RouteAbel's Extended Track Easy Entry - '10SS/TC build

RouteAbel

Well-Known Member
Well its time to start a build log. I've been lurking for the last year or so but finally underway with my build. Christopher Sanchez spotted a potential donor on Ebay and posted in the classifieds. It looked like what I wanted so I jumped on it. I had a few airline miles to burn so I flew up to Detroit, inspected the car, and completed the purchase. I got it shipped to Austin, TX and took possession a couple weeks ago. So thank you to Christopher.

I placed my kit order on August 1st and I believe Adam said I am chassis #167. So far I have started stripping the donor a bit.

The car has 106K miles. Engine and transmission seem pretty good. I couldn't drive at speed due to busted wheel. I'm trying to decide what preventative maintenance I should do to the engine before assembly begins. I'm not too proficient in automotive repair so this is all a learning experience to me. So far it seems most recommend doing the timing chain replacement and possibly a new clutch? I assume its a good idea to do the water pump and engine seals while you are in there doing the timing chain?
 

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Karter2026

Goblin Guru
I would at least make sure the tensioner for the timing chain is the updated version. If you end up putting a chain in then do the water pump. It is much easier to do with the chain out of the way.

I would put a spare on it and drive it around some, Never mind I see you started to strip it already.
 

Motoracer110

Well-Known Member
Welcome! your off to a good start with a donor like that. IMO you would want to change the clutch when the engine is out. I was amazed how bad mine was when i pulled the transmission off. Its a great feeling getting the kit ordered. did you just get stage 1 or all the stages on order?
 

RouteAbel

Well-Known Member
Welcome! your off to a good start with a donor like that. IMO you would want to change the clutch when the engine is out. I was amazed how bad mine was when i pulled the transmission off. Its a great feeling getting the kit ordered. did you just get stage 1 or all the stages on order?
I ordered all the stages...I think. I probably need to confirm.

What clutch kit did you go with?
 

RouteAbel

Well-Known Member
Tear down of donor is complete.

Weight reduction:
9892


My chassis should be about ready to go to powder coat. That gives me a tiny bit of time to get the wiring harness done and get my parts ready. I want to go through the engine and turbo and make sure in good working order. Will do new gaskets and seals plus timing. Need a new clutch and flywheel.

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I think I have picked a color, Illusion Cinnamon.

 

RouteAbel

Well-Known Member
Lots of good donor parts to sell to help offset the cost of the car. Love the color choice. Are doing this overall - chassis and body?
That's the frame color. Hood and sides will be white. I'm trying to decide if I should paint subframe white or stick with black.
 

JeffsGoblin

Goblin Guru
I would go with black. I went with Illusion Red powder coat on the subframe and the more I look at other Goblins with black subframes, the more I wished I would've picked black. Plus, the white will get much more dingy looking since it is so close to the ground picking up road dust and such.
 

RouteAbel

Well-Known Member
I've been working on the wiring harness. Started pretty slow due to intimidation factor but making good progress now.

10420

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JSATX

Goblin Guru
The chiltondiy online manual is amazing for wiring help. Every single connector and pin out and wiring color etc etc is included. It’s the most complete thing I’ve seen next to the factory service manual set.
 

RouteAbel

Well-Known Member
The chiltondiy online manual is amazing for wiring help. Every single connector and pin out and wiring color etc etc is included. It’s the most complete thing I’ve seen next to the factory service manual set.
That is good to know because I was staring at those other wiring manuals thinking, nope this doesn't make sense at all. :)
 

RouteAbel

Well-Known Member
Been a while since I posted, a fair bit to update.

