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

ah.b.normal

Goblin Guru
5DC7A0DA-11CD-4AD1-842F-5002A2137E94.jpeg
F3AE0062-F150-4C80-A3F9-46716A6F1989.jpeg
8176966D-EAF4-430E-8AFE-A88901BCA0EA.jpeg
Monday is here and much of the pressure is off of the Farmer. He had lots of beautification jobs to tackle before this weekend as they were hosting a get together. So Thurs/Fri his farm duties were clogging his attention. He has had the whole weekend to stew in our newfound placement /interference knowledge. I imagine he has refined his attack plan three times by now. We have a bunch of car parts strewn about in purposeful positions, some may even qualify as mock ups? We've had some productive Sawz-all time but have not cut into my intended victim. The donated shell has been instrumental in keeping us away from one area, helping us integrate the forward K member mounts into the rear swing axle pick up points in the original uni-body design.
 
Last edited:

ah.b.normal

Goblin Guru
My driveline cage idea has been helpful, but it seems we will be better served by building all new subframe mount points, strut tops and using small bits of the engine R/L mounts. We have cut away too much on the "donor" inner wheel wells and too far up into the package tray area for the struts, but it has showed us what not to do. Ya gotta break a few eggs to make an omelette. I hope to have it cut away and on it's wheels by Wednesday. A thing that rolls is 100% better than any immobile, butchered carcass!{Having three subframes and 9 wheels lying about will help with the juggling.} Now if only someone somewhere near Columbus, GA had some SS seats for sale?(GOB-BALT will only have front seats, it is Black which goes with just about every color.) **** I also have a wrecked, 2.4,N/A 07 Victory Red w/ Black leather/ Dlx Stereo/ Sunroof. I'd hate to part it out, It is so darned complete! Someone, please give this poor beastie a home. But I guess a Goblin site is a poor venue to expect to find a new home for a Cobalt SS. ****
 

ah.b.normal

Goblin Guru
Tuesday blues. Aren’t Subaru’s supposed to be trouble free? The Farmer’s Subi is protesting and may be filling his time for a day or two, hard to say yet, I hope not. I pulled the rear beam axle today. Of course being an old car something had to go awry. Back rear wheel, one lug nut wouldn’t come off. One of the super secure Allen head lug nuts is stripped on. That wheel is staying on the axle! The alloy wheels were 4 lug. Trash now. Exhaust and fuel tank next. The exhaust will provide bits for the relocation but the fuel tank would have to be raised up and the filler entry is too far toward the engine. A Goblin tank is in the running but I must get the driveline bits settled before I can address such. I still hope to be sitting on a rear sub frame by the time I down tools tomorrow.
DE1BF4F9-09C6-4D19-BBE6-26F57BE23AFF.jpeg
D776BECE-D39A-4391-B7B2-91A3137FA531.jpeg
 
Last edited:

ah.b.normal

Goblin Guru
Well it has happened, sawzall met the floor in the black 06 coupe this afternoon around 2PM Eastern time. The cutting away was no problem. This time being much more conservative with my removal of steel. Our mock ups and parts have sharpened our focus on what to remove and what stays. We have created the 4 subframe mounts, the ones in the back are more like the tube drops mounts on the rear of a Goblin as the frame rails back there are 16” off the ground. The front mounts reuse the front pivot points taken off the rear axle, trimmed slightly and a steel plate welded across just below the original pivot bolt. This spot was one of the original points I noted when considering this swap. I set a subframe on the bottom of an inverted Cobalt at the junk yard. The car was lying on it’s roof and the rear swing axle had been removed. By tape measure and some dead reckoning, I saw the forward subframe mounts would end up in that general reinforced area in the back of the chassis. Today proved I was right and within about 1”. Woo hoo. Gas tank is out so no more driving. Rear brake lines are dry now, they made a mess over night because I am a bit lazy. This is why GOD made ZipZorb. 4 large jack stands, a motorcycle jack(easier than balancing a subframe on a floor jack) a 4’X1’ scrap of 3/8” plywood and a engine hoist. Many sharpie markers and a tape measure(use three or four or you’ll spend hours looking for the tape!)OH! And lots and lots of measuring! And marking and remeasuring and marking. And discussion and marking. And picture taking.
C42E99E8-6FD2-4B46-AD34-6025E976B959.jpeg
9CA90521-8507-4271-9864-93EEBD41AFA3.jpeg
 
