Ah. B. Normal: GOB-BALT build has Started!

[ah.b.normal]

We have made it to OK City, OK. It figures that Cobalts are everywhere here, 600 miles from my home. There was a G5 in the KOA we stopped at, owner was stumped by the problem. Wouldn’t you know, the engine ground strap wasn’t bolted to the engine. It ran sporadically. Now starts every time! We are stopped because our RV is down! It has 12,000 miles on. CEL and sometimes reduced power. Plus the baking noise is really ugly. It is at a Ford Commercial dealer service center. Due to is size 37’ it can only get warranty service at commercial dealers, most of those dealers said it was too big , we had to find a big truck place.(Rush Truck Centers.) Bummer. Now, what’s wrong? and how long will that take to rectify? We were headed to Colorado Springs but now shorting to LaJitas, TX to help with the next Grand Baby and the current 2.5 y/o one too! #2 Due mid June. If repairs drag on we will leave the RV here to be fixed and drive our JK Jeep full of us and enough of our stuff to live ok in TX for a month. Drive back here and get it when it is fixed.

 

[95Blitz]

Sounds like bad times on this trip so far, but it will turn around for you two.

 

[ah.b.normal]

We feel sure it will. For now we are on our way to Lajitas,TX on Saturday. Get there Sun pm. In our Jeep. Leaving our RV Home at a service facility. They will be diagnosing it in 3 weeks. Then We will get a plan on repairs and time.

 

[ah.b.normal]

RV down for at least three weeks. We took our toad?(jeep) on the road and have landed in El Paso with expectant mom. Looks like we will be air bnb for the foreseeable future, until after baby comes. We’re happy though! June promises to be busy. Still wish I could be working on my creature but life is full of trade offs.

 

[ah.b.normal]

Sounds like bad times on this trip so far, but it will turn around for you two.

Hey Blitz, I’ll keep it simple! Today is Father’s Day and I’ve had a good one. Last Saturday our 2nd grand baby showed up early and we are in ElPaso. Every one doing fine. RV may be fixed by next week but new Mom and baby have many appts so we will be in El Paso for another month? Give or take. Then moving to Lajitas, 5 hrs south of here, where my son is running a Dude ranch. It’s hot down there on the Rio Grande but we are ready to sit still for a while! As you know, waiting stinks. Obviously no GOB-BALT Updates to report. Take care!

 

[ah.b.normal]

I'll hit the high points. After Grand son #2 was delivered in El Paso, June 17 his Pop(our #1 son) took a new job with the Ft. Worth Stockyards. July12 We relocated the RV to a park west of Ft. Worth and the kids w/ the grands are in a local Air BnB while looking for a rental house. I have had 2 days with a Goblin owner north of the DFW area, his project was stalled; but together, we are making real progress again and many good things are happening!(read: what is good luck in General forum) We will be around here until Labor Day when we head north to Billings for our only Daughter's wedding in Late Sept. I am having real fun helping this Goblin owner finish his car! Then I hope we can do a "shake down run" to visit the "Home Office" in Red Oak! I've not met Adam or Lonny in person. Helping with car problems is Fun, making someone's Dream Car run is a BLAST!

 

[ah.b.normal]

That Goblin owner will tell his story from his POV. (I am trying to leave something for him to tell!) Which I will be pestering him to tell/write. I can really only tell you my parts and believe that I am helping out! I mean it seems to me I am helping! Sharing this story in hopes of getting others to reach out and ask for help, then finish their Goblin! I cannot imagine anyone ever saying later in life, "Geez, it was a real bad mistake completing that project car!"

 

[ah.b.normal]

