Current Projects

11/29/24: We have LOTS of interesting customer projects to showcase here, including 3 personal shop cars, 2 of which race competitively and make a strong showing each time.

2 of our most interesting customer GTO restorations are featured below.

To cover these adventures more succinctly, we are working on expanding each vehicle to have its own dedicated page with articles and photos, as well as YouTube videos for folks on the go, but we do not have a dedicated media department at this time. Everything is done in-house, so please allow some grace as you navigate this site.

7/2009-Present - 3rd Gen Toyota Camry V6: “the Black Mamba” - less of a project and more of a successful marriage of man and car, this was the test bed for our detailing and paint correction business from 2010-2013, when the factory paint was brought up to near-Concours level gloss and protection.

The little 4-door “Leyota” has been the absolute best workhorse for 15 years of ownership.

Featuring Toyota’s stupendous 1MZ-FE 3.0L V6, this platform rewards its owners who invest in good fluids and maintenance by outliving everything else on the road.

The 4-speed auto is truly lackluster for performance due to overly long gearing in 1-3, but the factory slush box and torque converter have delivered 3 decades of smooth, slick shifts, so we aren’t complaining.

The car has been restored twice now: once in November 2011 @ 173k miles, and again a few years ago near the 250k mark, where all major service and wear items were tackled.

The suspension and braking systems were refreshed using the best parts available from 5 countries, demonstrating to friends and customers how an old car is supposed to ride and behave when the parts are healthy.

A fresh set of Vredestein HiTrac All Season tires were recently fitted to the existing 15” Lexus ES300 wheels, making for the smoothest and safest ride quality this car has ever known.

Today, the Black Mamba’s ticker shows 266k miles. She turned 30 years old in 8/2024…original engine and transmission still working faultlessly thanks to proper maintenance and attention to detail.

Toyotas are the best in the business, but even we have been surprised by the longevity of this car, and the affordable parts availability via the aftermarket.

Don’t sleep on old Hondas and Toyotas: they can save you thousands a year by skipping car payments and high operating costs!

2012 Fiat 500: “Mussolini” - A truly terrible car if ever there was one, we actually pleaded with the owner to sell the car and cut his losses before taking this project on. It showed the importance of obtaining a proper “PPI” (pre-purchase inspection) before buying any used car, where most of these issues would have been identified before the customer committed to purchasing such a tired Italian.

In the end, this one was an educational and informative restoration, showing many of the headaches and failure prone items native to Italian Euros, and the Fiat specifically.

We redid the entire chassis and engine to make an old Euro reliable and fun to drive. Mussolini went from “Road Hazard” safety violator to “Vespa” over many months of on-off work. Pics and videos were captured to show the entire process, and will eventually make their way to these pages.

4/27/23 to 12/2024 - LS2-Melissa’s QSM 2005 Pontiac GTO (A4) tribute restoration:

“The Silver Phoenix”, a meticulously restored Quicksilver Metallic (QSM) goat, featuring a 480bhp LS2 powertrain, full suspension work and chassis calibration, sticky 245 Yokohama Advan tires all around, and a custom built drivetrain from the transmission tail-housing to the diff.

This car was lovingly restored over an 18-month period, to pay honor and respect to the original owner, Andy Byars, a remarkable man who passed away in February 2023 after a 2-year battle with cancer.

The car was in rough shape when we found it, as it hadn’t been drivable in many years. It had a host of fluid leaks, rusty drivetrain and undercarriage bits, flat-spotted tires, a dead battery, an equally dead starter, and a list of other things consistent to most cars this age.

Melissa was committed to bringing the car back to its true glory and potential, as Andy would have wanted, so the very best parts available in Australia and North America (yes, Canada and Mexico pitched in)…were hand-selected over the second half of 2023.