Last edited:

ah.b.normal

Goblin Guru
Thursday. I will be away from this project for the next week. Then returning to the farm with only 2 weeks before heading west! GOB-BALT isn’t on its wheels yet, and I’m not happy about it, but only because I am impatient. The progress is great, never fast enough. But caution was needed to avoid greater structural rebuilding or augmentation. The right strut is almost set, the bodywork behind the wheel well that housed the filler tube made cutting that area away slow work. Very odd shapes. Enough of the floor is now missing that I worked from inside the body on part of the trimming. The now abandoned rear coil spring perch was especially tough, as it was two or three layers of thick steel spot welded together. As built, that upper spring mount hit the back of the steering knuckle where the strut mounts. A small portion of the unit frame will have to be relieved a half inch or so, to clear the bottom spring pocket on the strut. The strut stabilizer bar will help us relocate the strut tops centered and apart at the correct angle, the only angle in question now is how much the struts lean back. Not very much as their top mount center line is only about 3” behind the axle centerline. The top mount off the donor, a cap really about an inch deep, will be welded into the body under and mostly behind the package tray crossmember.
740C0663-754F-49AE-83C3-A65B429394C1.jpeg
CD9EC3C6-0AF6-48C6-ACE5-944AC8AFF7D8.jpeg
93E5E95D-4F27-4B63-91BF-239EE52E9C4F.jpeg
1C89AE41-7DBB-4F7C-81C0-293AAAF4DAAD.jpeg
59A896A2-6529-4576-9263-B008E7B664C7.jpeg
377098AF-30F6-43A8-8C44-BDF03B28CBA0.jpeg
BD04B417-3F84-43FD-BB62-7596D3629D8A.jpeg
BDD14B96-4C7F-48CE-AAC0-2B42B7349DE2.jpeg
 

ah.b.normal

Goblin Guru
Was asked about the rear frame mount points in my pix. We started with lengths of all thread to get the drop adjusted right, they will be encased in steel tubing welded at the top and a big washer at the bottom. The all thread will continue through the frame and washers and nuts, then trimmed to length. First design on the front mounts I welded a piece of steel across the pivot point/ leveled, and dropped an original subframe bolt through the steel and tacked it down as a stud mount. We will probably put a nut there and shorten a bolt to fit, but we did it the other way for now and will cut off the excess bolt later. We purposely have mounted all points a tiny bit 1/2" high in the original chassis because we can shim it if we've lowered the ride height too much. Ride height is always easier to raise than to lower! The crossbar in the rear is salvage steel from the HHR and ties the rear frame together. I hope we don't need to further brace between the wheel wells, as we removed a large underbody brace there. But that was replaced by the subframe.
 

ah.b.normal

Goblin Guru
Monday, Monday, back to PLAY for me! It only looks like work to others. I'll need to haul some scrap to the shredder to tidy up around there, can't be too sloppy in my friend's garage. News, I may have my own land/garage when I get back here? We shall see.
 

ah.b.normal

Goblin Guru
Well lots of whittling today. Both struts are clearanced and ready for their tops. The strut tower brace is centered in the body so we only need to fine tune the angle leaning back. Then weld in the tops. Next is motor mount construction. Solid mounts on the trans and then we can see placement in the body. Tomorrow I’ll be getting in a full day, today was tag day. I didn’t start until 1 pm.
1FFA9AA9-ECA8-4EDF-9086-7ADE59B290D3.jpeg
882C9107-5F1E-454B-A0D5-1235CE38A7A3.jpeg
FFC7977C-108F-4A7C-8993-8B08E335CC80.jpeg
5B9FBE82-16BA-460E-B4AF-21D8DC8D9FBF.jpeg
5CE8FD5D-B6AF-4F76-AAB7-45816749D938.jpeg
 

ah.b.normal

Goblin Guru
Placing the strut tops is proving to be troublesome. First we had to level the car on its stands. We have them set and tacked in a little now to stabilize the installation. The package tray is about 10” above the tops of the struts and very strong. Now to whittle the little bits and to weld them in place. Then they will be strong enough to support the car. Sorry, no pix today.
 

ah.b.normal

Goblin Guru
Heaven help us!, the Hits just keep coming. It appears The Farmer has injured his right arm, ageing is a bear! He is hoping he just pulled a forearm muscle, I'd bet worse. He was dumping steel scraps, picked up a bucket and said something in his forearm popped. Now he can't move his wrist correctly, not good!o_O Looks like I'll be stabilizing the strut tops with steel tubing and screws; since I'm not much good at welding and am running very low on time; now is not my moment to learn welding. Strut tops are placed at the proper height and now have adequate clearance around the springs. The struts appear to be angled correctly. A strut tower brace keeps them apart and centered, left side is lightly tack welded in. This will just be to make the unit mobile during my absence. It will all be replaced later with welded steel. Now I just have to build temporary structure so those top plates don't move around! Don't worry, I'll make something that works!
 