Due to the new wiring videos I figured out that I made a mistake in my harness. Nothing I can't recover from but it was enough that I decided to take a pause while the other new videos are finalized. The new videos are really good. So with the wiring on hold I moved on to getting my subframe ready to go. Mine had a ton of surface rust so I have had to take it down to bare metal. I probably should have sent it out to a media blaster but oh well.
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Then the day arrived and it was time to get my kit. I rented a u-haul trailer and set out from Austin to Red Oak. Lonny and Adam were awesome and I enjoyed a factory tour and my first ride in a Goblin. WooHoo!!! That was a blast. Seeing how fast Lonny's ride is with a N/A, I am almost scared of what the turbo version will do.

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We got the chassis strapped into the trailer and then @Lonny and @Adam jinxed me ;) They told me a story about someone coming up and when they loaded the chassis they realized u-haul hadn't hitched the trailer correctly. We joked about how bad that could have been. Well I can't blame mine on u-haul as they hitched mine correctly, but my hitched failed. Somehow the safety pin came out and the bottom nut on the hitch worked its way free. I was in the left lane next to a concrete barrier on I-35 when the trailer broke free. By the grace of God and the trailer safety chains, I was able to keep the trailer from whipping into the barrier or another car. I got pulled over on the side of the highway.

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Now I was stuck with no way to tow in the middle of no-where. Looking at the map I was 20 minutes from the nearest auto parts or Walmart. I was pretty nervous to just leave the trailer on the side of the highway for an hour with no way to secure it. I found the nearest truck stop and managed to buy a hitch off a kind gentleman who was fueling his truck. Then I hauled ass back to the trailer which was thankfully still there.

Finally made it home, got everything unpacked, and then went ahead and mounted the floor pan so I could set it in place.

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All's well that ends well. I'm beat, but really excited to start more assembly.
 

JSATX

Goblin Guru
Holy. ****. That’s terrifying. I’ve always wondered what it would feel like if a trailer let loose. Hope I never find out.

With that color all you need is a big white longhorn on the hood and you’ll be the king of the tailgate parties haha.
 

Ark :D

Goblin Guru
Looking good, RouteAbel. I'm sorry to hear of your trailer mishap, that **** is terrifying! I'm glad all is well.

I wish I'd have been able to travel to TX and retrieve my frame from Lonny and Adam. I'd really love to tour their shop and get a ride in a "professionally built" Goblin. The closest one I know of to me is Karter2026's in Pittsburgh, but that's 5-6 hours away.

Obviously your frame is powder-coated, but what about your floor pan? I was considering painting mine with a rubberized material. I don't plan to get it wet, but I am sure wet shoes and whatnot will happen from time to time ... as well as incontinence of my passenger's bladder?!
 
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RouteAbel

Well-Known Member
Looking good, RouteAbel. I'm sorry to hear of your trailer mishap, that **** is terrifying! I'm glad all is well.

Obviously your frame is powder-coated, but what about your floor pan? I was considering painting mine with a rubberized material. I don't plan to get it wet, but I am sure wet shoes and whatnot will happen from time to time ... as well as incontinence of my passenger's bladder?!
I just had DF do all the additional parts in powder coat as well. The fuel tank is the other part. I would worry about getting fuel on any of that spray on rubberized stuff.
 

RouteAbel

Well-Known Member
With that color all you need is a big white longhorn on the hood and you’ll be the king of the tailgate parties haha.
Yeah, that is the plan. I need to figure out if I can mount a set of longhorns Boss Hogg style to the hood. :)
 

baustin

Well-Known Member
Wow, the hitch ball coming loose had to terrible to handle to get stopped but it's nice that the uhaul trailer doesn't dig in with the front of the tongue but instead has the foot that it can slide on (doesn't look like the safety chains prevented it from going that far. Glad you didn't have a bigger problem, sounds the strapping in the trailer to hold the frame and the safety chains all did their job for you.
 

Karter2026

Goblin Guru
Wow That had to be a **** your pants experience. I despise u-haul. The way the safety chains are on that trailer it failed to do what the chains are supposed to do. The chains are to be crossed under the hitch so that in the case of it coming unhooked it will support the tongue of the trailer to keep it from digging into the pavement. Glad it all worked out for you.
 
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