Highlights of the build:

• New radiator, hoses, thermostat, accessory pulleys, starter, battery, plug wires, and OE Iridium spark plugs

• Hand cleaned, factory 17x8” wheels wrapped in 245/45R17 Yokohama Advan V601 summer tires

• 10-hour paint correction to OE QSM paint, removing all major defects before sealing the work with a protective coating

• 4-hr headlight & foglight correction & coating*

  *(the factory headlights are rare and extremely expensive on these cars)

• High output Phillips Crystal Vision low and high beam bulbs installed

• Full suspension refresh via bushings from SuperPro Australia and Pedders USA*

  *(radius rod bushings, strut mounts & bearings, front and rear sway bar links/bushings, rear crossmember bushings, diff insert)

• KYB struts and shocks (now discontinued, but a great damper for these cars)

  Please keep scrolling, there’s plenty more worth sharing…

• 18mm upgraded rear sway bar painted in matching QSM color

• Kooks 1-7/8” longtube headers w/3” high flow catted midpipes

• Hinson poly motor mounts

• SLP Loudmouth 2 2.5” stainless catback exhaust w/x-pipe

• Custom insulated Vararam ram-air intake (renders the factory hood snout functional)

• Performance tuning calibration for PCM and TCM by Cory @ Henderson Performance (New Braunsfels, TX)

• BMR lightweight aluminum front skidplate

• New rack and pinion, inner & outer tie rod ends

• Custom performance alignment to suspension (incl. increased negative camber front & rear)

• Every seal, hose or gasket that leaks was replaced…

• Goat Automotive built 2-piece driveshaft with custom QSM paint work (the only one like it in the USA!)

• Custom QSM paintwork to valve covers, strut tower brace, and coil packs to spice up the engine bay for car shows

• Built M80 rear differential, w/fresh OE LSD and 3.73 Dana gears from Diff Technics, Australia; assembled by Jason Bronner* of Midlothian, TX

  *(Jason is much more famous as callsign “Corndog” to the O.G. GTO members - he has helped a LOT of people in this community since ~2006)

So for the summer of 2023, we focused all of our energy and resources on identifying the under-car problems, including a ton of rusty or failing parts, and the need for a full driveshaft replacement.

This one is worth a short sidebar discussion for fellow goat owners who may be reading these words.

04-06 GTO Driveshaft Tech:

(a link to the GTO driveshaft tech talk will go here when the page is published, giving you the option to learn more about this subject, and to avoid purchasing the wrong driveshaft for your car and goals)

Goat Auto is well known for servicing and rebuilding the stock 2-piece driveshafts for the 05-06 GTOs, which is what we recommend for street applications below 700hp that will not be seeing heavy drag strip launches. The reasons for this are covered in depth in the link above (pending).

For modern GTOs, and any IRS-equipped vehicle making some power, the first drivetrain solution is to have everything that’s rubber under the car carefully inspected. Engine and trans mounts, diff mount(s), subframe mounts, and of course…the driveshaft,

The weak point on these Monaro/GTO units (for all 3 years) is the factory rubber isolator that suspends the carrier bearing between the 2 driveshafts, and it’s easily addressed so long as the parts maker keeps supplying us with them.

The second weakness is the rubber donuts we discussed earlier. They are not a BAD design, but they are still rubber and will eventually fatigue after 8-10 years. It is just a much more gradual descent, where they will show stress cracks, but still function fine on the street.

See pics below on Andy and LS2-Melissa’s car.

Photo on the top left is a new carrier bearing, with the arrow showing you the rubber suspension boot that, on cheap aftermarket parts, or after 10 years on the factory GM piece, will fail like a California marriage.

You can see in photos #2 & 3 where Andy’s C/B was completely destroyed before we ever met the car, and was likely driven this way for some time. This (regretfully) caused significant damage to other parts of the car.

Photo #4 is the new C/B about to be installed.

Photos #5 & 6 show the original, very tired guibos (donuts) that were also replaced during the rebuild.

The carrier bearing lives in a bad neighborhood…right above the hot exhaust system, where the rising heat eventually destroys the rubber material. The bearing itself is impervious, but the rubber responsible for centering it, and supporting the middle weight of your driveshaft, has a very finite life expectancy.

