V1 TravMac's Extended Track Goblin (#253) - 2007 SS/SC Doner

[Gtstorey]

The tunnel covers are probably being "hand" bent so someone just messed up a little. I doubt DF is running enough parts to set up truly automated production. I'm sure they are using jigs, but there will still be some pieces that slip through that aren't quite right.

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

Great work! Making good progress and you'll be up and running before you know it.

Question about the muffler location, will it be moved more into the center of the frame and have an outlet pipe aimed toward the rear? I'm not certain that blowing hot exhaust into the area behind the passenger side tire - hitting the brake assembly and drive shaft - is good for these parts. Maybe there is not enough room?

BTW, the rear frame can be stiffened up by quite a bit by adding a frame bar to the same location the tie down strap is located in the pics. Helps keep those rear frame ears from wiggling side to side.

 

[TravMac]

I have heard of no such issue until this.
I ordered my shifter with my original kit and tunnel and it fit without issue.

Nice tail lights

Thanks

And I wouldn't call it an issue, just a note. At first I thought maybe the intention was to overlap the parts for a tight fit and rivet 3 layers together (tunnel, forward/rearward cap, and center cap with shifter). The pieces do fit that way too. But after playing with the parts and lining stuff up over and over, I think end to end is the intended way. Couldn't find pictures of what others did, so just hoping these help someone else someday.

 

[TravMac]

The tunnel covers are probably being "hand" bent so someone just messed up a little. I doubt DF is running enough parts to set up truly automated production. I'm sure they are using jigs, but there will still be some pieces that slip through that aren't quite right.

Thought this too. Which more reason I thought sharing close up assembly pictures might help anyone reading through if their parts fit differently too

Great work! Making good progress and you'll be up and running before you know it.

Question about the muffler location, will it be moved more into the center of the frame and have an outlet pipe aimed toward the rear? I'm not certain that blowing hot exhaust into the area behind the passenger side tire - hitting the brake assembly and drive shaft - is good for these parts. Maybe there is not enough room?

BTW, the rear frame can be stiffened up by quite a bit by adding a frame bar to the same location the tie down strap is located in the pics. Helps keep those rear frame ears from wiggling side to side.

I'm hoping she'll be running again soon! Its been parked too long ha.

Exhaust will certainly have to turn rear, but this was a funny mock up that used a long tube header we had laying around for the cobalt. Might not go this route, but was a fun idea to kick around. And the cradle frees up all that room without the solid rack in the way!

I thought the same for those bars. The strap was more or less to help move things into place for the cradle to mount up without cross threading something. I'll be curious the stiffness this cradle gives too!

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

Try an experiment. With the subframe removed (you will get there at some point) take a rubber mallet and firmly tap on one of the down bars while touching the bottom of the opposite side down bar. It rings like bell, which translates into those down bars being able to move side to side - even with the subframe installed. I remedied this by triangulation of these down bars, they no longer ring. Putting this information into a structural analysis program (at work) determined that the crossbar and the 2 rearmost triangulation bars increased the stiffness by more than 70% st the subframe mounting points. Just something to think about if you're going around corners at ludicrous speed.

 

[Ross]

Had a great start ...
Have to get a new idler pulley too since the supercharger belt doesn't fit anymore. ZZP has a solution so going to try that.

Can you space out the AC compressor from the block, with some longer bolts, and extra washers, and use up that extra length in the 6 rib belt?

 

[TravMac]

Can you space out the AC compressor from the block, with some longer bolts, and extra washers, and use up that extra length in the 6 rib belt?

With all the changes, just shimming that out wasn't going to quite cut it. But the new tensioner is going to work! It's now on car but have a bit of work to go before starting up and confirming everything is ok. Got a better picture of the rear half together (minus the fun exhaust ideas) so adding that here.


While on this whole adventure of updating the car... I may have just realized the stronger replacement steering arms were never added. And... they don't seem to fit. Much less of the joint is in contact with the taper of the steering arm. The taper measures different between the old and new as well. I added a few pictures in case someone sees anything I don't. My nylock nuts don't engage and it doesn't seem right to leave it with this fitment.

Old one:

New one:

 

[Adam]

You're right about something being wrong between the tie rods and the steering arms. Even with the old steering arm it looks like the tie rod stud isn't sticking out as far as normal (see photos below).

This makes me think that maybe there is something up with the tie rods. The body of the tie rod does look a little different from the one in my photos.

One quick thing you could check to compare your new steering arms to the one I have in the photo would be to check the diameter of the taper. The small end is easier to measure and should be 0.478. The big end is harder to measure but right on the outer edge it should be approximately 0.575.

If your taper measurements are close to mine, I want to send you two tie rods from our newest supplier. The fit is the same as the old supplier but they use a nylok nut by default so there isn't a hole for a cotter pin. I'm going to reach out by email to confirm your address.

Photos:

Old tie rod in an old style arm:

Old tie rod in a new style arm:

New tie rod in the new style arm:

 

[TravMac]

That looks much more what I'd expect! Let me grab those measurements for ya and reply to your email. Thanks for the feedback Adam, I really appreciate it!

 

[Rttoys]

Hhhmm interesting

 

[SmsDetroit]

You're right about something being wrong between the tie rods and the steering arms. Even with the old steering arm it looks like the tie rod stud isn't sticking out as far as normal (see photos below).

This makes me think that maybe there is something up with the tie rods. The body of the tie rod does look a little different from the one in my photos.

One quick thing you could check to compare your new steering arms to the one I have in the photo would be to check the diameter of the taper. The small end is easier to measure and should be 0.478. The big end is harder to measure but right on the outer edge it should be approximately 0.575.

If your taper measurements are close to mine, I want to send you two tie rods from our newest supplier. The fit is the same as the old supplier but they use a nylok nut by default so there isn't a hole for a cotter pin. I'm going to reach out by email to confirm your address.

Photos:

Old tie rod in an old style arm:
View attachment 52710

Old tie rod in a new style arm:
View attachment 52711

New tie rod in the new style arm:
View attachment 52712

Can I order a set of mine fit like his. I just cranked down until the nyloc bit some

 

[TravMac]

Thanks to Adam, the steering arm connection fits great! Turns out it was some sort of issue with the tie rod ends. Those were replaced and the list of upgrades was finished up just in time for the Sick Michigan Miles event. Like... 6 hours before needing to leave. No time to test, just had to send it.

The week was filled with over 1200 miles of driving, 7 passes on the drag strip, and a fantastic tour of the state. It was great getting to meet up with @jirwin too! The car averaged 7.98 at 88.5 mph. The best pass was a 7.76 at 89.6 mph!

I was glad to be pit crew for my buddy who helped me build the car, and even happier the car performed well. It ran great in the heat, the heavy rain, and the bumpy roads of Michigan. It even towed the trailer great for the whole trip! Here's a bunch of my favorite pictures, but I also posted more per the event on Instagram under the handle E85LSJ. Hopefully I can get some of the 360 video up to there or YouTube too soon!