V1 ccgillett's Track Goblin - '08 SS/TC

[Rauq]

My hose takes a different route (in yellow) but I also have a SC version. The fuse box sits on top of the radiator hose and just barely (and I mean barely) misses the shift levers. It connects to a port right on the thermostat hosing. I also do not have that extra port pointing to the shift mechanism. Where does this hose (with green arrows) go?
Again, mine is a LSJ so this might be drastically different.....
Also, my frame is a newer design and we didn't have to mount the black plate to the frame. It was already welded in place.

The LSJ oil cooler has two hoses that run to and from dedicated ports on the thermostat housing. The LNF runs tees on the coolant return line and the hose to the return tank, circled in green. Before you figure out your fuse box mounting, make sure you have a solution for that second (currently unconnected) tee. It should run to a tee in a hose that goes from the top-facing barb on the thermostat housing to the coolant overflow tank. You can loosen those clamps and rotate the tee to face upwards, but I'd hate for you to figure out fuse box mounting and then have to redo it to accommodate for that tee.

I started with an LSJ donor but now have LNF-esque cooling hoses. My kit came with a spacer here, not sure if you have that or how much of a difference it'd make.

 

[Gtstorey]

Yeah I think the best approach here is to add a spacer, I did find a photo earlier this morning from someone who did this on an early chassis number. I'm off to the hardware store at lunch time to see if I can put something together without having to do a McMaster-Carr ($$$$$$) order....

1/4 or 3/8 pipe nipple with a washer or two. Or long bolt/stud with a couple of nuts to lock it into place.

 

[ccgillett]

The LSJ oil cooler has two hoses that run to and from dedicated ports on the thermostat housing. The LNF runs tees on the coolant return line and the hose to the return tank, circled in green. Before you figure out your fuse box mounting, make sure you have a solution for that second (currently unconnected) tee. It should run to a tee in a hose that goes from the top-facing barb on the thermostat housing to the coolant overflow tank. You can loosen those clamps and rotate the tee to face upwards, but I'd hate for you to figure out fuse box mounting and then have to redo it to accommodate for that tee.
View attachment 44990


I started with an LSJ donor but now have LNF-esque cooling hoses. My kit came with a spacer here, not sure if you have that or how much of a difference it'd make.
View attachment 44989

Yeah, I disconnected that line running from the nipple to the overflow reservoir last night while I sorted this out. I feel strongly that the missing piece of the puzzle was that spacer, and I'm going to fabricate something tonight. Thanks for the info and the photos.

 

[ccgillett]

1/4 or 3/8 pipe nipple with a washer or two. Or long bolt/stud with a couple of nuts to lock it into place.

Yep, I grabbed some steel spacers, long bolt, couple washers, and a nut from the hardware store today, should be pretty straightforward.

 

[ccgillett]

As my wife would politely say..."Oh what the fluff"! The flourescent lights I installed 18 years ago (super sketchy EBay purchase lol) failed yesterday and came down. Thankfully I was in the garage working on the car at the time, and even more thankfully it was a "slow and gentle" fail so I was able to avoid breaking tubes and damage to the car. They are resting on a moving blanket now. I think my next move is to set these aside and go with bright LEDs instead.

Yesterday's fun kinda messed with my build plans, but at least I installed my unobtainium exhaust flange bolt, and cleaned up and painted the bare metal exterior of the muffler flange. I also got my bulletin board hung up with hand-written checklists and photos from a DF album to show me how to plumb the turbocharger and intercooler. Having references handy like that is much easier than getting out the laptop every 5 minutes to see how something goes together.

Humorous aside: I spend a of time reviewing the DF videos narrated by Lonny. When you play those at 1/2 speed he sounds like a man on a 3 day bender....

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

Glad your lights didn't come down and cause damage to your Goblin. Trying get all of the pieces from a broken florescent tube - after they pretty much explode when they hit anything - would have not been fun. Definitely go with the LED replacements, 10 times better, and they don't 'flicker' like the florescent bulbs do (at least for my vision).

 

[G Atsma]

+1 on LED. I'm a firm believer in them whether for home or vehicle. Low amp draw and clean white light (on headlights anyway..) plus long life sold me.

 

[ccgillett]

Is the DF-sourced muffler *really* difficult to attach to the turbo exhaust outlet? I thought this would be a quick 15 minute job, and an hour later I'm sweating like a pig and thinking a need a bigger lever. I can't seem to close the gap at the top, it's about 1/8" and I've tightened the manifold nuts as much as I can. I'm wondering if I've done something wrong, or if this is a just a PITA job and I need an impact wrench and thin-walled socket to get clearance. Pics coming later, phone dead...

 

[Sebnuts]

I didn't have any issues like you're describing, it was definitely a 10min or less job on mine.

 

[KSLunsfo]

The fact that I don't remember anything particular about the exhaust install tells me I likely had no issues. When you get back around to it hopefully pictures will help explain.