ah.b.normal

Goblin Guru
News is not great, one Doc says The Farmer needs arm tendon surgery and another says see how much it heals. Either way weeks at best, in the mean time much rehab. Actually two injuries, though his shoulder injury is not likely to need surgery. I'll post more car pix soon, but at this point all progress is stopped and I'll be concentrating on preparing GOB-BALT for "The Big Sleep". (Another friend may come weld the strut towers but that would happen after I depart.) GOB-BALT rolls but it's GoGo Bits are still up front. It would run but with no fuel tank, no exhaust, a non-disengaging clutch and no rear brakes it is no longer self propelled. Wiring is the part of this project I can do on the road without having to have the actual car around. I expect I will use my road time to re-wire this unit to use 07-08 electrical systems, so that the main harness ECM branch(cobra head) goes rearward with the tail light wiring, inside(below the driver's seat) instead of running forward to the old ECM location, then my extension looping rearward and routing under the chassis. Also running the engine harness extensions forward thru the inside to the fuse block in the former engine compartment. We've decided to try to sell the red 08 N/A SS. Or if it doesn't sell quickly, save it to pull it apart next spring for the VVT 2.4 and all the wiring harnesses.(Sad to destroy a RUNNING, slightly wrecked, high content car BUT I am in that unit sooo cheap!) That would provide a N/A 2.4 VVT engine. Bolt that to an F23 trans(as I have 2 of them). Plus I would get my Leather seats! Storing all of this for a year would be much nicer IF the Land Sale would come through!
 

Ross

Goblin Guru
Some Goblin builder here might want to buy that 2.4L SS engine... If they live near Greenville, Ga.
That is the block that Justin Reed is running in his hill climber winning moster Goblin.
 

ah.b.normal

Goblin Guru
Not holding out much hope that a builder will pick it up next week! Goblin builders are scarce in this neck of the woods! You'd think with "the world's busiest airport" just down the street there would be dozens of Airline Mechs building Goblins. Not so, maybe they're all too busy. Boilermaker is around the corner from me, but his is finished. There is one sneaking around Atlanta with a Fire Spitting Mil Spec Death Snail, making the late night street racer types cry! For some reason GA is a bit of a dead zone for Goblins and Cobalts for that matter. We are a strange area, for cars. This area has no rust problems and New Stock Horsepower is plentiful. I've found most Cobalt stuff in Tenn and Kentucky. A real hotbed around Cincinnati and Ohio in general. Penn has their fill as well. So, it seems I'm too far away for buyers to come get a 15 y/o car. It can sit since I have little $ invested in it. If only I had more time, but the road beckons to me and travelling is my due.
 

ah.b.normal

Goblin Guru
Because of the variety of bits of cars I have floating around I have some odd options. Does anyone know when the change year on the crank position reluctor/wheel was? Also is it possible and/or what is the down side of running a VVT motor without the VVT solenoids connected? I'm fairly sure all 2.4 engines were VVT, BUT were the 2.0 and 2.2 VVT as well? I've never delved in to this question, it is simply a curiosity. The engine in the 06 coupe is a non VVT 2.2N/A. Of the 3 VVT examples in my engine pile I have a 2.4 still in the 08SS(so I am fairly sure of it's size, that car is unmolested) but the other two engines and the bodies they came out of give only clues and very little proof that where I found them is where they were born. The sticker on the valve cover from the 08 HHR actually matches the serial number; so I feel fairly sure it is a 2.2 as claimed. The silver 09 sedan was used by someone working very hard at keeping secrets, probably street racing. And street racers are notorious for camouflaging hopped up engines as base models. The sticker on that valve cover matched that body, but I don't have proof that the valve cover hadn't been swapped. Any clues are helpful.
 

ah.b.normal

Goblin Guru
As my luck would have it we are still not out on the road!, a minor crunch on the rear cap of the RV has us in paint and at the mercy of the weather. Our painter is working as fast as he can but he doesn't have a booth big enough to put an RV in so he is painting outdoors. Not a large area, just complicated. Hoping for Tuesday! Anyhoo. I have SOLD the Red N/A SS. I met a guy on the Cobalt SS forums who traded me another 07 Coupe that is not pranged! Lightly stripped so priced right, with title!(exactly the kind of victim I look for!) He is a tech at a big GMC dealership(near Atlanta) and participates in the Lemons races. He is so very stoked about my GOB-BALT and hopes to build one for Lemons racing!
 
Top