PHerder's Track Frame with lower entry bars

PHerder

Well-Known Member
Starting to collect pieces for my build. I have a 2008 Cobalt LS (i.e. the CHEAP Cobalt without hardly any options!)

It is a manual 5 speed with NO power windows/door locks, no antilock brakes and no sunroof so it SHOULD not have any extra wiring to be removed!

Brown was here today delivering the wheels (16x7) with Toyo R888 tires. I unpacked one of the wheels to just mount on the car. I am in the process of trying to change out the left rear hub, since the bearings are growling pretty bad, just so I can drive the car around to insure everything works as needed.

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And, yes, I know, the tire/wheel assembly belongs on the passenger side!

Paul
 
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PHerder

Well-Known Member
USPS brought me some light reading. NOT! 19 pounds and 3000 + pages of Factory Service Manuals!!

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PHerder

Well-Known Member
Got in a set of rear bearing hubs and installed them into my donor. One was growling pretty bad! Next problem is to see why the brake system is losing fluid. Also need to see if the front two wheels have TPMS sensors in them. Currently they do not show on my info display and I have the Service TPMS warning. I am not too worried about the stock wheels as I have new wheels/tires with sensors to go on the kit.
 

PHerder

Well-Known Member
Got them from TireRack.com

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/WheelCloseUpServlet?target=runWheelSearch&initialPartNumber=AR16I12SML&wheelMake=ASA&wheelModel=AR1&wheelFinish=Silver+w/Machined+Lip&autoMake=Chevrolet&autoModel=Cobalt+Coupe+with+4+Lug+Wheels&autoYear=2008&autoModClar=LS

I had always liked the look of these wheels and this build will finally have a set! :cool:

I was looking for Toyo R888 tires and they were available in 16" so I went ahead and got matching sized wheels that I liked. At the time they were listed as fewer than 9 available. I just checked and the same statement (fewer than 9 available) is still listed. :confused:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Toyo&tireModel=Proxes+R888&partnum=055WR6R888
 

JSATX

Goblin Guru
Did you do 16's all around? I'm thinking something like 16/8 x 15/7 could be a good setup.
 

PHerder

Well-Known Member
Yes, 16" all around due to the availability of the Toyo R888 in that size. Not available in 15" when I was buying.
 

PHerder

Well-Known Member
Changed out the brake master cylinder and breed the brakes and then took the donor out to supper.

So far, everything seems to be working! I will drive it around a little more to insure it is good before tearing it down.

Driving the donor Cobalt for the first time.jpg
 

Adam

Administrator
Staff member
Looking good Paul. None of our donors have been clean enough to really test drive. Its good that you can check for any quirks before tearing it apart.
 

PHerder

Well-Known Member
Yes I spent more on a non-damaged car but as you stated, Adam, I can drive it and find the things that need to be changed (like the rear hub bearings, the brake master cylinder) just to make it a driver. It really needs tires and a front end alignment (tires are almost trashed with some of the wear from bad alignment) but they are good enough for test drives during GOOD weather. Right now we have had some rain and I wouldn't want to try those tires on a slick surface. o_O

And the tires/wheels I got for the kit will NOT be used on this donor before it is torn down! They are too soft for the weight of the stock Cobalt on city streets and I really do not want to tear them up just so the car would look better. :cool: I had a set of "racing" DOT tires on a Toyota Corolla GTS and ruin them driving to and from the autocross events. After replacing them, I trailer them out to the event and then installed them there, removing them after running.

With a ~1500 lb car, and no autocross events locally, I believe the tires (Toyo R888) will last a couple of years of occasional driving. :D
 
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PHerder

Well-Known Member
It is 8 PM, 20 Sept 2016 and I am watching my frame being welded by Lonny with (I believe) Adam helping. :D

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PHerder

Well-Known Member
Stage 1 is here!

Friday, Lonny delivered my frame and stage 1 parts.

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Now I just got to get the shop cleaned out and organized and start tearing apart the donor!

:cool:
 

PHerder

Well-Known Member
New donor in the house! What I really wanted and didn't think I would find locally suddenly appeared in a not so local Craigslist posting! What I mean is the ad was posted to the Wichita Craigslist whereas the car was actually in the Dodge City area. Don't know why he didn't post in the SW Kansas listing... Oh well I found it and since the car was in Dodge City (~ 120 miles away from Wichita) no one wanted to drive out here to look at it especially since it didn't move!

