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What if buying a donar car isn't gonna work?

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cptcrusty1

Member
C
I live in a neighborhood with vicious HOA goons roaming around. If I were to put a slowing disintegrating donor vehicle in my driveway, I'd get nasty letters from neighbors and HOA alike. In Houston there are a few salvage yards so I could probably source the parts that way... Any ideas?
 
Ross
Any access to the back yard? Maybe drop a fence segment or add a gate? Make space in the garage? Rent a friend's garage? Erect a tent?
 
Brian74
The pull your own yards certainly have a plethora of N/A automatic cars available. It is unlikely you will find any SS cars there with many usable donor parts.

The donor doesn’t take long to strip if you could find a temporary place to do it.
 
R
Could always rent a storage unit large enough to fit the car to strip it in. Or one of those outside storage facilities for like boats/RVs if they’re willing to rent you a space (don’t see why not, it’s still money).
 
Tinkles
I did not purchase a donor because I wasn't going to be using the Cobalt drivetrain or computer. I regret it. It really sucks having to stop working on it just to run to the junkyard or hardware store for few bolts or minor parts. It has lead me to going with more aftermarket/custom parts over OEM and spending ALOT more money that I should have.
 
Mayor West
If you don't have a shelter/garage then disassembling the donor will be a pain. It doesn't take long if you work at it, but it can take forever if you don't. Also, it's beneficial to be able to keep things around for the build process incase you forget something or find out you can sell the extra pieces. Some things take longer to sell, others don't. I have 3 garage spaces and ended up using all 3 for some parts of my build. Right now I'm just using two. If you don't have the space to disassemble the donor, you may be better off finding an in progress build and starting with everything after the fact.
 
ctuinstra
If you have the tools, it took us two weekends to strip the donor. You could work on the prepping the removal of engine and gut interior one weekend and then finish the rest the next weekend. The first week they wouldn't hardly know that it's not drivable. But you would have to grab everything you might possibly need (and we can help you with that) in order to get rid of the shell.

Otherwise if you don't get a donor and want to source the parts, you would basically end up doing the same thing but in a salvage yard instead.
 
C
Ross said:
Any access to the back yard? Maybe drop a fence segment or add a gate? Make space in the garage? Rent a friend's garage? Erect a tent?
Click to expand...
Tent - No... HOA gestapo has x-ray vision
Friend's garage - No, friend is seperated, wife is in the house...grrrr
backyard? - No, wife could hurt me.

It's apparent I need to make space in the garage, the question would be how much. I currently have two workbenches in there for all my RC stuff. I could put all that "away" with the idea that it's only temporary, but then there is the question of the 10 foot long, 940lb Honda Goldwing. Seems like the power pack is the largest part needed that I wouldn't be able to put in my car/mini-suv. It's the engine/Tranny, and cross members? Something like that. I have a fair amount of tools. I used to be a brake mechanic, and I've rebuilt a VW engine a couple times. Do my own brake jobs, etc.

Is there a thread that shows some good pictures of someone's build? Yes, that's a silly question, but I'm new here and supposed to be working :rolleyes: so I can't really spend a lot of time here with out someone missing me. Sucks...

Regarding the HOA Gestapo, a guy went camping for the weekend and took his boat out. We're not "allowed" to have boats/RV's in our driveways, or on the street, it has to be in the garage. The guys gets back Sunday evening and leaves his boat in the driveway to clean on Monday after work. He gets a letter about storing a boat in the driveway a few days later..... it's that bad.
 
Ross
Rent a storage unit for the Goldwing, RC stuff, etc. You don't ride much over winter anyhow, and by the spring, the Cobalt will be gone, right?
But wait... now you need to store your Goblin somewhere, unless you buy waterproof seats...
 
Mayor West
Our neighborhood has similarly strict HOA rules but does not typically enforce them, I wish mine were more like yours... too many boats in driveways.
 
C
Ross said:
Rent a storage unit for the Goldwing, RC stuff, etc. You don't ride much over winter anyhow, and by the spring, the Cobalt will be gone, right?
But wait... now you need to store your Goblin somewhere, unless you buy waterproof seats...
Click to expand...