We’re north of Fort Worth, TX until Labor Day. Son and Daughter in law finally found a rental house they like, Grand sons are growing like weeds and I’m helping a Goblin owner near Denton, TX finish his stalled project. He kinda fell off the wagon about a year ago and now that his youngest is 2, he is ready to continue the build. He had just hit so many questions/snags that he spent hours in the garage just looking at it and chasing his tail. He was quite a ways along but plenty more to do and he had moved and lost some bits! We’ve worked 4) 3-4hour days and made some great progress, much of our first day was just figuring out what bits are missing and what questions to ask! Last Thursday we chased a few “last things” and set it down on it’s tires. It Rolls!, a step on the right direction. So that IF it were to catch FIRE while we tried to crank the engine, we could(at least theoretically!)roll it out of his garage and maybe away from the house!! We broke rule #1 as we were trying “first start” without a fire extinguisher available. PLEASE DON’T FOLLOW OUR LEAD! FIRE EXTINGUISHERS AT FIRST START! SAFETY PAYS!! Thankfully we did NOT experience fire. But it wouldn’t start either! Having read nearly all of the first start posts I had much to check when it did not start. Then, I happened to hold the anti theft ring tight to the key tumbler and dang it all, IT Started! Suddenly that garage contained two VERY HAPPY BOYS! Jigs were danced, high fives were exchanged, I think I even yelled YEAH! Neighbors showed up, frightened neighborhood children peered cautiously into the garage turned Dr. Frankenstein’s Lab! Giggling like children we started it over and over. His Wife called, as a neighbor had called her with the news. A couple of cold adult beverages were uncapped and then reality slapped us good, time to p/u his kid’s at preschool. Brakes are still not assembled and bled. Some wiring needs attention. Fill and bleed clutch. Parking brake stuff needs installing. Intercooler is still dry. The alignment is all over the place, 4 wheels pointing 4 different directions! Most of the electrical has shown to be right, so far! (Thanks DF!) Our next work day is next Friday Aug. 4. As much FUN as it is to make my own projects run and breathe; it is ALMOST as much fun helping someone else make his toy Live! Life is good folks! Keep On Dreamin’, Y’all!

 

[ah.b.normal]

Fire Extinguishers folks! I was in 4th grade(1973) touring a GM car factory, Doraville, GA. The last spot on the line is where the cars are started for the first time and driven off the line. That last position a guy gets in the car, the hood is up, the tour group is just standing there and one car after another starts, has it's hood is closed manually by a second worker and the driver drives off. 4th grade me is just noticing the two guys doing nothing, they don't get to drive, they don't even get to close the hood. Next car rolls up, the driver gets in, turns the key and just as the hood guy goes to close the hood he hollers FIRE! and backs quickly away from the car. Black smoke is coming out from under the hood and those two guys just standing there suddenly are covering that car in extinguisher fog. A truck with a yellow spinning beacon light quickly backs up to that unit, chains are quickly hooked on it and it is hauled out a close by exterior door with the extinguisher guys following. I think all this took less than a minute. FIRE BAD. (I also noticed the line barely stopped.)

 

[ah.b.normal]

I don't think Josh 09 will be unhappy with me releasing the info that yesterday, Tuesday, was a banner day! After spending all our time Monday trying to fit an O ring on the T/O bearing pipe to elbow connector we determined we needed to replace the pipe. The plastic part at the top where the elbow plugs in was broken, we were trying to jury rig it with O rings but they were either too big or too small! We didn't have a giant assortment of O rings. O'Reilly's had said they would have the T/O Bearing and pipe Tuesday Noon!(had actually ordered both Friday, just in case.) Tuesday morning we planned and executed our attack! Started about 9 and by 11am the trans was sitting on our tailgate/workbench. It allowed us to see that our O ring action would have worked IF we'd had a slightly smaller thickness O ring, nevermind! Trans was off the car, time for BBQ. O'Reilly called while we ate, both parts in. Back to the shop to break one of my primary rules, NEVER pull trans with out replacing all the clutch parts and T/O bearing. But we reasoned that before disassembly of the Donor the clutch was fine. Time will tell, I suppose. By 3:30 pm with the trans hanging off the engine by 2 bellhousing bolts so we could hook up the clutch line and see it is not leaking, Success! We bled clutch, no leaks and T/O was moving positively! We stared throwing stuff back on! Around 4pm were roughly where we started at 9AM this morning! Having about 30 min to burn we filled the brake system and found all the loose fittings instantly! Got fluid pumping to one(R) rear wheel and had to call it a day! All in all quite satisfying! He said when we went to lunch with big chunks of his car and assorted tools scattered around his garage it looked pretty scary, but we worked hard to keep removals in sub-assemblies and stuff like wiring was tied out of the way, so reassembly was orderly allowing each of us to attack many areas independently. Luckily we hadn't filled the intercooler yet, allowing us to just pull the lines to drop the subframe. Today's lesson is Sub-Assemblies!, AND bring a friend! OH!, and 2 lg Jack stands, an engine hoist, a big floor jack, some rachet straps, lengths of chain, extra bolts, a hefty pry bar, a shady garage and Temps below 100*f!(Daily highs for Ft Worth have been 105-109 for a month now, w/ no breeze.)

