V1 Scotts 2009 SS/TC #478

[DUNE]

Hello fellow builders! I've been working on my build for the last couple of months and figured its high time to start my build log. My name is Scott, im a 23 year old mechanical Engineering student who loves racecars/bikes and all things mechanics. Me and my father stumbled across the DF Goblin at a parade in a nearby town. This was ManDan1957 build which I believe was the first one in MB (we will be the second). My father and I were very attracted to the idea of a homemade lightweight rear wheel drive racecar. It was also good to know that there is a lot of guidance available through both the videos and the forum on the construction. After a couple months of research and discussion we decided to pull the trigger on the build and start looking into doners.

Late winter, I found the perfect doner at auction in Saskatchewan. A 2009 Cobalt SS/TC with only 91,000km that was in a minor front end collision. Won the bid at $1,200, got it home and began working on it in my free time to get it running. After some very backyard mechanics and lots of duct tape she was running strong! April I began with the tear down process and early June I started re-working the harness. Ill include a few pictures below. After dealing with some issues getting our kit across the border (due to missing paperwork) we finally brought out kit home last week. That same day, we dropped the chassis off at our painters place and it should be done by next week. For chassis color, we decided to go with a candy apple red with metallic flake. We are going with full panels that we are planning on wrapping either matte black or possibly matte carbon. Hopefully once we get the wing, seats and wheels it should end up being a pretty aggressive set up. We plan on registering the car for road use and could possibly end up taking it to an autocross event eventually.

This afternoon I pretty much finished with the wiring! All I have left is to test my grounds and tape up the harness and it should be ready to install. In order to pass inspection in Manitoba I believe I will need to keep a functioning windshield washer unfortunately. For those of you that are in the same boat, did you find it easier to keep the factory system & wiring or did you add something aftermarket after finishing the harness?

Anyway, now that I'm getting to the more interesting part of the build, I will try to keep up with documentation and keeping the log updated! I'm looking forward the next few months!!!

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

Welcome Scott, and your Dad too! From the photos it looks like you're off to a great start on your build. If you can get the wire harness done, you can easily complete your build. Hope to see it built soon and get your first start out of way! Don't be shy to ask questions, we are here to help.

 

[Mahkoi]

Nice! You are off to a good start. Here's a link to the washer I used. It's not anything fancy but it works and made the Michigan cops happy. I mounted the reservoir in the area above the passenger footwell. didn't like the nozzle they gave me so I switched it out for a different one. No idea what the nozzle was off of just one of those things in the random part drawer of the tool box. Mine is wired to one of the extra buttons on the button panel set.

Kemimoto Universal Car Windshield Washer Pump, Washer Fluid Reservoir Bottle Kit with Pump Jet Button Switch 12V Windshield Tank https://a.co/d/9Ly8bto

 

[DUNE]

Thanks for the reply! I assume you reused the stock wiper motor assembly then?

 

[Mahkoi]

Nope it was too much hassle for something I'd probably never use. I went with a single manual wiper blade to pass inspection. Drilled out one of the windshield bolts bigger for it to go through. $13 and about 5 minutes to install.

RANSOTO UTV Windshield Wiper Kit with Wiper Blade Compatible with Polaris Ranger RZR General Can Am Maverick X3 Commander Golf Cart Hand Operated Manual Wiper (1 Rubber Blade) https://a.co/d/jjAJ6ep

 

[SmsDetroit]

Welcome. Another sedan TC builder. I got so much crap on Facebook after posting parts and saying I cut up a sedan tc

 

[DUNE]

This past week I unfortunately haven't had much time to work on the Goblin but here's what did happen

Wrapped up the wiring harness, hopefully everything works first try

Prepped some parts for spray painting. Struts are pretty rusty and rough, was thinking of getting them sandblasted to get a better paint surface. I'd prefer not to buy new ones to save a couple bucks.

Went through all my boxes of parts and found my intercooler water pump broke in transit . DF is working on getting me a new one thankfully.

Chassis should be done paint any day now. I very eagerly await to see how that will turn out

 

[Gtstorey]

If buy shocks you mean struts, they can be bought cheap on rock auto for the off brand. And I would think new off brand is probably better than wore out name brand.

