward to trying some different rubber. I was hoping that the wheels off of my Golf would fit as they've got RE71Rs mounted currently but they're 112 so no dice. JEGS SSR 15x10s with Nankang AR-1s are in my future for street and a 2nd set with Hoosier A7s for competition. I'm going back and forth on running adapters vs having the hubs redrilled and I'd love additional opinions on this.
All in all I'm even more excited about getting the kinks worked out of this car and the suspension and rubber where I want it to be. I think it's going to be amazing when it gets there.
All in all I'm even more excited about getting the kinks worked out of this car and the suspension and rubber where I want it to be. I think it's going to be amazing when it gets there.
Ross
Goblin Guru
Congrats on getting out on the tail of the dragon, and getting to talk to Justin, and see his car.
My Goblin likes a good wheel alignment. It is critical to get the car to act right. Justin told me this too. I did about 6 garage alignments with a digital level, but I'm much happier now that I have found a mechanic and a shop with a laser alignment tool. Took me about 8 different alignment shops before I found someone who would work on it. I have had 2 different laser alignments, and the car is getting dialed in a lot better. I would blame the quirks your car has on alignment first, tires second.
As far as adapters go, I am glad that Lonny removed my front adapters. He brought the wheel back over the kingpin, where it belongs for proper steering geometry. So those hubs have been redrilled to 5x114.3. My rear hubs still have the adapters, which makes my rear tires stick out an inch more than the front, but isn't as critical as the fronts. The adapters were about the same cost as the redrilled hubs, but know now that I should have bought thinner adapters (say 15mm instead of 39mm). The SSR wheels are available in 4.5" offset, which would work nice for rear hubs if they are re-drilled. The fronts have the 5.5" offset. But I am running 5.5" offsets front and rear, with rear adapters.
The 10x15" wheels look nice on the Goblin, as they are short and wide, giving it that racer/go cart look. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of street tires available. Those Nankang AR-1's are the only one that I know of, unless you stretch a 255mm wide tire onto 10" rims, which isn't recommended. Also my Goblin scrapes the road occasionally (speed bumps, bumpy parking lots) with the 15" wheels, as the car is now 1" lower to the road. My 17" wheels never do that.
My Goblin likes a good wheel alignment. It is critical to get the car to act right. Justin told me this too. I did about 6 garage alignments with a digital level, but I'm much happier now that I have found a mechanic and a shop with a laser alignment tool. Took me about 8 different alignment shops before I found someone who would work on it. I have had 2 different laser alignments, and the car is getting dialed in a lot better. I would blame the quirks your car has on alignment first, tires second.
As far as adapters go, I am glad that Lonny removed my front adapters. He brought the wheel back over the kingpin, where it belongs for proper steering geometry. So those hubs have been redrilled to 5x114.3. My rear hubs still have the adapters, which makes my rear tires stick out an inch more than the front, but isn't as critical as the fronts. The adapters were about the same cost as the redrilled hubs, but know now that I should have bought thinner adapters (say 15mm instead of 39mm). The SSR wheels are available in 4.5" offset, which would work nice for rear hubs if they are re-drilled. The fronts have the 5.5" offset. But I am running 5.5" offsets front and rear, with rear adapters.
The 10x15" wheels look nice on the Goblin, as they are short and wide, giving it that racer/go cart look. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of street tires available. Those Nankang AR-1's are the only one that I know of, unless you stretch a 255mm wide tire onto 10" rims, which isn't recommended. Also my Goblin scrapes the road occasionally (speed bumps, bumpy parking lots) with the 15" wheels, as the car is now 1" lower to the road. My 17" wheels never do that.
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Jm12
Active Member
We've got a go-to guy in town for performance alignments and suspsension setup and he's pumped to work on the car. I had an appointment to get it done but had to cancel. After that, little (and maybe big) things started stacking up with the car that I wanted to get taken care of first.
Regarding adapters, I've looked at some 15mm ones, but man that seems like not a lot of metal to resist the forces being applied to them in corners.
Regarding adapters, I've looked at some 15mm ones, but man that seems like not a lot of metal to resist the forces being applied to them in corners.
Ross
Goblin Guru
Good point. 15mm adapters are probably a bad idea. I have a couple of 39mm adapters that i no longer use, that i paid $150 for... $75 and they could be yours.
escapepilot
Goblin Guru
If Joel doesn't want your adapters, I'm interested.
Jm12
Active Member
Go for it. I think those are a little wider than I would want to run.
Jm12
Active Member
Over the weekend I finally had the opportunity to run compression and leak down tests to see if there are any obvious major issues with the engine. The compression test came back 130 160 160 155. A little low on cylinder 1 (or 4, dunno which order it runs in- assuming left to right facing backwards due to engine orientation). Leak down was a little concerning on the first run on the low cylinder on first run, but I ran it a 2nd time and it was normal across the board. Any and all noise to be heard was coming from the dipstick tube on all cylinders. 5 pics loop back around to the same problem cylinder as first and last pics.