Nearly all of the 100+ Goats that have come through our shop are usually experiencing this issue in various stages of fatigue.

GTO owners who aren’t taking their cars to qualified shops on the regular…will often fail to notice this issue is happening until the carrier bearing fails completely, allowing the driveshaft to flop about like a fish on a boat.

This unchecked movement and rotating mass typically takes out the output shaft seal of the transmission, and eventually fatigues the pinion bearings inside the differential.

GTO owners have 3 major driveshaft options, and most will decide based on their wallet:

1. 1-piece 3.5” OD aluminum

2. 1-piece 3.25” OD carbon fiber D/S

3. OE ‘05-06 driveshaft rebuild w/warranty @ G-A

Back on topic:

We ended up going above and beyond on Andy & Melissa’s driveshaft work, ending up with not one, but two complete, rebuilt driveshafts; one of which was heavily loved and restored, before being painted with custom Quicksilver Metallic VHT high temp ceramic paint. Photos of this very involved job will be shown below.

Later on, in December 2023, we decided to attack the paint and body. 10 labor hours were spent correcting the factory paint on the Silver Phoenix, and 4 additional hours were spent restoring and sealing the original headlights and fog light assemblies.

This allowed Melissa to keep more stock parts the car came with, and save on high replacement costs in an increasingly rare parts market for these cars.

Photos of that very epic paint correction can be found below.

NOTE: due to the lighter color of the car, it was very difficult to capture the amount of oxidation, swirls and scratches that were present on the car, especially on the hood, roof and rear trunk/deck lid. But the “after photos” speak volumes about the outcome.

The first few photos at the top show the car after a basic hand wash and prep. You can tell it’s a “before photo” by the still-oxidized yellow headlight assemblies. subsequent photos show the products and methods used to bring a neglected finish back to life.

The cherry to the Sunday was a very special tribute decal adorning the rear quarter panels of the car, to let the world know this isn’t just “any old QSM GTO”.

It’s Andy’s Goat.

REMINDER: Goat Automotive is currently the ONLY shop in the state of Texas specializing in Holden products. Since 2010, we have helped dozens of GTO owners overcome mechanical failures and reach their restoration goals. Give us a call or email when you need qualified help on your Aussie street fighter.

2005 GTO M6 track car: “The Porkchop Express”: The Cyclone Grey Metallic Aussie sledgehammer is packing professional chassis calibration, directed by a hand-built 402ci LS2-based V8, producing a verified 640bhp, naturally aspirated, on 93-octane pump fuel.

Power is delivered via a built 6-spd T56 transmission and Billet Products adjustable shifter, Monster LT1-S twin disc clutch…a built driveshaft, rear diff and axles featuring 3.91 gears and an uprated LSD. You drive this car with your right foot 90% of the time. Power slides are controllable and predictable.

In it’s glory days of drag racing, the car ran a best ET of 10.90 @ 128mph (all motor), with a pair of DOT-approved front seats, stock stereo, and untouched factory HVAC and safety equipment. In short, it wasn’t a gutted trailer project, but a fully tagged and registered resto-mod, with only a wheel/tire swap and some suspension tweaks to run the number.

With a 3400lb curb weight (350lbs lighter than stock)…wide, sticky tires, and a fully adjustable suspension, the car was retired from drag racing in 2013, and converted for HPDE road course work with NASA and SCCA, where it danced like the Hippo ballerinas from Fantasia while clawing for traction at every apex.

Porkchop is currently awaiting a motor refresh/rebuild, which will feature a more radical induction and valvetrain setup, allowing him to breathe out to 7400rpm, and with a little help from 12.5:1 pistons and an ethanol blended tune, touch the coveted 700 naturally aspirated horsepower halo, with just 404ci (6.6L).

An upgraded oiling system will be employed to keep the wet sump system happy in high-G cornering situations, and to ensure adequate oil pressure to the 7500rpm redline.

