AleX1/9's City Goblin - 07 SS/SC donor - Chassis #18 - WA registered

AleX1/9

Well-Known Member
I decided to start my build thread as I've acquired a donor. Found on craigslist in Portland, OR about 250 miles from me in Bellingham, WA. Hooked up the trailer and headed down fast as I could! As happens often on craigslist, vehicle was not as described, but good enough to leave with after some haggling.

The seller was a bodyshop owner who's client had bought it from insurance auction and was having him rebuild the car. The customer ran out of money, and foreitted the car. It came with freshly painted replacement bumper and beam, two new headlights and fog lights, a new radiator, and an interior full of parts and nasty. Here it sits in my garage after some hours of cleaning and sorting



The motor starts and runs briefly using a jumper wire under the hood.... separate post about that in the general discussion forum. Thankfully, the motor is very clean for 118k miles, not a single leak to be found, and very minimal corrosion anywhere. It does sound healthy when running, albeit only for a few seconds at a time.



Aside from the damage to the AC condenser and chargecooling radiator, I also found a broken front transmission mount and a dent to the underside of the subframe. Replaced the mount, not sure if I'm worried about the subframe..?



 
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AleX1/9

Well-Known Member
Got more work done on the Cobalt today. Put the front end back together, complete with modified parts bin filter cone, 2 new headlights and fog lights, new bumper beam, and zip ties galore. It fits like crap, but will function decent while I test drive tune and prep the engine for the Goblin.



Then I went to the licensing office to see if I could register it, but was told it would need a WA State Patrol inspection before I could register. I was somewhat prepared for this, but wanted to see if maybe it had been done in OR before I bought, but didn't get that lucky. Now I'm unsure if I'm going to register (and pay the tax, and the inspection fee) which would also require a windshield replacement....Maybe I wasted my time putting the front end together.

I might be able to get some 3 day trip permits to at least test drive it.....

I also received some parts in the mail. Koni shocks for the front (goblin rear), Moog replacement LCA bushings, Dominator 2.0 style headlights and matching turn signal/running lamps, wheels, and more. Sparco seats arriving tomorrow according to tracking. Still deciding on harnesses....
These dominator headlights have cool housings, but the h1 halogens are pretty weak. I'm thinking of modifying the housings to accept a bixenon retrofit lens assembly (uses 1 bulb and solendoid activated lens for hi/low). Otherwise you'd have to use two pairs to have a hi/low capability, which will be my option B.



My donor rolls on one space saver spare, and 3 "Vision" 16x7 dual lug 5x100 & 5x110 aftermarket, chinesey 5-spoke wheels with all season 225/55-16 tires. Rather than spend a bunch of cash on wheels at the beginning of my build, I sourced a pair of 15x6.5 wheels in the same style to go on the front of the goblin. They were only available in 5x114.3 / 5x112 and in black. I was really hoping for a 16x8 or even 17x8 option but no... I'll have the hubs re-drilled to accept 5x114.3 and have that option as well as the 5x110 in the future. I'll save the money for the R888's. Plus this forces me to repaint them and I'll get to chose the color...

 
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smithvmi

Active Member
Where did you find ONLY Koni struts?. All I can seem to find are complete kits. Struts and coils.
 

rallyracer

Well-Known Member
I like the direction you're headed! I'll be keep a close eye on your build. I also have a 07 SS/SS!

I made a thread about those headlights. They are what I'll use as well. I'm looking forward to see how they work out for you.

From what I recall, I thought the Koni struts were a kit that makes you cut and drill into your stock strut to make these work...do you have an image of the struts they sent you? Should be triple adjustable too.

What Sparco seats did you go with?


How to install the Koni strut insert into stock strut.
http://www.koni-na.com/pdf/boltstrut.pdf


Cobalt SS chat on how to put the strut insert in.
http://www.cobaltss.net/forums/how-guide-43/how-koni-front-struts-57977/index2.html
 
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AleX1/9

Well-Known Member
Where did you find ONLY Koni struts?. All I can seem to find are complete kits. Struts and coils.
Search for Koni part # 8641 1500sport , they're the same for both sides. You have to gut the factory struts and re-use the tube for the Koni inserts.

I
What Sparco seats did you go with?
I went with the R100, part # 00961 NRSKY. It's their entry level vinyl adjustable seats:


I've had experience with cloth racing seats in open vehicles, they didn't last long. Also I'm not a huge fan of fixed back seats. seems like they shove my legs up way too high. We'll see how these fit/work in the Goblin.
 
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AleX1/9

Well-Known Member
The motor now starts with the key and stays running! Thanks again to Adam for pointing out the CANBUS wires that needed to be looped back together after somebody removed the OnStar "VCIM" module from the rear deck. There aren't even any check engine lights. I wanted to run through all the gears and feel out the clutch, but there is A LOT of vibration coming through the vehicle while running.

So I put the donor up on jack stands to try and find why there is so much vibration from the motor into the car. Didn't find much wrong other than the bent control arm (which could be causing the driveshaft to bind and shake). So I tore apart the suspension, ordered new control arms, and will be sending the hubs out for drilling.

Also did some more parts shopping. Ordered 225/45-16 and 195/50-15 Toyo R888's from tire rack, G-Force camlock harnesses, seat sliders, and a new pair of OE aluminum LCA's.

I think today I'll work on installing the Koni's. More on that later..
 
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Adam

Administrator
Staff member
That is very good news. I'm glad its running. Now to figure out that vibration.
 

AleX1/9

Well-Known Member
Took all the suspension apart and shipped the hubs off for drilling.

