- Adam Administrator
Before getting into the update, I just wanted to say that we are doing everything we can to get the V2 kits out as soon as possible. We're more excited about getting V2 out into the hands of customers than anything we've ever done before. On top of that, DF Kit Car won't prosper if we don't have a new product to sell. The sooner we get it out, the better off we will be!
Guessing at the timeline has been tricky
It has proven to be extremely difficult to predict when the first Goblin V2 kits will ship. We were shooting for Q2 of this year but we've flown right past that.
One of the main reasons is that this is only our second time launching an all new car. We have enough experience to know how what we want out of the new car this time around but not enough experience to foresee all of the challenges in making it happen.
Add in life changes, day to day operations requirements, and surprise tariffs and global backlogs in the middle of development, and things got off course.
We're in the homestretch, but we don't want to rush it
We are definitely in the homestretch now to get the first stages of the first production kits out the door, but there are still many items that we want to nail down before sending out V2 kits.
With Goblin V1, there were many places where "good enough" was "good enough" but that isn't acceptable on V2. For example, early versions of V1 had threaded tubes welded to the chassis for the motor mounts that worked most of the time, coolant reservoir mounts that worked if the reservoir wasn't damaged, welded on radiator mounts that worked until you had an accident, and so on.
With V2, every part is under a magnifying glass. We are designing with the future in mind to head off issues before they happen and make assembly clear for the guys building them. We are also planning around upgrades we intend to offer so even the earliest frames stay compatible with those options.
For example, we plan to offer three battery options: a standard car battery mounted near the engine, a compact battery in the passenger kickplate area, or a super light battery mounted near the steering rack. We want even the very first frames to be able to get these upgrades when they become available so we are factoring them into the design now.
Where we are at right now
Chassis Production - We've welded out four V2 chassis so far. They are nearly complete, missing final details like light mounts, brake hose mounts, and other small features. When we built the V2 prototypes, we just welded these items on to get the cars driving but now we are finalizing the exact positions and making tools to locate them.
Build In Progress - We are assemble a V2 using one of the first production chassis. This build will accomplish many things including to help nail down the final location of many items, check the fit and finish of donor parts and our own components, and get an idea of how the assembly will go for you guys. We don't want to send out kits that immediately need modifications. Taking extra time now will save a lot of frustration later.
BOMs for Kitting - While building this first production car, we are finalizing the components of the kit bags and boxes. These are things like the bolt sizes/lengths, washers, nuts, etc.
Major Components - The large custom parts for Stage 1 are figured out. These are things like the fuel tank, front and rear control arms, sheet metal, radiator, heat exchanger, and subframe. The parts are either here at our shop, on order, or ready to be produced from tooling.
Moving forward
Either my dad or I will drop in here every few days to give you an idea of what we've been working on to get V2 finished up. We'll also try to provide insight into our thought process and design process so you can see how we accomplished each task.
Guessing at the timeline has been tricky
It has proven to be extremely difficult to predict when the first Goblin V2 kits will ship. We were shooting for Q2 of this year but we've flown right past that.
One of the main reasons is that this is only our second time launching an all new car. We have enough experience to know how what we want out of the new car this time around but not enough experience to foresee all of the challenges in making it happen.
Add in life changes, day to day operations requirements, and surprise tariffs and global backlogs in the middle of development, and things got off course.
We're in the homestretch, but we don't want to rush it
We are definitely in the homestretch now to get the first stages of the first production kits out the door, but there are still many items that we want to nail down before sending out V2 kits.
With Goblin V1, there were many places where "good enough" was "good enough" but that isn't acceptable on V2. For example, early versions of V1 had threaded tubes welded to the chassis for the motor mounts that worked most of the time, coolant reservoir mounts that worked if the reservoir wasn't damaged, welded on radiator mounts that worked until you had an accident, and so on.
With V2, every part is under a magnifying glass. We are designing with the future in mind to head off issues before they happen and make assembly clear for the guys building them. We are also planning around upgrades we intend to offer so even the earliest frames stay compatible with those options.
For example, we plan to offer three battery options: a standard car battery mounted near the engine, a compact battery in the passenger kickplate area, or a super light battery mounted near the steering rack. We want even the very first frames to be able to get these upgrades when they become available so we are factoring them into the design now.
Where we are at right now
Chassis Production - We've welded out four V2 chassis so far. They are nearly complete, missing final details like light mounts, brake hose mounts, and other small features. When we built the V2 prototypes, we just welded these items on to get the cars driving but now we are finalizing the exact positions and making tools to locate them.
Build In Progress - We are assemble a V2 using one of the first production chassis. This build will accomplish many things including to help nail down the final location of many items, check the fit and finish of donor parts and our own components, and get an idea of how the assembly will go for you guys. We don't want to send out kits that immediately need modifications. Taking extra time now will save a lot of frustration later.
BOMs for Kitting - While building this first production car, we are finalizing the components of the kit bags and boxes. These are things like the bolt sizes/lengths, washers, nuts, etc.
Major Components - The large custom parts for Stage 1 are figured out. These are things like the fuel tank, front and rear control arms, sheet metal, radiator, heat exchanger, and subframe. The parts are either here at our shop, on order, or ready to be produced from tooling.
Moving forward
Either my dad or I will drop in here every few days to give you an idea of what we've been working on to get V2 finished up. We'll also try to provide insight into our thought process and design process so you can see how we accomplished each task.