Why do we need more than the previous 640bhp? What worked 10 years ago doesn’t necessarily fly today. Modern cars are all boosted with turbos and superchargers, making insane power with great street manners, despite being heavier than they’ve ever been.

Many of them are running low 11 and high 10-second ETs in mostly stock form, thanks to aids like AWD, advanced traction control systems, launch control, no-lift shifts, or DCT transmissions. In short, the bar has been raised incredibly high.

Being competitive (N/A) in the straights requires a lower curb weight and strong engine output.

More info on the Porkchop GTO build can be found below. If you enjoy automotive journalism, chances are you’ll love the content in the build thread.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/pontiac-gto-2004-2006/1785817-640hp-n-road-race-goat-nears-completion-details-inside.html

2017 VW GTI SE w/DSG: “Stormy” - a long-term experiment to prove that VWs can be reliable when properly maintained by a good owner.

Storm was purchased new on 10/30/17 to transport and protect my kiddos, while providing the refinement and performance missing from my other 2 vehicles.

On 93-octane running ~27-28psi, she produces an honest 360bhp and 420lb/ft from the stock 2.0L and IS20 turbo. That’s 318whp/381wtq (SAE) on the Dynojet for any doubters, or nearly identical numbers to a 5.7L LS6 V8 from the early 2000s.

Storm completed multiple track days and shakedown testing in the 2023 race season at our home track, Harris Hill Raceway in San Marcos, TX.

Yes, the FWD is definitely a handicap, as is the dated MacPherson strut setup up front, but the suspension and brakes have been properly dialed, and all factory weak points have been eliminated.

The car rides beautifully on public roads, and handles like a go-kart snorting methanol when you summon the confidence to explore the limits of traction on a curvy backroad.

She has already exceeded expectations in multiple categories:

-mechanical reliability

-utility and family duty

-true cost of ownership

-sheer fun & enjoyment

The little Mk7 GTI punched well above her weight class, even when she was a bone-stock 250bhp flyweight, gapping many heavy V8 contenders thanks to a low curb weight of 3150lbs, and tiny-turbo torque ripping a hole in the atmosphere.

Her current 360bhp setup has run consistent 12.80-12.90 ETs @ 111-112mph in the 1/4 mile, accomplished at full weight, on 245 street tires.

High 11s @ 118-120mph are possible with a few simple upgrades…budget permitting, which would make the tiny egg highly competitive against a cadre of modern, premium priced performance machines from both Germany and Detroit.

Her exploits and build path can be followed closely on www.golfmk7.com, in the “Suspension” and “Tracking” subforums.

Main build page/journal below, where key info has been neatly consolidated:

https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/index.php?threads/single-parent-has-mid-life-crisis-34-buys-dream-hatch-gets-back-into-racing-after-8-yr-hiatus-chases-bmw-m-cars.423355/

10/2020-1/2021: Art W’s QSM 2006 GTO LS2 M6 - full rebuild and chassis refresh
The first of many silver car projects we would service here at Goat, this one was a labor of love, pain and infinite sacrifice. It needed a full engine refresh, along with 80% of the other weak/service items the 04-06 GTOs are famous for. But the backstory of this car is as interesting as the wild work that was performed.

The customer was an “O.G” GTO owner, from the days when Texas had tribal GTO clubs by city, similar to motorcycle gangs, with varied rivalries and alliances. Art came from the Houston Goat Herd (HGH!) before eventually landing in Austin.

He purchased his GTO new, and eventually had Chuck Anders at [then] Horsepower Engineering in Houston install an HPE S-cam package, with supporting valvetrain bits and a performance tune.

This is a LARGE cam for a 364ci motor, making great top-end power to 7000rpm…at the cost of a lot of torque below 4000rpm. It has a killer idle, which we will showcase in upcoming videos that were captured during the work, and the 6-speed manual and LS7 clutch made it a joy to drive.