 

[ah.b.normal]

Friday, August 18, 2023. We have run out of stuff to put on, take off or otherwise fiddle with. Today would be the day! We aimed his Goblin out of the garage, he started it up, I stood in his neighborhood street watching for traffic and blocking as they rolled out, down the slight incline, to the street. I was pleased when he brought the Goblin to a halt without running me down, always a good moment. I heard the Trans snick into first and they carefully rolled away! (We have not yet aligned this unit at all!) I could hear them circle the block and get further away, Turbo w/ no muffler. Slowly the sound grew nearer and nearer still. I see them running easily the speed limit around the curve, then up to me at his mail box. The Driver's smile was blinding! I told him, do it again! And he did!, leaving the second time with slightly more verve! He was gone a little longer this time but came trundling back down the lane, looking for all the world, like a Conquering General Entering Rome. He idled it back into the garage and shut it down. Low on Coolant(burped) and high on success! We're back at it on Wednesday!

 

[ah.b.normal]

Hey to my peeps! Well it's getting time to move on! The "heat bubble" that has been sitting on Ft. Worth isn't leaving but we must go north! I had two great last days working with Josh 09. Alignment, broken bolts(probs he put off) and seat belts, He received his Toe In alignment kit just before we had to call it a day today. He now has a Goblin he can stick his foot in and it shouldn't instantly try to hurt him! He claims it feels like its actually urging him to go faster. I believe part of that is his knowledge and confidence in his car! He isn't road legal yet so idle-ing around and such isn't enough but all he can do just yet. Because my son and his family are NOW in N Ft. Worth I will get to visit Josh 09 and his fam at Christmas time when we are back for "Grand Kids and Christmas '23.**** I had a real challenge on his car, he had broken off one of the lower rear control arm bolts in the subframe, one of the front ones at the pivot bushing. After just running the car around the block in his neighborhood that pivot shaft, with only the forward bolt, bent the pivot shaft! He ran out of drill bits and patience and we decided to grind the obvious welded on washer looking thing off the bottom of the sub frame. In hind sight we should have bought more drill bits and just drilled out the broken bolt and threads! That "washer looking thing" on the underside of the frame is the bottom of a steel anti-crush tube that is about 2" long and is internally threaded at the bottom. We ground away the welds and pulled that tube out, we could have welded it back in and used a longer bolt of the original diameter, but no welder around and I felt sure since that tube is only welded in on the bottom that it would be held into place by the crush of a bolt from end to end. We sourced 5" of plain Galvanized 1/2" steel pipe and cut the threads off one end, opened up the bottom hole in the subframe "almost enough" and beat it into place(in hind sight we should have opened up the hole a little more(2mm) and should have used nuts and washers with a length of all thread to press it into place) then he trimmed the pipe off flush at the bottom. I think we used an M10x 90mm bolt long enough to stick out ~12mm on the bottom and used a nut and a large flange washer on the bottom. Between first drive and yesterday he had been out driving it and proved one of his inner CV boots has a hole and is flinging greasy yucky dirty slimy grease everywhere it can! New Half Shafts are on the way! He has a small (orange) Coolant leak, but it only shows up when driven and since he can't really drive it much yet, he hasn't found the leak. With the many coolant hose unions a Turbo car has I am not amazed there is a leaker, as said it seems to only be leaking hot so far. I'd bet there is a loose clamp somewhere! I mean to say, there are 6 or 8 clamps on the head to rad piping alone! Even if running the coolant through the lower frame tubes with welded barbs on the ends, there would still be at least 4 clamps on that run alone! Goblin's use lots of hose clamps!***** Does anyone have a favorite recipe for "intercooler coolant fluid"? He is using 50/50 old style green so if it leaks it will look different and be easy to distinguish between the two. I had suggested Red Line brand "water wetter"(which is a coolant additive that helps eliminate air bubbles in systems) and water, but none was handy.******After Action Report: The new Throw Out Bearing is not leaking and it appears to be cooperating with the clutch just fine!

