Donor mileage

David

Well-Known Member
So I read on the goblin website that they don't recommend a donor that has mileage over 150,000 my question is it just because engine will have to ber rebuilt or is there something else I'm missing. My thought is if I can find a donor with very high mileage for a good price I would buy a ldk motor from zzp and use everything else from the donor that would have high mileage on it but should not be affected to much by the mileage any thoughts
 

ctuinstra

Goblin Guru
You could do that but the motor from ZZP would be quite expensive and not really necessary. The mileage will also affect the transmission and other driveline components such as the wheel hub. My car had 114K on it and the wheel bearings were just to the point of needing to be replaced. The ball joints where getting loose also. The higher the mileage the more items that will be worn. About the only thing not really affected by the mileage is the wiring harness.
 

David

Well-Known Member
Does anyone know if someone has a list of all the parts needed from the doner so I can more or less price out all the parts that would have to be changed do to high mileage my guess is
* motor
* rebuild trans
*ball joints
*axles
*brake pads
*wheel bearings
* suspension
 

ctuinstra

Goblin Guru
Does anyone know if someone has a list of all the parts needed from the doner so I can more or less price out all the parts that would have to be changed do to high mileage my guess is
* motor
* rebuild trans
*ball joints
*axles
*brake pads
*wheel bearings
* suspension
Here is a picture list. This list is not 100% of everything you need, there are many other smaller parts and details, but this is the bulk of it.

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipO6QZsjV8yaJRkcsZVxTF7ss6pkgUMDeEiYqHjjPmTvcdw__lISFMBzf9jz465MQQ?key=T2VkaGhmcE1ubk9oU2x0bzlSYUJBZmlJdmtOT19R
 

Karter2026

Goblin Guru
So I read on the goblin website that they don't recommend a donor that has mileage over 150,000 my question is it just because engine will have to ber rebuilt or is there something else I'm missing. My thought is if I can find a donor with very high mileage for a good price I would buy a ldk motor from zzp and use everything else from the donor that would have high mileage on it but should not be affected to much by the mileage any thoughts
Call me crazy. Don"t worry you wont be the first one. I bought a 2009 LT XFE 5 speed with 187,000 miles on it for less than $500. My thoughts are not on mileage but how it was maintained. The car I have jumped a timing chain and some bent valves nothing that I am afraid of( been turning wrenches for 30 + years) The seller showed me his maintenance records. He drove about 100 miles a day round trip. 90 of that was highway miles ( very little clutch wear) Changed oil every 3000 miles about every 6 weeks with a synthetic oil. I pulled the head off and was very surprised the cross hatch was still visible in the cylinder walls (see pics). There was very little carbon ring at the top or the bore ( not what I expected). The valves have the amount of carbon that I would expect on a 50,000 mile car. I shopped around for parts and right now I have about $850 total in this car. By the time I sell some of the parts off I am hoping to break even. It is a given that here in PA you are going to put rotors and some other small parts on because of salt , salt brine and calcium chloride that we use o the roads in the winter. And I will have some Engine block clean up to do. I guess my point is auction cars your taking a gamble even with low mileage. Buying off a individual you should get some history of the car. . I think you could buy a 70k mile car with a power train way worse than mine. Yes it will get a stainless header, The exhaust manifold has a hairline crack in it.
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BAR-AIR

Well-Known Member
Evening,
Nate's build up in Buffalo is using a couple of different donor cars. Engine/tranny and wiring harnesses out of a 2009 ($700 with only 7,000 miles) and a 2008 for all the body and suspension components ($500 with 115,000 miles). Also most of us are going to replace most of the wearable parts anyway. (Rotors,calipers,soft ride control arms and ball joints). So don't limit your searches to just the Chevrolet Cobalt (yes you will need a Cobalt for the body and suspension parts) but their are a lot of different Chevrolet/Buick/Pontiac and even Saab's that are using Ecotec 2.0, 2.2 and 2.4 engines in everything from normal aspiration to turbocharged and supercharged. Your wiring will end up being the biggest issue.
 
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