LOTS OF QUESTIONS PLEASE CONSIDER :)

[Swishsam]

Hi all,

I have been doing some research on my own and was hoping that I could have a number of members provide their input/understanding/wisdom as it relates to each of the following questions. Please note that I have used the search function and therefore post the following questions after having canvassed the responses in those other threads.

1. I live in Calgary, Alberta. I understand that there may have been another person in Alberta or Western Canada that may have taken a DF Goblin Kit project on. Can you please point me in the direction of those users? The more the merrier please. I mostly want to understand how their importation experiences and then street-legal registration experiences were. If I could also see a finished car that would be absolutely amazing.

(Note, for others you see this thread, this link has been helpful: https://dfkitcar.com/files/Importing DF Goblin Kit into Canada.pdf)

2. Donor Cars - My goal is to buy a Cobalt SS Supercharged or Cobalt SS Turbocharged. In Canada, the prices appear to range from about $3,500 CAD (USD2,600) to $7,000 CAD (USD$5,200). On the low end of the price, kilometers will be about 260,000km (167,000 miles). Questions is this: what do you think a reasonable price is for a Cobalt SS Supercharged for the purpose of this project? What do you think a reasonable price is for a Cobalt Turbocharged for the purposes of this project? Are those kms way too high for this project? Note that it will be difficult for me to find a car that is not driving so please assume these would all be donor cars that are currently being daily driven. (I also appreciate that "reasonable" is in the eye of the beholder but please just let me know what pricing you think I should have in mind before buying a specific donor car).

3. Donor Car Parts - I appreciate that I will need to keep the engine, transmission, subframe, fuel tank and fuel lines and suspension pieces from the donor. Can you please let me know an estimate or approximation of how much you believe can be sold (in dollars) from the donor after using what I need for the Goblin?

4. Supercharged versus Turbo - In Calgary, supercharged Cobalts are easy to find and tend to be priced quite reasonably. The turbocharged cars, on the other hand, tend to be at least a $2,000 to $3,000 more. I do want my kit car to the maximum potential from one or the other conversion. Can you please let me know how worse off I am to use a Cobalt supercharged car and then use the savings towards maximizing the potential of that engine and platform? Basically, will I be doing myself a disservice by starting with the supercharged car?

5. Completed Builds - Can you please provide me with your 0-60ft and approximate quarter mile times for a Goblin Supercharged and a Goblin Turbocharged car? I know this next question probably comes across as trollish but how does the Goblin's performance compare with that of an Ariel Atom? I am hoping that I will be able to build a reliable car that has 10 second quarter times (and no, not because of F&F) but you guys let me know if I am out to lunch.

6. Street Registration - Can anyone please describe the general experience registering a Goblin for street use in Alberta (preferably) and Canada more generally? Other than pointing me to the Traffic Safety Act and associated regulations, can you please describe your experience and the specific things that you had to do aside from what you get in a Stage 1 and Stage 2 kit car? Is Stage 3 a requirement?

7. Building the Kit - I know the seller states that no welding, no drilling or special tools are required for this. Has that been your general experience in building the car up? How difficult would you say this project would be for someone who has limited experience working on cars (other than tire changes, oil changes etc.) and just some of the basic tools?

8. Picking a Specific Donor Car - Is there anything in specific that I should look for to improve my experience doing this project? Are there Cobalts (and transmissions for example) which are better suited to this? How do I determine whether the car I am looking at is best suited for this project? I do want to keep it to a manual car and not automatic.


I know these are all somewhat loaded questions but I really appreciate your answers to the above. I hope I can start this project over the winter and complete it for Spring/Summer 2021.

Thank you all in advance.

 

[Ross]

1. Good day, eh. I am from the Vancouver, BC area. ManDan1957 is the only Goblin that I know in Canada. Adam would know if you contact DF.
2. You can buy a totaled car, and save some money, but others want to get to know the Cobalt for a while before stripping it down. You probably know the prices in Calgary better than I do.
3. No need for the Cobalt fuel tank.
4. The supercharged car is easier to add aftermarket performance to, but the turbo has more HP right off the start. The SC engine is port fuel injection, which has lots of aftermarket for. The turbo is direct injection, which limits aftermarket options. Of course you could convert the turbo over to port injection, or add a turbo to the SC engine, so there is plenty of cross over. If you just want a stock engine that has is high HP, then go turbo, but if you like to add aftermarket, then SC could save you some money.
5. My stock SC Goblin does 0-60mph in 4.1 seconds, on a dusty country road with poor grip. Never had it on a prepped track, just autocross. Justin Reed Racing has run the quarter mile in roll racing. Maybe look him up on YouTube.
6. See if you can find other people who have register kit cars in Alberta. Not sure you will find a Goblin there yet.
7. You will probably buy some tools for this kit, like big sockets, rivet or rivnut tool, but generally no need to weld. Lots of us do modifications from the stock DF kit, but that is just user preference.
8. User preference. I like power and shifting. The transmission is pushing a car that weighs half of the Cobalt, so even the F23 isn't overloaded. The F23 is engineered for 23 newton meters of torque, the F35 is 35nm, and the F40 for 40nm. Justin reed is running 585hp to the wheels, and just moved from the F35 to the F23, we will see if that much power causes issues, but the F35 seems bullet proof in a Goblin. My tranny has 200K miles, and the syncros are worn out, so I am buying a new F35 from DF for $650.