Art went a step further by having the factory Holden interior completely re-done and upgraded by an interior shop in the Houston area, featuring a custom headliner, A-C pillars, seats and center console. While this was not a cheap upgrade, it definitely helped Art’s Goat stand out in the crowd at car shows and GTO events.

Heart failure #1

This is where things go a bit sideways, and I’m including the info here for the sake of educating our customers (and readers)…on the importance of proper parts selection, and in choosing a qualified shop who will cover all bases during a repair:

Art’s original LS2 longblock was killed in action many years ago, when a Lunati hydraulic roller lifter, now famous for premature failures, came apart and sent metal shrapnel throughout the motor. To the non-car folks: a $25 part failure caused an unplanned $8k disaster.

Art is not to blame for this…Lunati’s poor lifter design was not well known or documented in those early days. Folks had to find out the hard way, and eventually the news spread like wildfire over the forums, as more and more engine builders and hot rodders discovered the design flaws in these lifters via continued, premature failures.

Art had the motor replaced/redone by a shop in Houston, and all went well for this GTO for many, many years: power cruises with other GTO groups, family celebrations with his kids and grandkids, and general weekend fun.

But in late 2020, at 102k miles, Art’s GTO developed a nasty hiccup. The LS2 motor began to make a terrible clicking/tapping sound, with a rough idle and a significant loss of power.

Heart failure #2

Our initial diagnostic revealed a valvetrain issue, which we suspected was a failed lifter. Art’s heart sank at the thought of a deja-vu lifter grenade.

Larger duration, higher lift cam and valvespring setups puts additional strain on stock-style LS lifters, so this is the mileage where things often come apart.

Art however, was extremely lucky, and should have bought some lottery tickets that fateful month in 2020! The valve covers were removed to inspect the valvetrain, and this is where we found our “smoking gun”…

This time, Art’s goat suffered a failed rocker arm on the driver side bank. The factory GM rocker bearing design could not cope with the increased cam profile and valvespring loads demanded by the HPE S-cam, eventually puking out their needle bearings like a freshman during pledge week.

On any other OHV motor, this event will send the needle bearings throughout the motor and oiling system, causing a catastrophic failure, and mandating a $6-10k engine rebuild.

Where these bearings traveled (or stayed) determined just how expensive and time consuming Art’s repair would be. Remember, this was 2020. Parts and supply shortages were at a record high for this century, so sourcing a replacement engine (or just the parts) could turn into a 6-month ordeal.

…To everyone’s surprise, Art’s expelled needle bearings remained completely isolated in the valve cover and upper cylinder head area.

Heart Surgery #2 begins: 11/2020

Goat Auto is a firm believer in the “trust but verify” mantra, so an oil and filter analysis was performed, which the car passed beautifully. No metal or debris was found in the oil or filter. We had a viable engine after all! Only a top-end refresh was needed.

Art was faultless with his engine maintenance, including the use of Mobil 1 oil and filters with regular intervals. This was a large contributor to how clean and well-aged the engine was when we pulled it apart.

The heads were eventually removed to inspect the valvetrain, where we found most of the lifters to be in good working condition (for what they were asked to endure). But the “old school” Patriot Gold valvesprings were long expired.

24 years into the LS racing and modification scene, many LS engine owners still fail to understand that the valvetrain becomes a maintenance and service item once you install a beefier, uprated camshaft to the mix. The service life of valvesprings is considerably shortened, roughly 20-25k miles of hot street use on older valvespring technology, and the lifters to 50k miles.

The stock rocker arms are also a gamble when you stuff a stiff set of valvesprings under them, which is why trunnion upgrades have become so popular since ~2010.

Art’s cam had only minor scoring on 1-2 of the lobes, so everything was removed and replaced to ensure a long service life this next go-round. All new GM LS7 lifters and lifter trays were installed, along with new pushrods to get the lifter preload correct (.080-.100” is the sweet spot on LS7 ticklers).

