Desert Sasqwatch
Goblin Guru
Sorry, thought you were referring to other threaded holes in the chassis, my bad. 
ccgillett's Track Goblin - '08 SS/TC
- Thread starter ccgillett
- Start date
Oh haha no I was just just referring to the non tapped holes to use a drill bit. Heck, even if there are no holes to begin with, make some, right?Sorry, thought you were referring to other threaded holes in the chassis, my bad.
ccgillett
Well-Known Member
@r3drckt had it precisely right. I grabbed a brand-new 3/8" drill bit, lined everything up straight, and then went low RPMs and slow. The powder coating within the hole came out like an orange peel. My Grade 8 3/8-16x1.75 bolts went in easily and everything mocks up the way it should. The kit comes with 1.5" bolts, I have a pile of new 1.75" and it looks like those will clear just fine.
Does anybody know the correct torque spec for these bolts, and also for the bolts that attach the coil-over assembly to the lower suspension?
Thank you for the advice and for putting up with me obsessing about every detail!
Does anybody know the correct torque spec for these bolts, and also for the bolts that attach the coil-over assembly to the lower suspension?
Thank you for the advice and for putting up with me obsessing about every detail!
Lndshrk Steve
Well-Known Member
There is a torque sheet somewhere in the Forum. It shows the "Lower shock mount to steering knuckle bolts" at 89 lb-ft. This should be the rear (what was the front) because the front shocks do not attach to the knuckle. I also am wondering about the upper shock to bracket and bracket to frame torques. As you mentioned, it's holding all the weight of the rear.
k.rollin
Goblin Guru
Dragon Motorsports 1.0 [Extended\Full-Cage\Double Door Bars] - [Frame #290] - SOLD
The engine prep videos show that you pull the MAF wiring out of the bundle to allow you to route it as needed. I plumbed up my intake as shown and in this position, I think the stock wiring would have been enough, but I did not need an extension. Joe
ccgillett
Well-Known Member
Installing the DF rear coilover kit and was surprised to find the lower donor mount bolts don't want to go all the way through the mount. I honestly don't recall if they were all the way in when I removed the donor rear suspension bits. Both the DF shock and the donor car shock mounts appear to be the same width. What am I doing wrong here...or is the expectation that you use new hardware to bolt these in? I was hoping to get these installed today!
ccgillett
Well-Known Member
Great, thank you! Related to this, do you just compress the springs after you install everything by tightening the rings to the 4" reference distance? I seem to recall someone saying a spring compressor wasn't necessary.
Coilover Options
Honestly, I haven't paid a lot of attention in the past to the conversations about aftermarket coilovers since I was planning on using the donor struts. However with the rebuild, I'm 90% sure I'm going to replace the struts since one of them seems really weak on the compression (and causing a...
ccgillett
Well-Known Member
I don't want to do something stupid, so wanted to document what I think are the correct procedures for installing the rear coilovers. I'd appreciate someone validating these steps.
I want to write this up for myself and others like me who haven't done a coilover installation before. Maybe I'll do a video too just to be helpful.
Photos from DF for the rear coilover install are found here. The "Coilover Options" thread shown above provides great photos.
Initial Setup:
1. Adjust the shock until the measurement from the bottom of the shock bracket to the base of the shock is 3.75"
2. Run the adjuster up the shock about 3" from top of the bracket.
Installation:
1. Press/tap the JDAF strut spacer into the recessed hole on the rear strut mount, the spacer needs to be correctly oriented for it to fit into the rear struct mount
2. Install the upper strut mount (triangular bracket)
3. Install the shock in the lower mount, tap in the bolts, impact wrench nuts
4. Install the plastic protector on the adjuster
5. Place spring over the shock
6. Install the spring seat on top of the spring
7. Raise the assembly up so that the top of the shock goes through the upper shock mount
8. Install H1CI flat washer and GX36 Nylok nut on the top of the shock
9. Tighten the top Nylok nut down, until everything comes together
10. With the suspension unloaded, run the spring adjuster up, tensioning the spring. Gap between the top of the shock bracket and the base of the spring is 4".
I want to write this up for myself and others like me who haven't done a coilover installation before. Maybe I'll do a video too just to be helpful.
Photos from DF for the rear coilover install are found here. The "Coilover Options" thread shown above provides great photos.