 

[jirwin]

Don't recommend water + water wetter. My (previously new) dual pass endplate had corrosion on it when I rebuilt the engine earlier this year. I'd run some sort if coolant mix

 

[Vwsaabvt]

Don't recommend water + water wetter. My (previously new) dual pass endplate had corrosion on it when I rebuilt the engine earlier this year. I'd run some sort if coolant mix

Did you use distilled water?

 

[jirwin]

Yes

 

[ah.b.normal]

Josh09 update: I had to mail him a parking brake lever. Happy to have had an excuse to go play in the junk yard here in Billings! I got it sent yesterday. It seems like it's a minimum $40 to send anything anywhere! Anyone reading this: I search out little Cobalt bits and will send them to ya!, for a nominal fee of course. In the junk yards I usually pick up little cast off bits around the Cobalt's that have been pulled apart. Bolts, nuts, wire ends, brackets, clips and plastic rivets. You can learn a lot looking at several units that have been pulled apart in different ways, most often, how NOT to remove some stuff!

 

[ah.b.normal]

JIrwin, on a completely separate note: Do you have the wiring diagrams for an 08?

 

[ah.b.normal]

****MEGA CAUTION!!: Gory electrical pix, NOT for the faint of heart!****I am currently doing the body harness for my creature. I am relocating the ECM to the back, by the engine, in a similar position to the engine when it was in the front. So I won't have to re-work the engine harness much, 10 wires? BUT most all of those ECM wires, in the multi-plug from the ECM computer to the main harness, must be stretched to the back! I was asked why I don't relocate the fuse box to the back, like a Goblin? As you construct(ed) your harness you will(have) cut away many sub-systems/circuits, I.E. SRS, ABS, elec windows, door mirrors(heated), elec door locks, int lights, A/C-Heater, On Star/Sirius/radio/amp; the list is long and ugly! Your pile of wire left over from thinning and combining everything into one harness will make the answer obvious! I would have had to shorten or lengthen virtually every one of those wires. Being far from my garage is a bit of an impediment, but wiring is really portable! And since I am mostly just extending wires,(and sometimes cutting away and discarding circuits) I label and flag the wires at each end and leave the lengthening for later! Some wires I get lucky and I just have to shorten them! After a while it becomes a tree and makes a sort of sense!

 

[ah.b.normal]

The Wedding came off without a fault! In Idaho Falls now, for a week. Then to Salt Lake for 2. Moab for a week and then off to visit the garage of the mysterious "Desert Sasquach" (I'll be in Tucson, though he is closer to S. Phoenix, I drive.). El Paso for a week dropping in on a Hot Rod friend, then to Galveston for a nice long stay.(Hoping to meet some of the Houston Goblin contingent?) A short jeep road trip to FT Worth, Christmas with Grand Sons! Plus a nice meet up with Josh 09 and his fam to ride in his (hopefully?!) tagged Goblin. Around Feb 15, departing to see my sister and her family near Hammond, LA. Going to try to drop in on a Goblin friend in Dothan, AL, then to Lavender Hill Farm! by about April 1. Then to get working again! It's all just sitting there awaiting my return.

 

[ah.b.normal]

On the road update: I have been finding folks their missing "little Cobalt bits" and mailing them out. 9/30 left Billings, MT(we stay a week between each hop.) to Idaho Falls(a nice little town with two main draws, A major US Nuclear Lab and Potato processing.) to Provo, UT(Deer Creek Canyon?) to Grand Junction, CO.(Moab, UT visit, amazing place!) Moving on next weekend to Bluff, UT, A tiny town.(Bears Ears?) Then to Camp Verde, AZ,(Mt Mingus)another small town so likely no yards there either(I may wander to Prescott Valley, AZ in the Prescott Valley, near Prescott, AZ, creative names eh?). BUT my next stop, Tucson!, shows great promise; being home to probably the world's largest Aircraft junk yard they have got to have a good Pull a Part around there! I know a place in South Phoenix as well, I'll have some long free days.
Hoping to spot the rare Desert Sasquatch while there! (But he insists, no pictures. Maybe I can catch his shadow?) I'll try to get some pix of his build and modified rear suspension!