 

[DUNE]

Yes thanks I did mean struts. I just looked it up and I can find a nice set for ~$150 which is less than I expected. I might just go that route

 

[DUNE]

Since my last update I've made some fair progress

Chassis came back from paint early last week and if I'm being honest, I'm a little disappointed in the finish. The color is close enough to what I was picturing but there looks to be lots of little drop marks in the paint especially on the top of the roll cage as well as some areas having pretty noticeable overspray. This will be something I would like fix in the future. Ill include a picture below.

Got all of the front end components in with no issues. Rad, pedals, brake booster, power steering, ignition then the wiring harness all went very smoothly minus my steering rack limiter kit not being included in any of the stage one boxes as far as I could see.

Just this afternoon I got the engine and fuse box installed and fully hooked up. A few more coolant and radiator hoses to hook up then I should be just about ready for my first start! I'm getting near the end of the content that the videos covers so this next weeks progress will likely involve a lot more research and forum searching for guidance. Just today I found the helpful photo albums that Adam posted a while ago which should be really handy going forward. This next week I am hoping to get it running and wrap up stage 1 so I can start figuring out stage 2!

 

[ChrisH]

Hi Dune, Just a heads up in case you didn't know, part 23 and 24 build videos do not come up through YouTube, but you can find them through the forum build videos posts.

 

[Ross]

Here is their video list on YouTube, and on the forum.
@Adam These videos have been left as "unlisted" on YouTube... but they are on this playlist.
DF Goblin Build Guide Part 23 - Front Suspension
DF Goblin Build Guide Part 24 - Front Brakes

 

[DUNE]

Thanks ill take a look through those later!

 

[DUNE]

I managed to put a good amount of time into the car yesterday and raised a couple question for the forum.
In part 20 of the build guide videos, we solder in a radiator fan wire extension (large blue wire) to the large black multiplug in the fuse box. My soldering gun in on the fritz and isn't melting the solder properly. What are your opinions on using something else like a insulated bullet connector? Will it also be a solid enough connection?

I haven't found any videos or posts that clearly show how the metal clutch line hooks into the transmission. Does someone have a picture of that?

My intercooler MAP tube and one of my intake pipes are on backorder so there is a large piece missing in between my turbo and my intake manifold. I was hoping to get a first start in this week if possible. Will the engine still run without this or am I better of just waiting till the parts are back in stock?

 

[Ross]

Solder is the best connection IMO. Soldering guns tend to corrode, and need deep cleaning. I use a file to clean the copper.

GM calls the F35 transmission clutch line attachment point a "distribution block", ZZP calls it a hydraulic clutch elbow. Some keywords to help you with the forum search engine.

 

[DUNE]

Thanks Ross, ill give that a shot.

Today I cut up some of the factory intake and intercooler tubing to piece together the parts that are on backorder through DF. It does not look pretty and I definitely wouldn't trust it on the road, but it will do for a first start. After that I filled coolant, primed the fuel pump and tuned the key. Aaaand nothing happened. I could hear the fuel pump kick in but the starter didn't engage. When that didn't work, I pulled the starter relay and jumped the terminals with a wire and it fired up right away! Tomorrow ill pick up a new relay and hope that solves that issue. One more hurdle down on the way to a complete Goblin race car and I am thrilled to hear the engine alive and purring! Now with that out of the way tomorrow Ill begin working on the front suspension.

While I was working on the engine, I noticed that my clutch distribution block has loosed noticeably from the transmission and wiggles freely when moved by hand. I assume this is not a good thing, but how large of a issue is this?

 

[Gtstorey]

Jumping the relay doesn’t mean much since you take a full time hot and jump it straight to the starter solenoid.

 

[DUNE]

Jumping the relay doesn’t mean much since you take a full time hot and jump it straight to the starter solenoid.

So you don't think it is the relay?

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

A ground...it's always a ground.

 

[Mahkoi]

A ground...it's always a ground.

They do seem to be main problem causers here. Jumping it confirmed big 12v and output wiring are good. That leaves little 12v (signal), ground, or an actual bad relay as the problem.