Initial Setup:
1. Adjust the shock until the measurement from the bottom of the shock bracket to the base of the shock is 3.75"
2. Run the adjuster up the shock about 3" from top of the bracket.
Installation:
1. Press/tap the JDAF strut spacer into the recessed hole on the rear strut mount, the spacer needs to be correctly oriented for it to fit into the rear struct mount
2. Install the upper strut mount (triangular bracket)
3. Install the shock in the lower mount, tap in the bolts, impact wrench nuts
4. Install the plastic protector on the adjuster
5. Place spring over the shock
6. Install the spring seat on top of the spring
7. Raise the assembly up so that the top of the shock goes through the upper shock mount
8. Install H1CI flat washer and GX36 Nylok nut on the top of the shock
9. Tighten the top Nylok nut down, until everything comes together
10. With the suspension unloaded, run the spring adjuster up, tensioning the spring. Gap between the top of the shock bracket and the base of the spring is 4".
Last edited:
ccgillett
Well-Known Member
Lots to report as I work my way through this car. Progress remains slower than I'd like, mostly because life gets in the way, but also because there are bumps in the road build-wise nearly every step of the way. Learning is always a good thing though.
I decided to go with different wheel and tire package than what came on the partially-built car. Borrowing/stealing from @JBINTX I went with this:
The Aero Race wheels came next, from Day Motor Sports. They look awesome, and arrived quickly. They are also made in the US in Estherville IA.
The long pull was the American Racer tires. I waited several months for those, and that turned out to be OK since the car isn't really ready yet.
I got the rear coil-overs installed, hopefully correctly sorted out the front tie-rod situation, and then turned attention to the front suspension. I've been eyeing things suspiciously up there for a while, mostly because when I received the car nothing was torqued to spec - in fact it was all mostly finger tight. So I decided to go through everything and check the assembly process, set everything to torque spec, etc. So I pulled everything off the car, and re-did it. And that's when I found this bit of bad news:
This is not only annoying, but it's really going to slow me down if this isn't field serviceable. The car came with 5x114.3 hubs, and I'm coming to learn that as a result everything needs to be custom ordered. I really hope I can get that mounting stud removed and replaced. It's not cast in to the piece, and it doesn't look screwed in. I soaked it with Aerokroil penetrant, and in a day or so I'll take a torch to it and see if I can then hammer or press it out. In the meantime I asked DF to quote me on a new hub just in case.
The car came with what was, to me, a strange wheel and tire package - two different tread types, large diameter with deep offset wheels, etc. I was scratching my head about why the original builder made these decisions. Then while I was digging into the front of the car it hit me....
These are the SS/TC donor car Brembo fronts installed on the Goblin, with big honking rotors. These are not going to work for several reasons. First off, the new wheel/tire package won't clear the assembly...no real surprise there I suppose. More importantly, the Cobalt SS unladen/empty weighs something like 2,975 pounds and I believe when full of fuel, luggage, passengers, etc. can go up to 3,900 pounds. So it needs a LOT of brake to pull that down from speed. I am guessing that our cars will weigh in around 2,200 pounds, so these will massively over-brake the car. That's never fun, leads to lots of wasted $$ on flat-spotted tires, and arguably isn't as safe as something you can pull down hard without lockup.
Included with all the various pieces-parts that I bought was a pair of smaller calipers, intended to be used on the front of the car:
The Brembos are now off the car - I'll toss 'em on a few lists for sale - and these smaller calipers will go up front. Of course now I need different rotors, and rooting around the forum it seems the only path forward there is to source them from DF. I'm waiting to hear what they have for me.
I bought the shifter setup put together by some builders a few months ago and that hasn't gone onto the car yet. DF has since release a revised shifter kit that looks cleaner/better. I'll be selling the "group buy shifter kit" and installing the DF revision. Both are sitting on a shelf in the garage.
Finally, since this is a full-on race car with no intention of street use, I've decided to sell the Corbeau FX1 seat package that came with the car in favor of Kirkey 65 Series race seats. These will be a bit lighter, but also give me an added margin of safety. I'll replace the harnesses with date-fresh FIA certified harnesses before I put the car on track.
While I wait for front end brake parts to show up, it's time to turn my attention to the task I'm dreading most - installing the wiring harness, fuse boxes, and ECUs. I have a DF-made wiring harness and that should make things easier, but i'm really stressed about this work.
