V1 John S's Full Cage Goblin - 07 SS/SC Donor

[JohnS]

I said I was going to focus on stripping the donor, so of course I didn't do that. Picked up one of the hydraulic tables (worked perfectly, thanks for the suggestion). Once I got the engine up to eye level I could see how dirty it was so I started cleaning. I need to stop doing this for now to get back to the donor, but I think I'm going to enjoy this part of the process.

 

[JohnS]

I've been listening through the donor prep/assembly videos today to try to understand some things, and one thing I haven't been able to understand is the AC compressor. Does it just stay in place to keep the belt tensioned appropriately? I don't think I could run a shorter belt, looks like the routing wouldn't work right.

(Edit: Whoops, I should have searched the forums. Guess I'm looking into gutting it. )

 

[Rttoys]

Compressor must stay on the supercharged engine. You can gut the compressor though to save weight.

 

[JohnS]

Haven't updated in a while, but back to making progress:

Remaining Donor Teardown To-Do:
- Ripping Harness out (WIP)
- Dash is out, but needs to be torn down
- parking brake tubes
- Fuel tank drop for pump
- I don't believe I need most of the suspension, but I need to watch through the teardown videos more to see what pieces I do need
- Figure out how to get this thing out of my garage.

Powertrain Cleanup/upgrades To-Do:
- General Degreasing and painting (WIP)
- ZZP adjustable tensioner (I'm sure I'll be playing with supercharger pulleys in the future, and I messed up my current tensioner)
- ZZP timing chain replacement kit
- ZZP Supercharger Coupler (guy before me bought it but never got around to installing)
- Supercharger maintenance
- ZZP intercooler pump
- Spark plugs
- I'm debating if I should go ahead and do the head gasket while it's out? It's a high mileage motor and It's going to get driven hard.

Assembly Completed:
- Coolant hoses run
- floor attached
- rear brake and clutch lines run and mounted
- Steering rack repaired and mounted
- Flipped back upright

I also went ahead and finished purchase on all the remaining parts.

 

[Robinjo]

How to get it out? I put mine on furniture dollies and just rolled it out. It was pretty easy

Running coolant hoses --> make sure they are warm. They pull much easier when warm.

 

[JohnS]

How to get it out? I put mine on furniture dollies and just rolled it out. It was pretty easy

yeah I'm hoping it goes easy, but my driveway is a hill that rolls into a much bigger hill, so I'm going to have to be careful with it on dollies.

Running coolant hoses --> make sure they are warm. They pull much easier when warm.

This probably would have saved me a lot of pain lol, I had the hoses tear and need to be backed out 3 times before I got them through successfully.

 

[Robinjo]

yeah I'm hoping it goes easy, but my driveway is a hill that rolls into a much bigger hill, so I'm going to have to be careful with it on dollies.

I was nervous at first, my father came over so we'd have two people on it. I could have done it solo. I will add that my driveway from the garage to the resting spot was flat.

 

[JohnS]

Catching the forum back up with progress. I've changed tack a bit to focus on getting parts out of my living room. I started assembling parts from the boxes into components and getting the hardware loosely fitted to make sure I have all the parts and hardware I need. Definitely not the sane build order of operations on some of this, but getting things out of boxes and onto the car keeps the momentum up.

Progress:
- Dash stripped
- Main and dash harnesses stripped
- Everything that's getting powder coated is powder coated
- Calipers/Coil Springs/random small brackets painted
- Radiator support installed
- Front suspension/steering loosely fitted to chassis
- Rear control arm/toe rods/uprights bolted together (the ones that came with the tubular subframe)

Questions I'm running into:
1. Rear side of the front lower control arm has a gap to the frame, looks like it might be intentional, but I'd like to confirm that.

2. I got the drilled 5x114.3 hubs, and the front ones bolted up real easy, but the rears have a sensor ring on them with some wiring that prevents it from fitting in the upright. I think that's just for ABS, so I think I can cut the wiring out of the way, but figured I'd sanity check before I did that.

3. The gas pedal seems to bottom out on the bulkhead, but I'm not sure if that's the bottom of the actual pedal's travel, if I need to notch the bulkhead, or if I messed something up on the install.

I'll post some photos when I get home later.

 

[Markm]

Catching the forum back up with progress. I've changed tack a bit to focus on getting parts out of my living room. I started assembling parts from the boxes into components and getting the hardware loosely fitted to make sure I have all the parts and hardware I need. Definitely not the sane build order of operations on some of this, but getting things out of boxes and onto the car keeps the momentum up.

Progress:
- Dash stripped
- Main and dash harnesses stripped
- Everything that's getting powder coated is powder coated
- Calipers/Coil Springs/random small brackets painted
- Radiator support installed
- Front suspension/steering loosely fitted to chassis
- Rear control arm/toe rods/uprights bolted together (the ones that came with the tubular subframe)

Questions I'm running into:
1. Rear side of the front lower control arm has a gap to the frame, looks like it might be intentional, but I'd like to confirm that.

2. I got the drilled 5x114.3 hubs, and the front ones bolted up real easy, but the rears have a sensor ring on them with some wiring that prevents it from fitting in the upright. I think that's just for ABS, so I think I can cut the wiring out of the way, but figured I'd sanity check before I did that.

3. The gas pedal seems to bottom out on the bulkhead, but I'm not sure if that's the bottom of the actual pedal's travel, if I need to notch the bulkhead, or if I messed something up on the install.

I'll post some photos when I get home later.

If there’s a gap before tightening the control arm bolts then that’s normal and it will move when you tighten the bolts.

 

[Rttoys]

1. Normal
2. you can remove all abs wiring. It is not needed.
3. Need pictures. I don’t think anyone has had problems with throttle hitting full

 

[JohnS]

Thanks y'all, Picture and gif of the pedal

 

[Gtstorey]

I vaguely remember that I had one of the pedals hitting and having to notch the firewall. Maybe.

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

Try rotating the gas pedal mounts to gain a little more travel from the arm (before it can hit) or slot the mounting holes to move the assembly rearward, away from the firewall, to gain more spacing. The gas pedal sits too far forward anyway and moving to toward the driver's seat can only help, especially if you are able to heel/toe for competitive driving.

 

[JohnS]

I'll try rotating the assembly tonight, I should probably throw a seat in in tonight and see how it lands anyways, I'm short, so buying myself some extra reach will be a win anyways.

I can notch the firewall if need be but I wanted to make sure I hadn't done anything wildly incorrectly on the install.