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

Hi all,

I have been doing some research on my own and was hoping that I could have a number of members provide their input/understanding/wisdom as it relates to each of the following questions. Please note that I have used the search function and therefore post the following questions after having canvassed the responses in those other threads.

1. I live in Calgary, Alberta. I understand that there may have been another person in Alberta or Western Canada that may have taken a DF Goblin Kit project on. Can you please point me in the direction of those users? The more the merrier please. I mostly want to understand how their importation experiences and then street-legal registration experiences were. If I could also see a finished car that would be absolutely amazing.

(Note, for others you see this thread, this link has been helpful: https://dfkitcar.com/files/Importing DF Goblin Kit into Canada.pdf)

2. Donor Cars - My goal is to buy a Cobalt SS Supercharged or Cobalt SS Turbocharged. In Canada, the prices appear to range from about $3,500 CAD (USD2,600) to $7,000 CAD (USD$5,200). On the low end of the price, kilometers will be about 260,000km (167,000 miles). Questions is this: what do you think a reasonable price is for a Cobalt SS Supercharged for the purpose of this project? What do you think a reasonable price is for a Cobalt Turbocharged for the purposes of this project? Are those kms way too high for this project? Note that it will be difficult for me to find a car that is not driving so please assume these would all be donor cars that are currently being daily driven. (I also appreciate that "reasonable" is in the eye of the beholder but please just let me know what pricing you think I should have in mind before buying a specific donor car).

3. Donor Car Parts - I appreciate that I will need to keep the engine, transmission, subframe, fuel tank and fuel lines and suspension pieces from the donor. Can you please let me know an estimate or approximation of how much you believe can be sold (in dollars) from the donor after using what I need for the Goblin?

4. Supercharged versus Turbo - In Calgary, supercharged Cobalts are easy to find and tend to be priced quite reasonably. The turbocharged cars, on the other hand, tend to be at least a $2,000 to $3,000 more. I do want my kit car to the maximum potential from one or the other conversion. Can you please let me know how worse off I am to use a Cobalt supercharged car and then use the savings towards maximizing the potential of that engine and platform? Basically, will I be doing myself a disservice by starting with the supercharged car?

5. Completed Builds - Can you please provide me with your 0-60ft and approximate quarter mile times for a Goblin Supercharged and a Goblin Turbocharged car? I know this next question probably comes across as trollish but how does the Goblin's performance compare with that of an Ariel Atom? I am hoping that I will be able to build a reliable car that has 10 second quarter times (and no, not because of F&F) but you guys let me know if I am out to lunch.

6. Street Registration - Can anyone please describe the general experience registering a Goblin for street use in Alberta (preferably) and Canada more generally? Other than pointing me to the Traffic Safety Act and associated regulations, can you please describe your experience and the specific things that you had to do aside from what you get in a Stage 1 and Stage 2 kit car? Is Stage 3 a requirement?

7. Building the Kit - I know the seller states that no welding, no drilling or special tools are required for this. Has that been your general experience in building the car up? How difficult would you say this project would be for someone who has limited experience working on cars (other than tire changes, oil changes etc.) and just some of the basic tools?

8. Picking a Specific Donor Car - Is there anything in specific that I should look for to improve my experience doing this project? Are there Cobalts (and transmissions for example) which are better suited to this? How do I determine whether the car I am looking at is best suited for this project? I do want to keep it to a manual car and not automatic.


I know these are all somewhat loaded questions but I really appreciate your answers to the above. I hope I can start this project over the winter and complete it for Spring/Summer 2021.

Thank you all in advance.

Welcome to the forum. To answer your question about someone in western Canada who completed a Goblin build, I've attached a link to Dan's build log. Unfortunately I'm not seeing him as a registered forum member anymore. There may be some info in this thread where you can contact him.

ManDan’s city goblin-09 LS donor

Time to start my build log. My donor is pretty much picked apart. Had a few interesting moments getting things apart. When you don’t have an engine hoist a scaffold and come along works just fine.

www.dfkitcar.com

 

[Swishsam]

Bumping up. It would be great to have other comments on my questions above. I've been in touch with ManDan - he was an awesome contact. I've also emailed DF Goblin company directly but its been 2 weeks and no response.

 

[Goblin Graber]

Let’s give this a shot.

1. Don’t know anyone in Canada building one but I’m in Montana if that counts.
2. Those do seem like reasonable prices for good running driving cars. Supercharged ones on the low end turbos on the high end.
3. I bought a base donor so not really anything good to sell. Is you buy an SS you should be able to get good money for the wheels, seats, and brembo brakes.
4. You can easily start with a supercharged car. If it’s not fast enough then you have a couple options. If it’s close to how much power you want do all the typical LSJ mods like dual pass, option B from ZZP, smaller pulley. If you think it needs a lot more power then buy a turbo kit from ZZP and make all the power you want.
5. Have no clue.
6. I have never registered a car in Canada but I’ve done a handful in Montana and it’s easy. I have exported a lot of new Chevy trucks to Canada and we always had to have something done daytime running lights after they got to Canada, so look into what’s up with DRLs. If I remember right everyone took them to Canadian Tire to have this done. Try to seek out other local kit car builders in general not just Goblin builders.
7. Basic tools will get you by, buy an impact gun and some cheap impact swivel sockets will make the donor tear down super easy. I tore the whole car apart by myself.
8. If you’re looking at running and driving cars you really need to only worry about how well the engine runs and the transmission shifts. All the wear items in the front end that get used on your Goblin are cheap to replace.

Hope this helps.
Zack