I fired up the engine and it seems to run real smooth but there is no gear engagement in any gear and reverse cannot be entered at all. Looks like I will be shopping car-parts.com for a SS/SC transmission. I will do that AFTER I get the engine/transmission out of the car and see what really is the problem. I do know what the cause was... teenager with a "powerful" car. ;)

The pictures below makes the car look MUCH better than it is! The clear coat is gone on the top surfaces, the wheels have been rubbed against every curb the PO could find, the front end plastic is barely holding on, the front windshield has a smashed "dent" right at the drivers side pillar, and the door handles have been torn off! Good thing I don't need any of those pieces for the Goblin!

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Now I will have several things that I cannot use since I purchased them thinking I would use the 2008 LS. One is a short shifter for the manual 2.2l cars and probably some other things that I will find as I inventory what I have and what I can use...

I thought that I would just get a set of 2007 Cobalt factory manuals but they are out of print and the company states to use the 2008 version as most of the info is still usable. I just looked at my copy and although there isn't much Supercharger info, there is a complete tear down of the Getrag 5 speed so I will be keeping the manuals.
 
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Teenager was probably doing neutral drops to impress his girl/friends!! Glad your keeping the project and tell us what kind of strange things come out of the car lol!!
 

PHerder

Well-Known Member
I spent the afternoon removing trim and pieces off the SS and putting them into my LS that was missing them! I.e. all the trunk pieces ("carpet", trim around the trunk lid, spare tire hold down, jack assembly, the foam support and the hold down "nut" for the spare tire. There wasn't a spare in either car so I hit up a local salvage yard and came home with a spare that had never touched the ground from, of all things, a 2008 LS Cobalt! Next will be taking out the SS seats (front and rear) and replacing the worn ones in the LS. Someone will be getting a interesting car when I am done! ;)
 

PHerder

Well-Known Member
I have been busy getting the 2008 Cobalt LS ready to sell by fixing the stuff I would have ignored if I was going to use this car for the donor.

I put new tires on it (it had 4 almost bald tires of which none were from the same manufacturer!) painted some trim the looked bad, polished the headlights (they had what looked like some kind of blemish on them like something like paint thinner was dripped on them... they cleaned up pretty well), replaced the dirty and worn out seats with the Recaro leather seats from the 2007 SS/SC (that will be my donor!) and used trim from the SS to put on the LS where it was missing and changed the oil and filters (oil, engine, and cabin). One last thing to do is to get the window tint on the doors removed and replaced. It looks (and IS) horrible! Looks like a PO tried to remove bubbles by using some kind of heat sealing device on the tint and just made a mess of it. You can just see one of the lines by the mirror going back at an angle but that is just one of several on both windows. I took it to a tinting shop and they didn't have a problem with removing it and quoted me a figure to remove and retint that was acceptable.

I am making the 2008 LS to a state as if I was going to keep it and drive it. Here is hoping I get pretty much what I have in it.

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If it doesn't immediately sell, I will continue to drive it! :D
 

PHerder

Well-Known Member
Started on the donor and completed the steps in the first video, "Part 1 - Preparing the donor car" plus some extras (i.e. removing the seats and a bunch of the interior stuff to restore the 2008 LS).

:D

Only question I have (that I CAN look up and solve but I thought I would just ask first ;)) is which direction does the fuel pump relay go? I pulled it out to empty the almost full tank (2008 LS now DOES have a full tank! :)) and laid the relay on the bench. Went to replace it and opps, forgot to check which way it came out! I checked the relay in the 2008 LS but there are no markings under the relay (numbers that relate to the relay coil and the switches in the relay) so I put it back EXACTLY how I pulled it. I learned my lesson. :eek:

Thanks!
 

PG5

Well-Known Member
This is a picture of the fuse box from DFs Donor Parts list. Hopefully this helps.
 

PHerder

Well-Known Member
PG5, if you pull the fuel pump relay out, is there numbers next to the pins? My 2008 LS did not have those numbers but my 2007 SS/SC did. The numbers relate to the wiring inside the relay and I believe the relay cannot be swapped around electrically (I believe it can be swapped around physically!)
 
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