 
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AleX1/9

Well-Known Member
between work and vacation, I've been absent from the Goblin project for a good 3 weeks now. I also found out I'm going to be a Dad! in 7 short months! This means a move for me and my wife in the coming weeks (nothing like a baby to light that fire) as I've been living apart during the work week.

So, the cobalt will stay whole until it's been moved to another location (hopefully September 1st ish or before)

I've been tinkering on small stuff like the headlights and struts in the mean time. Here's a shot of the headlight tinkering. I stole the bi-xenon solenoid out of these cheapy ebay projectors for use in the dominator 2.0 projectors" The cutoff will be a little high, but I should be able to compensate with careful aiming



The strut/coilover project is stalled as I ordered an incorrect sleeve kit. Do not order QA-1 Part # 1951c! The sleeves wont fit around a 2" strut tube. I'll be calling QA1 or summitracing on Monday to try and get a part number that will work.
 
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Adam

Administrator
Staff member
Do you want me to go ahead and add the optional rear facing infant car seat mounts to your invoice? :p We're thinking the best place is right above the engine cover so that you can still have a passenger.
 

AleX1/9

Well-Known Member
Do you want me to go ahead and add the optional rear facing infant car seat mounts to your invoice? :p We're thinking the best place is right above the engine cover so that you can still have a passenger.
Heck yah Adam gotta hook em young!
 

AleX1/9

Well-Known Member
I talked to someone at QA1 today, and they recommended part # COK104 which they make for a conversion of mustang front 2" strut tubes. Here they are slid over the factory tubes, with a universal 2.5" ID spring

 
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JSATX

Goblin Guru
Looks great. Did you ever figure out the vibration issue? Is there any chance a PO did a balance shaft delete? Apparently that can cause pretty bad shakes but smooths out after 2.5k rpm or so.
 

AleX1/9

Well-Known Member
Looks great. Did you ever figure out the vibration issue? Is there any chance a PO did a balance shaft delete? Apparently that can cause pretty bad shakes but smooths out after 2.5k rpm or so.
I didn't find a smoking gun, just lots of banged up parts from a front end collision. I have a suspicion the subframe is tweaked. I'll find out when I try to bolt it to the goblin.

The balance shaft delete is a possibility, but I would be surprised if that was it. There are no other engine mods to speak of, so for that to be the only mod isn't super likely.
 

JSATX

Goblin Guru
Those R100 seats are exactly the ones I plan on getting. I want some level of adjustment, do you think you'll be able to recline at all? The corbeau seats pretty much look like they are all the way back against the frame already.
 

BAR-AIR

Well-Known Member
Here are a couple of photos of the Corbeau seats installed. I'm 5-10 and have them set to the aft position very comfortable but the seat back is right on the rear cross member.
image.jpeg
image.jpeg
 

AleX1/9

Well-Known Member
Those R100 seats are exactly the ones I plan on getting. I want some level of adjustment, do you think you'll be able to recline at all? The corbeau seats pretty much look like they are all the way back against the frame already.
Looks like Bar-air just answered that question! The R100's do have a more traditional style bottom slide-rail mounting system. I bought universal sliders + cobalt adapters and will be test fitting them before sending the frame out for powdercoat. That way I can weld in the adapters or make adjustments as necessary.

Question for you Bar-Air, are there any other items you would mount/fab before sending out for powdercoat? I remember you mentioning this a couple times (maybe you were mounting your intercooler radiator?) I plan on mounting mine with the radiator up front. But I'd love if someone said (I wish there was a nut-sert welded right here ---------> )
 

BAR-AIR

Well-Known Member
Good Evening,
Just took a quick walk around my car looking for places that I might have added tabs or threaded lugs if I could have before powder coating (some of these are just to get you thinking).
- I'll start in the front of the car
Attachment for a tow bar, front wing, front bumper (requirement in some states N.Y.)
Depending on what type of headlights most DOT headlights (motorcycle bullets) are bolt mount instead of stud mount - studs work but more of a pain to shim to get the headlight tight and straight-.
I have a city frame and am going to have to a safety glass windscreen so tabs to mount windscreen and also nut plates to the rear roll bar (trying to make a tube hoop for the windscreen then run two overhead tubes to the back roll bar) so two tabs by the dash and nut plates in the roll bar.
I would go with a couple of tabs for the radiator hoses especially on the belt side (pass side). They are long runs without a good way to secure.
Mounts for the gas pump and filter (the fuel lines can be shortened and new ends installed if careful the old end can be reused.
Mount for the supercharger pump.
Would eliminate the mount for the stock reservoir and add mount for small rectangular reservoir/ also add a matching reservoir for the supercharger cooler.
The actual mount for the Intercooler whether in the front or rear of the car.
I added a second battery box in the engine compartment for the fuse box (my fuse block mount was damaged) also like the look. So two tabs or mount the box directly to the frame.
Mount for rear bumper.
One of the other concerns is with regards to the exhaust. I have to have a catalytic converter so I need to remake the exhaust but the more I look at the exhaust stock or my extended we have a lot of weight hanging off the stock exhaust manifold (or aftermarket header). I'm trying to find a way to tie the exhaust (muffler) into the rear frame without transferring the heat to the frame. Any ideas??? So two mounts back there.
If we are making a wish list if you are going to be trailering the car a lot it would be great to have tabs at each corner instead of wrapping tubes or securing tires with straps.

I tend to over build which adds weight but a well placed tab is a lot lighter the U clamps around the tube and a lot stronger then running a bolt into or through the actual frame.

Hope this helps,
Bruce
 
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