I decided to go with different wheel and tire package than what came on the partially-built car. Borrowing/stealing from @JBINTX I went with this:
- Track tires 15x10 American Racer 23.5/10.0-15s (131 compound)
- Track wheels Aero Race wheel 50 Series 50-104550 15x10 with 5" back space (these clear the calipers on the 09 tc SS model), Day motor sports 800-543-6238)
- Track wheel spacer/adapter - 1" to get from the 5x110 to 5 on 4.5"
The Aero Race wheels came next, from Day Motor Sports. They look awesome, and arrived quickly. They are also made in the US in Estherville IA.
The long pull was the American Racer tires. I waited several months for those, and that turned out to be OK since the car isn't really ready yet.
I got the rear coil-overs installed, hopefully correctly sorted out the front tie-rod situation, and then turned attention to the front suspension. I've been eyeing things suspiciously up there for a while, mostly because when I received the car nothing was torqued to spec - in fact it was all mostly finger tight. So I decided to go through everything and check the assembly process, set everything to torque spec, etc. So I pulled everything off the car, and re-did it. And that's when I found this bit of bad news:
This is not only annoying, but it's really going to slow me down if this isn't field serviceable. The car came with 5x114.3 hubs, and I'm coming to learn that as a result everything needs to be custom ordered. I really hope I can get that mounting stud removed and replaced. It's not cast in to the piece, and it doesn't look screwed in. I soaked it with Aerokroil penetrant, and in a day or so I'll take a torch to it and see if I can then hammer or press it out. In the meantime I asked DF to quote me on a new hub just in case.
The car came with what was, to me, a strange wheel and tire package - two different tread types, large diameter with deep offset wheels, etc. I was scratching my head about why the original builder made these decisions. Then while I was digging into the front of the car it hit me....
These are the SS/TC donor car Brembo fronts installed on the Goblin, with big honking rotors. These are not going to work for several reasons. First off, the new wheel/tire package won't clear the assembly...no real surprise there I suppose. More importantly, the Cobalt SS unladen/empty weighs something like 2,975 pounds and I believe when full of fuel, luggage, passengers, etc. can go up to 3,900 pounds. So it needs a LOT of brake to pull that down from speed. I am guessing that our cars will weigh in around 2,200 pounds, so these will massively over-brake the car. That's never fun, leads to lots of wasted $$ on flat-spotted tires, and arguably isn't as safe as something you can pull down hard without lockup.
Included with all the various pieces-parts that I bought was a pair of smaller calipers, intended to be used on the front of the car:
The Brembos are now off the car - I'll toss 'em on a few lists for sale - and these smaller calipers will go up front. Of course now I need different rotors, and rooting around the forum it seems the only path forward there is to source them from DF. I'm waiting to hear what they have for me.
I bought the shifter setup put together by some builders a few months ago and that hasn't gone onto the car yet. DF has since release a revised shifter kit that looks cleaner/better. I'll be selling the "group buy shifter kit" and installing the DF revision. Both are sitting on a shelf in the garage.
Finally, since this is a full-on race car with no intention of street use, I've decided to sell the Corbeau FX1 seat package that came with the car in favor of Kirkey 65 Series race seats. These will be a bit lighter, but also give me an added margin of safety. I'll replace the harnesses with date-fresh FIA certified harnesses before I put the car on track.
While I wait for front end brake parts to show up, it's time to turn my attention to the task I'm dreading most - installing the wiring harness, fuse boxes, and ECUs. I have a DF-made wiring harness and that should make things easier, but i'm really stressed about this work.
k.rollin
Goblin Guru
The rotors you have are fine. The front rotors as supplied with the kit measure approx. 11 inches in diameter. If you want to further reduce front braking force, you can source the 10 inch rotor and the front caliper bracket from the 4 lug Cobalt and/or add an inline proportioning valve to the front brake circuit.
ccgillett
Well-Known Member
The rotors that came with the car definitely won't fit - they are 14" diameter from the Brembo donor setup. The correct size is around 11-12" diameter. I hope to have those soon.
ccgillett
Well-Known Member
Wow, that's much lighter than I realized - is that a typical weight for these cars or did you simplify and add MORE lightness?
Coming in under 2,000 pounds with 210 pound me behind the wheel would be most excellent.
k.rollin
Goblin Guru
The picture I saw in the other thread looked like it was about 11 inches per the tape measure or whatever. My mistake.
Because you have hubs with 5x114.3 PCD, you'll need to have your rotors redrilled.
Since we're posting weights here too, mine was 1460 with half a tank of fuel, but I also run smaller wheels and tires than most and spec'd just about the lightest wheels I could find.