JS City Goblin - 2010 LS

DanPerryy

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the data communication post. I plan on being able to start mine this weekend. I don't remember if I did anything to mend the data communication lines after removing my onstar module.
 

JSATX

Goblin Guru
You're welcome, good luck with the starting.

A 345k5 belt works for the LS AC compressor delete. It will not work for SS/SC, do not know about turbo.
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JSATX

Goblin Guru
So I ran into one small hiccup. One of the brackets on the transmission mounting side is just a little too long. When the provided spacer is installed the bottom of the threaded post contacts the transmission. A nut was temporarily installed as it was shorter than the spacer.
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I dropped the engine and went to town with an angle grinder. I tried to follow the shape of the bracket and removed the material without too much hassle, and then lifted the engine back up and bolted it down.
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....and thus concludes first stage assembly.

The fact that this was the only problem (not counting self inflicted ones!) encountered so far was honestly really impressive. Can not freaking wait to get this thing down on some wheels!
 

JSATX

Goblin Guru
So I bought a really cheap cavilier short thow shifter off eBay because I wanted a threaded shaft. It fits ok, the main "ball" area is just a little smaller than the stock shift rod, so there's a little more slop but not much.
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It was made with a reverse lock out, so I removed that. I'm going to make a sleeve that slides over that portion to make it look a lot cleaner. It's exactly 12mm and There's conveniently some orings there which will make sliding a cover over it work perfectly.

Anyway. I was able to thread a nice knob on so I'm happy with it.
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JSATX

Goblin Guru
Went with Corbeau Evolution X seats. Had them install their seat heaters, I figure that will pretty much allow me to drive it all but a week or two in the winter...I mean it was 70° all day today in the middle of December.
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Also Bought Corbeau Cobalt specific double locking sliders, really hope they fit without too much modification.
 

JSATX

Goblin Guru
Thanks. I'm pretty physched on the seats. They look amazing and like they were made for the goblin.

I ordered a carbon shaft to cover my short shifter. It fit exceptionally well. But now I feel like I need a new knob....
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JSATX

Goblin Guru
I've already begun amasing random turbo build parts. So far I have a turbo, oil lines, Turbo intake manifold and a few other odds and ends.

I really need to study one of the factory turbo engines. I'm not exactly sure how they plumb the water and oil lines. My thought is I'll run no more than 5-7 psi at first until I have all the kinks out. Then go for the full rebuild and a much more serious turbo. Garrett announced a redesigned GTX28 which supposedly has the same very fast spool up rate but the top end hp rating has increased by a ton.

Also does anyone know how the turbo recirculating valve works on the SS TC cars? I'm thinking I can probably run a normal BOV before the MAF, but initially it may be smarter to stick with a recirc and try to just mimic factory.
 

Johvans

Well-Known Member
IAlso does anyone know how the turbo recirculating valve works on the SS TC cars? I'm thinking I can probably run a normal BOV before the MAF, but initially it may be smarter to stick with a recirc and try to just mimic factory.
Most of the LSJ-T''s that I've seen run the BOV before the MAF, one thing to be aware of at least on the LSJ ecu is the HPtuners MAF table runs out of headroom. ZZP has a MAF tuner that allows you to dial down the Hz so the car doesn't freak out. I know the guy on here with the turbo Saturn has the ZZP turbo kit installed on his LSJ and is very knowledgeable.
 

JSATX

Goblin Guru
Most of the LSJ-T''s that I've seen run the BOV before the MAF, one thing to be aware of at least on the LSJ ecu is the HPtuners MAF table runs out of headroom. ZZP has a MAF tuner that allows you to dial down the Hz so the car doesn't freak out. I know the guy on here with the turbo Saturn has the ZZP turbo kit installed on his LSJ and is very knowledgeable.
Thanks for the info. I didn't know that about the MAF table. But I also wonder if it applies to mine. My base 2010 uses the a similar computer to the one found in the turbo car. For example it comes stock with the 4 bar MAP sensor when the LSJ did not. At least that's what I was told. It's a shame ZZP is so hard to get ahold of. I'd buy a lot more stuff if I knew they'd pick up the phone when I called.
 

Johvans

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the info. I didn't know that about the MAF table. But I also wonder if it applies to mine. My base 2010 uses the a similar computer to the one found in the turbo car. For example it comes stock with the 4 bar MAP sensor when the LSJ did not. At least that's what I was told. It's a shame ZZP is so hard to get ahold of. I'd buy a lot more stuff if I knew they'd pick up the phone when I called.
It sounds like it may not. You may have lucked out! :D

In my experience with ZZP they are more then willing to have you leave a message and call back. I've talked to them a few times for 10-15 minutes and they are more than friendly and knowledgeable.
 

JSATX

Goblin Guru
Hope everyone had a good Christmas. I've been doing odds and ends. Since I had several days off I begged the DF guys to get together whatever they could of the second stage. So I did a bunch of random work today, started out by trying to install the seat brackets. I bought the Corbeau Cobalt specific brackets hoping it would make for the easiest install. Unfortunately that's not the case, they won't fit. The front hooks are far to large, they would poke through the floor. Everything else lined up though. I'm going to try and exchange them for universal sliders and just weld in another cross brace wherever it needs to go.
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I then started assembling the shifter. I have it almost all figured out but don't understand how the socket joint attaches to the horizontal travel lever. Do I need to cut it off and drill it so I can thread the socket on?
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JSATX

Goblin Guru
An M6-1.0 T-Nut works great. There is already a hole in the shift lever but it's small and not drilled all the way though. Drill it out with a 9/32 bit
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make sure to use washer on ball joint socket side.
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The plastic is conveniently molded where the teeth from the T slide right in and tighten well.
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Lonny

Administrator
Staff member
Awesome job.

Great assembly instructions and images.

I think we had to grind the stud flush with the tee nut on Adam's shifter. The tee nut gets very close to the shifter housing.
 

JSATX

Goblin Guru
Seats look great. They sit a little too upright, I may try and put a little spacer under the front end. Not exactly sure yet. It bothers me they put two logos on haha, guess nothing is completely perfect.
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So back to the sliders. The cobalt specific brackets just weren't going to work so I'm taking of the sliders from the mounting bracket and bolting down two new rails. Then just going to mount the sliders on top. I needed the extra height to clear the submarine seatbelt bracket anyway.
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JSATX

Goblin Guru
Got the seat bars welded in for the sliders. It was really simple and I think it's going to work great. The pedals and steering wheel felt off center from the seat so I biased the seat towards the center of the car by 1/2"; not much but made a noticeable difference.

Got it down on the donor wheels. Coolant and trans fluid filled up, ran the motor for a good 10 minutes but it only got up to 180° didn't really want to go any further.
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JSATX

Goblin Guru
Just a quick note since a lot of people are working on the wiring harness: Tesa 51036 tape works really well, and looks wayyy better than electrical tape. I'm going to go ahead and pull my engine harness off and redo everything with it.

Planning on stripping out the second O2 sensor wire and EVAP plug while I'm at it and doing a general reorganization. Instead of having the throttle wires and such route around the front of the engine I pulled it away from the coil wires and connected it from the fuse box side.
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