Cobalt Swapping

[ctuinstra]

How hard do you think it would be to swap around engine/driveline between Cobalts? Here's the thing, I paid dearly for a running and driving 2007 Cobalt SS/SC that is still in very good shape. I hate to just trash the car.

Now, we have a basically adopted teenager girl that is in need of a cheap car so I was thinking about buying a rear end damaged base Cobalt and taking the engine/drive train and other components out and putting them in my donor car after I remove the SS/SC engine drive train. This way my run/drive car can go back on the road and the other body can be trashed. What obstacles would I run into. I find this very thought provoking and intriguing. VIN issues, computer or dash issues, what about the manual versus the automatic?

I'm really hoping this is doable! This would help her out immensely! She's in High School and living on her own and can't afford car payments. It would help me from trashing a good body.

The base model.

The base engine.

My Car.

 

[DanPerryy]

I would not undertake the automatic - manual transmission swap, I would find a NA cobalt with a manual transmission. Your daughter will be better off in life knowing how to operate a manual transmission anyway. ABS - non ABS is another thing to match. The fuel tanks and fuel pumps are different. You probably can continue to use the SC pump (I think - not sure) for the NA motor. You will need to get a new fuel pump for the Goblin.

Then the wiring. The ECMs are different. I did an engine swap for a Camero many years ago, a 2.8V6 for a 3.1V6. - They had different ECMs and I had to rewire literally all the firewall penetration harness wires to make it run. Cobalts are great cars for for everyday purposes. I bought one for my sister-in-law a few months ago because I would have a good source of most parts (from donors that all of you are stripping) and I now know every aspect of the car. Maybe it would be easier to find a wrecked Cobalt that is driveable. I also hate to trash a nice car, but I thing there will be a lot of time doing the swap. Maybe get your daughter to help though - that could be a great experience for both of you.

 

[ctuinstra]

The engines would be pulled with the transmissions and swapped as a unit, so the shifter and linkage would also have to be swapped. I wouldn't think that would be too much more being that I have to remove the entire interior of the car body to be trashed and we will probably move most of the interior over. Without a doubt, it will be a huge undertaking. I'm trying to figure out if there are any real deal-breakers. The A/C will have to be vacuumed and recharged. I'm not familiar with the clutch pedal setup yet and if it can be easily moved (firewall issues, etc). I was planning on keeping the ECM with the original engines along with the dash pod. The harnesses is another concern, I'm sure the engine harness have to stick with the original engine, but don't know about the body harnesses.

I agree it's good for her to know the manual transmission but the sad truth as I understand it is less then 3% of all cars made today have a manual transmission. They are pretty much dying out. Personally, I love them and always have. I also have a '68 vette with a 454 and a 4-speed. Nothing like going through the gears, albeit only four of them.

If I do this, I will create an Other Build post for others to follow along in my pain.

Thanks for the comments!

 

[JSATX]

This is doable. This is definitely not worth it.

In my oppion a clean 07 SS will sell for more than buying a wrecked SS and clean base model.

IF you were to do the swap make sure you get the same year model and transmission. The ECU needs to stay with the engine. That means removing all the wires from the SS for the cobalt. Once you've done that putting everything back together would be a nightmare. Several people have done the donor tear down in 25 hours or so. Reversing that and putting it all back together would take 25 days.

 

[ctuinstra]

But I won't have a clean 07 SS/SC, I need the motor/transmission. Maybe I'm not following you. I was just going to put the base motor/transmission in the SS/SC body since it's still good. Either way, after I pull the motor, etc. from the SS/SC, the rest is going to be sold off or trashed and I hate to do that to a complete and driveable car.

You say to make sure to get the same year model and transmission, do you know of any specifics because the one that I'm looking at is one year newer? I planed to keep the ECU with the motor as with the dash.

I agree it will take time to put it back together, I've done some major tear-downs before, just not to this extent.

 

[JSATX]

But I won't have a clean 07 SS/SC, I need the motor/transmission. Maybe I'm not following you. I was just going to put the base motor/transmission in the SS/SC body since it's still good. Either way, after I pull the motor, etc. from the SS/SC, the rest is going to be sold off or trashed and I hate to do that to a complete and driveable car.

You say to make sure to get the same year model and transmission, do you know of any specifics because the one that I'm looking at is one year newer? I planed to keep the ECU with the motor as with the dash.

I agree it will take time to put it back together, I've done some major tear-downs before, just not to this extent.

No I was referring to the car you have currently. It could sell for approximately what a crashed SS and different cheap daily driver for her would cost. And would save you a massive headache.


The physical mounts are in the same place as far as I know so that's not the problem. One year newer is a completely different ecu though, which shouldn't cause a problem you'll need to keep those together anyway.