V1 Traé’s Goblin (06’ SS/SC #501)

[Ghostknife]

So moving forward;

• Add weight to passenger and driver seat.
• Set ride height: Front so the LCAs & tie rods are level (is there a way to level both independently? Caster?). Rear so the rear tie rods / control arms are level (what is more important on the rear? or should they both have the same pitch?).
• Redo alignment procedure.

Does this sound correct? Do any other suspension settings affect the alignment process?

Right now with the front suspension I have taken the slack out of the spring. With the DF rear coil over measurements and the rear end lifted up, the springs are free to move around quite a bit. This always worried me about being correct but I could never find info if that was acceptable.

When I got my alignment, I went to Walmart and bought 200lbs of dumbbells and set them on the floor of the goblin while they did it. I then promptly returned them when done. You can do this to simulate passengers and your denser than doing fluids of any type.

 

[Traé]

When I got my alignment, I went to Walmart and bought 200lbs of dumbbells and set them on the floor of the goblin while they did it. I then promptly returned them when done. You can do this to simulate passengers and your denser than doing fluids of any type.

Thats slick!

I got it back on the ground this afternoon and checked ride height. My front LCAs are within 1 degree of level and rear tie rods are within a half of a degree of level.

Rear ride height is 7-3/4 to 7-13/16...Front ride height was 4-1/4 to 4-5/16.
I threw on a digital angle finder and sat in the car and had a change of 0.2 degree on camber on the driver front and not much in the back.

For now, I'm going to let it be until I get the rest of the kit buttoned up (hood, windscreen, wing, and lights) and check it again with weight in the seats.

 

[Gtstorey]

Thats slick!

That's not right.

 

[Traé]

Took a cruise through the neighborhood and it drove just the same but the marks on the tires look a lot better. I think I still need to play with the tire pressure settings and will probably do a chalk test.

Moving on I need to get lights and a wing ordered, as well as figuring out what I want to do color wise for the hood and side panels.

#501 is almost there!

 

[Rttoys]

Roughly 15 to 20 psi or under works well.

 

[comegetjoe]

Moving on I need to get lights and a wing ordered, as well as figuring out what I want to do color wise for the hood and side panels.

I'm a bit off yet, but I'm glad I ordered a while ago. That Seibon Carbon wing I went with was almost a 3month wait. Don't slack!

 

[Traé]

I'm a bit off yet, but I'm glad I ordered a while ago. That Seibon Carbon wing I went with was almost a 3month wait. Don't slack!

I may may just get a knock off NRG on eBay/amazon or see if I can find a used NRG or a used 9LR and get mounts welded on at the right spacing.

 

[Traé]

I’m looking at a few different headlights, 5-3/4”, one has DRL lights and the others don’t.
Are the DRLs as easy as running key on power to that leg? or does it get more complicated than that??

 

[Ark :D]

You shouldn't use just key-on 12v, you should use the actual DRL circuit. I think I ran an additional pair of wires from the BCM to get my DRL's working. I mean I guess you could use key-on 12v, but then you couldn't turn them off at the headlight switch.

 

[Traé]

You shouldn't use just key-on 12v, you should use the actual DRL circuit. I think I ran an additional pair of wires from the BCM to get my DRL's working. I mean I guess you could use key-on 12v, but then you couldn't turn them off at the headlight switch.

From what I remember and info I can find, I have 4 wires color coded per DFs videos;
White - High Beam
Yellow - Low Beam
Brown - Parking Lights
Black - Ground

I remember saving the looped bundle of DRL wires, they were either purple or dark blue. The wire harness video mentions cutting them out if they are burnt, or discolored, something of that nature. I will have to rewatch the videos and see if they hook into that somewhere.

Edit: Now that I watch the videos again I may have cut the DRL wires out of the headlight harness
Where did you tie into the BCM to run DRLs? The headlight harness comes from the fuse box it looks like.

 

[Ark :D]

I wish I could give you more details, but I just don't remember at this point ... but I think brown is what you want for DRL's.

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

For the 2008 SS it is the purple wire A2 to F4 to apply power to low beams. Not certain about the wire color for earlier models.

 

[Traé]

I ditched the DRL lights and found an LED headlight that was somewhat close to the DRL style I wanted.

The light I was planning on getting has the DRL horizontal through the center of the light.

The lights I purchased have the low beams side by side through the center of the light. Similar and close enough for me that they got my money.

The Kemimoto taillights (knock off rigid) only have 1 in stock at the moment so I will need to wait on them to restock before ordering. I am contemplating ordering 3 to have a 3rd brake light across the top rail for better visibility or going with a 16” trailer light bar to fill the 18 inches between the two supports.

 

[Rttoys]

I’m pretty sure the drl’s are the small bulb on the mirror turn signals. What would be part of the headlight capsule turn/run and small drl bulb.

 

[Traé]

I’m pretty sure the drl’s are the small bulb on the mirror turn signals. What would be part of the headlight capsule turn/run and small drl bulb.

The headlight with the DRL would have an H4 connector with high, low, ground and a separate DRL wire. If I’m not happy with the Non-DRL ones I ordered I will sell/return and try the DRL ones.

 

[Traé]

With the erratic idle continuing, I made a smoke machine today to test the intake for a vacuum leak. It “worked” but the smoke was a little thin.

I hooked it up to a bicycle pump and tested through the port where the vacuum line to the brake booster hooks up. I was mainly concerned with the fuel injector cups as I removed them while cleaning the engine and they were definitely original. I have replaced pretty much every gasket on the engine and intake besides the head gasket.

I then tested the vacuum line going to the brake booster.

I did not see any leaks at all other than a bit from where the tape didn’t seal 100% around the hose feeding smoke and the end of the intake.
I will have to wait until I can get ahold of HP Tuners to start looking at the tune and maybe calm down my erratic idle.

 

[Traé]

Question for the masses;

I found an amazing deal on a carbon fiber spoiler down the street from me but the mounting holes are only 22” apart. The uprights from DF are about 26.5” apart and with the 90° bracket make it about 24”-25”.

Has anyone drilled into carbon fiber to mount a wing? I’m not sure how thick it is but my thought was utilizing rivnuts if I can get them to grab (worried about the strength of that) or getting a longer bolt and using spacers to make up the difference.

 

[Gtstorey]

I would not count on riv-nuts to hold it. Imagine the damage something like that could cause if it came loose at speed. Maybe if the endplates will come off you could sandwich it with plates and bolts strong enough to hold. Otherwise, you need to figure out how to adapt to using the provided mounts.

 

[Traé]

I would not count on riv-nuts to hold it. Imagine the damage something like that could cause if it came loose at speed. Maybe if the endplates will come off you could sandwich it with plates and bolts strong enough to hold. Otherwise, you need to figure out how to adapt to using the provided mounts.

Thank you for confirming my questionable approach.

My next thought was to use a long bolt and 3 nuts to sandwich the wing mount and the upright. Do you think this would be strong enough? I’m having a tough time finding something with the correct spacing other than getting a WingLogic or something similar and welding the mounts on myself at the correct spacing. This is probably the smartest thing but just had the opportunity arise and figured I’d entertain it.

 

[Gtstorey]

Don't make it look cheesy. Use spacers. Or a piece of capped off rectangular tubing. Or a piece of channel. Or bend the Uprights to squeeze them in. It looks like you need about 1.5" per side.