 

[ccgillett]

So my Mark-1 Eyeball thinks these flanges are straight, but when I try to fit them up I see this. I've tried 3 times to put tighten these flush, going round-robin like I was tuning a drum. Still....any thoughts about what I'm doing wrong here? If you look carefully the bottom looks flush and the top looks off. Both sides look similar. Also, I ASSUME (with all that implies) that the flanges are meant to be jointed metal-to-metal since there's already a gasket in the pipe itself.

 

[Joebob]

If the flange is contacting the muffler and creating difficulty in getting the muffler on, you can either dimpled the muffler a bit or massage the flange with a grinder and a flapper wheel. Don't crack or bend the flange putting any more than 15-20 ft-lbs on the nuts.

 

[Sebnuts]

looks to me like the turbo flange is hitting the muffler, like Joebob said, either grind the turbo flange a little or dimple the muffler for clearance.

 

[ccgillett]

If the flange is contacting the muffler and creating difficulty in getting the muffler on, you can either dimpled the muffler a bit or massage the flange with a grinder and a flapper wheel. Don't crack or bend the flange putting any more than 15-20 ft-lbs on the nuts.

Good lord I didn't even notice that....good call out on this! I will remove the muffler and try the "dimpling" approach first before I grind the flange.

 

[SmsDetroit]

Good lord I didn't even notice that....good call out on this! I will remove the muffler and try the "dimpling" approach first before I grind the flange.

I ground the flange a bit rather than dimpling the muffler. Worked great

 

[ccgillett]

After a few weeks of forced time away from the car (i.e. my daily job), I'm working this weekend on the fusebox. After fabricating a support to get the box above transmission and away from those mechanicals, and putting together a clamp to hold the other side of the box it's finally installed in the car. Now I am trying to get the electronics installed.

Several questions as I do not want to screw this up ($$$$ error)...

(1) Except for the black plug which is upside down, do I have these plugs in the correct position?

(2) Do the plugs "just click into place"? With the exception of the first plug you install I am finding each one to be really hard to orient and I don't get a nice "click it's in place" result. The wires underneath the plugs are really thick, which I think is keeping them from sitting nicely.

(3) Do I have the wiring harness oriented correctly? If you note the plug I'm pointing to it's at the far end of the car with very little slack to move it, which prevents me from installing it where I think it needs to go. Did I pull the harness too far back?

Note my harness was prepared by DF, so I expect everything is correctly spaced and organized. It wouldn't be shocking to hear that I routed it incorrectly.

Figure 1: The gray plug is intentionally upside down to show bundle thickness

Figure 2: Note the gray plug in the foreground and how far away form the box it is

Figure 3: Gray plug in my hand is at rear of car. Do I have these plugs oriented correctly?

 

[Traé]

they just click in yes, if they’re not lining up it may be backwards but it does look correct how you have it.

This is how it goes, this was taken in the cobalt

This was my fuse box after thinning, the bulk of the main harness might be too far to the outside of the goblin. Or you may have taped up the gray connector too much. The square tan bundle goes under the fuse box and all others run along the engine side of the fuse box and plug in from the side or back. The blank space is for the engine harness that you have upside down in your pic.

 

[ccgillett]

they just click in yes, if they’re not lining up it may be backwards but it does look correct how you have it.
View attachment 45935
This is how it goes, this was taken in the cobaltView attachment 45936
This was my fuse box after thinning, the bulk of the main harness might be too far to the outside of the goblin. Or you may have taped up the gray connector too much. The square tan bundle goes under the fuse box and all others run along the engine side of the fuse box and plug in from the side or back. The blank space is for the engine harness that you have upside down in your pic.

Thanks very much, this is helpful. I'll re-position the harness tomorrow and maybe remove some tape to thin things down. I appreciate your photos a lot.

 

[Robinjo]

On mine, if I don’t put in the long, light grey block first it has trouble snapping in. The one above the two small square plugs in Trae’s photo. Not sure the issue but just a quirk with my holder and blocks.

 

[ccgillett]

I figured this out, but now I have a bigger mystery. In my previous post I was whining about the plugs not clicking into place and the wires being in the way. I was tired when I wrote this, my realization today is that the bottoms of several multiplugs (the part that "clicks into" the fusebox base) are missing. Here it is in pictures:

First, here's the bottom of a multiplug (the term Lonny uses in the assembly videos). There's a plastic tab in the fusebox holder into which this clips, super easy:

Here's a couple of the plugs missing their bottoms, no way these can clip to anything:

I've tried searching for "multiplugs", "fuse box plugs", "fuse box connector plugs", etc. and I'm coming up empty. Does anybody know what the correct technical term for these parts are? I found one of the "bases" (for the small rectangular one at the far end of the box) in the donor parts I received when I bought the kit. The other two plugs, show above, have no bases and I need to order some or go to a junkyard.

Anybody have any insight into part names, numbers, etc.?

It occurs to me that I could simply bolt these plugs to the fusebox itself, and then drop the whole thing into the fusebox holder, there is no electrical connectivity between the holder the the fusebox itself. But I'm not convinced that's the best idea.