At this point I'm really racking my brain to figure out what's going on. The car stinks like gas. The oil smells like gas. It did not smell like this when we picked it up, nor do I remember it smelling this way until after I replaced the plugs, packs, intake filter, and cleaned the MAF sensor. A little bit of oil is still making it past the less-than-airtight check valve. It's been running on an open loop since I purchased it. There are two things that I can think to weed out from here. 1) having a fouled MAF sensor caused the car to run leaner and ultimately not all that bad on an open loop. I need to hook up the wideband sensor to rule this out- pretty easy... right? Right?? 2) The fuel pump is going bad and is leaking into the engine. I've read a few instances where this has happened in various SS forums. Definitely a bigger investment to figure this one out.
Any other thoughts here? I'm very much learning as I go.
At this point I'm really racking my brain to figure out what's going on. The car stinks like gas. The oil smells like gas. It did not smell like this when we picked it up, nor do I remember it smelling this way until after I replaced the plugs, packs, intake filter, and cleaned the MAF sensor. A little bit of oil is still making it past the less-than-airtight check valve. It's been running on an open loop since I purchased it. There are two things that I can think to weed out from here. 1) having a fouled MAF sensor caused the car to run leaner and ultimately not all that bad on an open loop. I need to hook up the wideband sensor to rule this out- pretty easy... right? Right?? 2) The fuel pump is going bad and is leaking into the engine. I've read a few instances where this has happened in various SS forums. Definitely a bigger investment to figure this one out.
Any other thoughts here? I'm very much learning as I go.
Attachments
Get the O2 sensor going so you can see what the fuel is doing.
I bet you probably have multiple problems. Without reading all four pages, you likely have a somewhat worn engine and on top of that the ECM isn’t really controlling things. It could be that it’s been dumping to much fuel in which washed the cylinder wall down causing wear.
Have you tried data logging at all?
I bet you probably have multiple problems. Without reading all four pages, you likely have a somewhat worn engine and on top of that the ECM isn’t really controlling things. It could be that it’s been dumping to much fuel in which washed the cylinder wall down causing wear.
Have you tried data logging at all?
Jm12
Active Member
Not yet. I've got the wideband sensor installed but nothing to log the data with/to.
Jm12
Active Member
Lots of new parts arriving from DF. Rear coilovers, new shifter, braided brake lines, redrilled hubs. Looking forward to getting this all installed. I'll address that pesky, potentially fatal engine issue at some point as well.
Quick sanity check so I don't order the wrong thing: I'm about to pull the trigger on a square setup of 15x10 JEGS SSR Star wheels with backspacing of 5.5". This seems to be the recommendation in terms of backspacing, correct? JEGS has some with -25mm offset/ 4.5" backspacing that I believe are out of stock in 5x4.5 pattern, but I'm not seeing than anyone is running those. Advice is appreciated.
Quick note to point out for those considering the same wheels- I'd planned on going with the polished aluminum but noticed that the two finishes looked a bit different in terms of spoke profile. After closer inspection, it's clear that JEGS is machining a non-negligible amount of material off of the spokes of the black anodized finish compared to the polished aluminum finish. I'm all for less rotating weight and that was enough to change my mind.
Quick sanity check so I don't order the wrong thing: I'm about to pull the trigger on a square setup of 15x10 JEGS SSR Star wheels with backspacing of 5.5". This seems to be the recommendation in terms of backspacing, correct? JEGS has some with -25mm offset/ 4.5" backspacing that I believe are out of stock in 5x4.5 pattern, but I'm not seeing than anyone is running those. Advice is appreciated.
Quick note to point out for those considering the same wheels- I'd planned on going with the polished aluminum but noticed that the two finishes looked a bit different in terms of spoke profile. After closer inspection, it's clear that JEGS is machining a non-negligible amount of material off of the spokes of the black anodized finish compared to the polished aluminum finish. I'm all for less rotating weight and that was enough to change my mind.
lksohm
Well-Known Member
I actually just received my order of the SSR star polished wheels this week in 17X10. I love the look.
These have a backspacing of 6.5" I am also using a 1" adaptor to 5X4.5"
The only interference I have is the front left wheel at full left lock. This was the same with the cobalt wheels though.
What size tires are you going to be using?
I think it says the black wheels are powdercoated not anodized.
These have a backspacing of 6.5" I am also using a 1" adaptor to 5X4.5"
The only interference I have is the front left wheel at full left lock. This was the same with the cobalt wheels though.
What size tires are you going to be using?
I think it says the black wheels are powdercoated not anodized.
Ross
Goblin Guru
Those are the same wheels I use for racing. The front left needs a DF steering limiter. I wish I would have gotten these wheels with 6.5" back spacing for the rear of my car, as I run 32mm adapters back there. Currently my rear tires are 1" wider on each side when compared to the front wheels. Guess I could just buy redrilled hubs for the rear too. About the same cost as new wheels.
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Jm12
Active Member
Did you get the ones 5.5" backspacing? So effectively you're running 4.5" with the adapter and you wish you had less?
Ross
Goblin Guru
Yes, I have 5.5" backspacing, both front and rear. Only my rear runs the adapters, so they are wider than the front of the car. I wish my car was square, so going to 6.5" backspacing on the rear would tuck the rear in more closely to the shocks, and bring my goblin close to the front width.
Ross
Goblin Guru
My front hubs are metric wheel studs, my rears are standard (1/2") and those SSR wheels work with both... more a question of which wheel nuts you want to run. I'm not running a hub centric ring... but those wheels are put on at the start of a race, and taken off at the end... so they are always freshly torqued. I probably should be running a ring.