- tsj5677 New Member
Hello all. Typical car/toy guy here from Springfield MO. Just stumbled on this site and am hooked on the idea of building a Goblin. Backing up a little, I've had a couple autocross toys.
I love small nimble cars and railing corners was always more fun to me than top speed runs. I fell in love with the idea of owning an Ariel Atom and even took a vacation to Virginia International Raceway and did a track day in one.
Then I came back home and stuffed a Saturn engine in the back of a VW based street rail in an attempt to make something similar but much cheaper than an Atom. 60k is quite a bit out of my price range for a toy.
While it was cool and got a lot of attention, sadly it was more fun to look at than try to drive spiritedly in the twistys. It was twitchy and the weight balance was way off. Steering was loose, and not much adjustment in trailing link VW suspension. I thought about switching it to front A arm suspension and rack and pinion steering but rather than continuing to sink money into it I cut my losses and sold it. I did learn a ton about fabrication and wiring in the process though. I just never thought I could get it anywhere near what I experienced driving the Atom.
Moving on, I had a 2010 Chevy Cobalt I bought nearly new and drove as my daily driver for several years. A few months back my sister was looking for a decent first car for my niece. I decided to buy myself a new daily and sold the Cobalt to my sister. Well long story short. My neice passed drivers exam on a Friday and totaled the Cobalt on the following Wednesday. Thenkfully she's okay and it was ruled the other drivers fault. So I'm getting the Cobalt back for free from my sis to use as a donor. I know the powertrain is in great condition as I was meticulous about maintenance on it.
So perusing the interwebs thinking about another Ariel Atom like toy, I came upon this site.
Fortunately/unfortunately I'm closing on a new house next Friday so lots of house project/ honey do's before I can get started on a Goblin. But I will be reading up on here and hopefully be able to order stage one before the end of the year. I finally am getting a house with a three car garage so I'm anxious to get the extra spot filled with a new project.
I see a member on here that has a Goblin project build going and only lives about 30 minutes from me. So I'll probably have to go check it out in the near future if he's willing to let me.
Scott
I love small nimble cars and railing corners was always more fun to me than top speed runs. I fell in love with the idea of owning an Ariel Atom and even took a vacation to Virginia International Raceway and did a track day in one.
Then I came back home and stuffed a Saturn engine in the back of a VW based street rail in an attempt to make something similar but much cheaper than an Atom. 60k is quite a bit out of my price range for a toy.
While it was cool and got a lot of attention, sadly it was more fun to look at than try to drive spiritedly in the twistys. It was twitchy and the weight balance was way off. Steering was loose, and not much adjustment in trailing link VW suspension. I thought about switching it to front A arm suspension and rack and pinion steering but rather than continuing to sink money into it I cut my losses and sold it. I did learn a ton about fabrication and wiring in the process though. I just never thought I could get it anywhere near what I experienced driving the Atom.
Moving on, I had a 2010 Chevy Cobalt I bought nearly new and drove as my daily driver for several years. A few months back my sister was looking for a decent first car for my niece. I decided to buy myself a new daily and sold the Cobalt to my sister. Well long story short. My neice passed drivers exam on a Friday and totaled the Cobalt on the following Wednesday. Thenkfully she's okay and it was ruled the other drivers fault. So I'm getting the Cobalt back for free from my sis to use as a donor. I know the powertrain is in great condition as I was meticulous about maintenance on it.
So perusing the interwebs thinking about another Ariel Atom like toy, I came upon this site.
Fortunately/unfortunately I'm closing on a new house next Friday so lots of house project/ honey do's before I can get started on a Goblin. But I will be reading up on here and hopefully be able to order stage one before the end of the year. I finally am getting a house with a three car garage so I'm anxious to get the extra spot filled with a new project.
I see a member on here that has a Goblin project build going and only lives about 30 minutes from me. So I'll probably have to go check it out in the near future if he's willing to let me.
Scott
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