The pistons and block were meticulously hand cleaned and prepped. The heads…yeah. This is unpleasant, but shows what’s possible with a dedicated technician and shop owner.

At the time of this repair, we could not find ANY quality machine shops willing to take on the cylinder head rebuild. At minimum, we wanted a proper hot tank bath to clean the carbon buildup from the heads, and a light milling job to increase compression and give us a fresh, level deck surface for the block. It was “too small a job” for most machine shops to take on, so they kicked us on down the road, one disappointing phone call after another.

In the end, the decision was made for Goat Automotive to perform 100% of the rebuild work to the heads for Art. This process was very time consuming, as we do not have a hot tank or heavy duty parts cleaning equipment. And due to the soft nature of aluminum heads, you cannot simply “go to town” with a Roloc wheel or other high speed abrasives, for risk of damaging a $2500 pair of heads.

100k miles of carbon buildup and oil deposits on the heads were painstakingly cleaned by hand, using conventional materials and OTC chemicals, before inspecting all 16 valve guides for wear.

New valve stem seals and spring seats were installed, courtesy of our supplier at Texas Speed & Performance (Georgetown, TX), along with TSP’s latest .660 PRC Platinum spring and Ti retainer package, which boast better cold-start manners, and 2-3x the service life of earlier LS valvesprings.

Spring height was verified, and the heads made their way to the top of an LS9 MLS head gasket set. ARP bolts were employed to clamp everything together.

Art’s original rocker arms were all rebuilt by hand (and press), where the latest set of Brian Tooley Racing’s trunnion upgrade went in. The quality and retention on this setup looked drastically improved over Comp’s original concept.

We personally do not ever recommend camshaft upgrades to LS motors, unless the rocker arms will also be upgraded to suit. The price to do so remains incredibly low, even in today’s inflated market.

A fresh set of LS9 Iridium spark plugs from GM filled the cylinders, as we have had fantastic experiences with these on both N/A and boosted LS motors.

A new drain plug with magnetic tip corked off the factory oil pan, which would help us identify any possible issues down the line. I recommend this little mod to most LS engines, especially the high dollar stroker builds and LS7 power plants, where early detection of bearing or valvetrain failure can save thousands in repair costs.

Onto the rest of the car!

The auxiliary items in an older vehicle should never be ignored, especially when there are tremendous labor savings to be had by handling a suspicious/aging component while everything is already apart. In this spirit, Art’s goat received all new coolant and heater hoses, while the throttle body and intake manifold were cleaned of their oil/carbon deposits. Anything plastic or rubber that was suspect…got replaced.

New accessory pulleys and tensioners made their way up front (the stockers don’t live forever), along with some fresh belts. Art’s motor refresh was really coming along! Time to move to the rest of the chassis.

The rack and pinion was leaking like a friend who can’t keep a secret, so it was replaced. These are a common fail point on modern Holdens, mostly due to age and mileage, but they are becomingly increasingly rare and difficult to source.

The T56 transmission, while functional, was also due for a refresh. A fluid analysis was performed, and the trans was resealed at all it’s leaky spots.

An upgraded bronze shifter cup replaced the torn up stock plastic/nylon piece, making for more direct shifter feel and a reduced chance of missed shifts/gear grinding. A gallon of fresh Dex-III ATF went back in, and a StangShifter Gasket went in to seal the shifter, while simultaneously dampening unwanted driveline vibes from Art’s right hand.

The exhaust and driveshaft were already off, so we moved in to replace the pinion seal on the factory Borg Warner M80 rear. A fluid service followed, which is critically important on these cars…due to the metal-on-metal factory LSD design. We wanted Art’s drivetrain to live as long as possible behind the new motor!

Everything went back together substantially cleaner than it arrived to us. We wanted Art to be able to attend car shows and have his Goat be representative of his lifelong car passions, as well as our workmanship and attention to detail at Goat Automotive.

Thank you again for letting us handle this big repair for you, Art!