I'm a pretty hard-core biker... Yes, I ride the cadillac of motorcycles, but I ride year round in Houston. I call it my wind therapy. When I wasn't working from home, I was commuting 45 min (35 miles) each way. I put 10-12k miles on a bike per year. My last Goldwing had 135k on it when I traded it in....

The Goblin could be in the driveway, would have to have waterproof seats, or maybe just a cover. The build thread I found shows the guy taking apart the cobalt in the garage PRIOR to the delivery of his chassis. He even sold the doors, etc. on Craigslist... The next problem to solve would be to get the Shell out of the garage. No idea how to do that. No wheels... My driveway is on a slant downhill... hmmmmm gonna have to think about that one.
 
Anks329
cptcrusty1 said:
I'm a pretty hard-core biker... Yes, I ride the cadillac of motorcycles, but I ride year round in Houston. I call it my wind therapy. When I wasn't working from home, I was commuting 45 min (35 miles) each way. I put 10-12k miles on a bike per year. My last Goldwing had 135k on it when I traded it in....

The Goblin could be in the driveway, would have to have waterproof seats, or maybe just a cover. The build thread I found shows the guy taking apart the cobalt in the garage PRIOR to the delivery of his chassis. He even sold the doors, etc. on Craigslist... The next problem to solve would be to get the Shell out of the garage. No idea how to do that. No wheels... My driveway is on a slant downhill... hmmmmm gonna have to think about that one.
Click to expand...
My driveway had a pretty steep slant to it and was able to get the donor shell loaded onto a car carrier after some effort. The other option is to go to town and chop the donor into small pieces and pull it out that way.

I had 1 car garage worth of space and it was entirely doable in that space. Take the donor apart and save the all the important bits. Get the shell out of the garage. Use that space to do your wiring while waiting for the frame to arrive. And then put it all back together in that space.
 
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Classy said:
Another Houston guy!
Click to expand...
YES!!! Well.. Sorta. I'm in Richmond down by Cinco. I could (almost) throw a rock at the Gallery furniture. I"m a bit of a biker snob (amongst other snob topics). My wife thinks I can't make this happen... so..... she gave me permission :D "Too much stuff in the garage" she says, "You'll never make it work" she says....

I'd love to go for a ride in a non SC/TC version. I'd considering the Stick-shift version if I can make it happen. Trying to get ideas on overall cost, etc. I looked at Factory Five, and a bunch of others, but the prices go over $40k and you're still not done... Sheesh!
 
SACTX
cptcrusty1 said:
YES!!! Well.. Sorta. I'm in Richmond down by Cinco. I could (almost) throw a rock at the Gallery furniture. I"m a bit of a biker snob (amongst other snob topics). My wife thinks I can't make this happen... so..... she gave me permission :D "Too much stuff in the garage" she says, "You'll never make it work" she says....

I'd love to go for a ride in a non SC/TC version. I'd considering the Stick-shift version if I can make it happen. Trying to get ideas on overall cost, etc. I looked at Factory Five, and a bunch of others, but the prices go over $40k and you're still not done... Sheesh!
Click to expand...

There are a few guys in and around Houston that can help. Me and Bill are in Spring, Jason is around Jersey Village, and Russell is in Waller, Classy and Devonrex are in Houston area as well. Devon is a NA manual car.

My car measures 72" wide x about 123" long. It's almost the exact same size as a Mazda 3 hatchback. We measured and prefit my neighbors car cover so I can find one to order.

HOA's are nuts and mine is just as bad. Luckily I have a shop to take the car apart. If you do not have somewhere else to go, you can demo it in a standard 2-car garage and have room to spare. You just need to move parts (Like doors, hood, fenders, etc.) out back for storage until you can sell or trash them.
 
C
I have to figure out how to get it past the wife without having to sell the goldwing...

I wonder if the offroad version is, or can still be, street legal... me likes the idea of getting it really really dirty....
 
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