ctuinstra's City Goblin - 07 SS/SC donor **Licensed**

JeffsGoblin

Goblin Guru
This is after painting with a ceramic engine paint from Eastwood with activator. I really liked the paint and how it sprayed on or could be brushed. A little paint went a long way! I hung the engine from the loader while painting it and left it out in the sun for hours to bake.

Many of the smaller pieces I took to the local precision machine shop and they have some type of bath and blasting that they do that makes the cast parts look better than new! I was so happy with the outcome I'm addicted to it. They are so clean that the least little bit of dirt or oil on your fingers will show up. I had to darn near wear gloves until I could get a coat of clear satin on them.

Also replaced a lot of the old rusty bolts with yellow zinc coated flange bolts from Fastenal. Chased all of the threaded holes with a tap to clean them up. Nothing like a new bolt in a new hole. Everything went together using my fingers and then a torque wrench to finish them off.

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I cleaned up and polished the pipe and finished with a light wire brushing and then a clear coat.

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The bottom bolt of the thermostat housing was a real pain to find. Only one place on the internet had that size/length. That is a $9 bolt with shipping.
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Still working on putting everything together so not everything is bolted down tight. I had to replace the starter because one of the terminal broke off trying to get the nut off. It was just a problem waiting to happen. And yes, that is a new Bosch pump. I found out my original was dead, brushes were worn completely down-gone!

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Again, some of it is just mocked up for now. This is the ZZP adjustable tensioner.
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What was the blasting process called so I can see if there is anything around my area?
 

Johvans

Well-Known Member
How are you thinning your power train harness? Taking every sensor/plug back to the harness all the way and depinning?
 

ctuinstra

Goblin Guru
How are you thinning your power train harness? Taking every sensor/plug back to the harness all the way and depinning?
There were only a few to get rid of. I removed everything that had to do with the A/C compressor and the purge solenoid. Yes, I removed all the wires all the way back to the connectors and removed the pins (other than the ECM connector, it's too small to remove the pins so I just cut it short). I plan to re-loom and tape the entire harness again since the old was in bad shape.
 

SliderR1

Well-Known Member
I just went back through this thread and noticed that your cam chain tensioner looks like the old style. Now would be a good time to update it to the newer version. There are a lot of threads about the old ones malfunctioning on CobaltSS.net. The newer version has a small dome on it, the old version is flat...
 

ctuinstra

Goblin Guru
I just went back through this thread and noticed that your cam chain tensioner looks like the old style. Now would be a good time to update it to the newer version. There are a lot of threads about the old ones malfunctioning on CobaltSS.net. The newer version has a small dome on it, the old version is flat...
I'm going to check in to this. I've been debating about replacing the timing chains while I have the motor out. I may just go ahead and do this to be on the same side. I'm currently dealing with another Cobalt with a broken timing chain, so this is real to me. Thanks!

I'm ordering both kits, the 4201S comes with the new style tensioner:
Cloyes 9-4201S & 9-4202S
 
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BaltimoreHokie

Goblin Guru
I'm going to check in to this. I've been debating about replacing the timing chains while I have the motor out. I may just go ahead and do this to be on the same side. I'm currently dealing with another Cobalt with a broken timing chain, so this is real to me. Thanks!

I'm ordering both kits, the 4201S comes with the new style tensioner:
Cloyes 9-4201S & 9-4202S
Be careful about using the balance chain crankshaft gear. My part number for that one was 12642713, its an VVT gear. I reached out to Cloyes about it and he said " The sprockets in our kit will not fit the turbo or supercharged engines, the chains and guides will fit but we do not offer the sprockets you will have to go OEM or reuse your factory sprockes."

This may not be the case for sure, but I do know that mine was not the solid style gear like the ones in their picture.

Also there are a couple of us on this forum that have ordered this kit http://a.co/4dTeRmA
I received it yesterday, I compared most of the parts and everything looks good. But I am waiting for my other balance sprocket to come in before installing it.
 

ctuinstra

Goblin Guru
Be careful about using the balance chain crankshaft gear. My part number for that one was 12642713, its an VVT gear. I reached out to Cloyes about it and he said " The sprockets in our kit will not fit the turbo or supercharged engines, the chains and guides will fit but we do not offer the sprockets you will have to go OEM or reuse your factory sprockes."

This may not be the case for sure, but I do know that mine was not the solid style gear like the ones in their picture.

Also there are a couple of us on this forum that have ordered this kit http://a.co/4dTeRmA
I received it yesterday, I compared most of the parts and everything looks good. But I am waiting for my other balance sprocket to come in before installing it.
I'll keep an eye out for the gear. I don't really think that I need to replace everything, but it's good insurance.
 

ctuinstra

Goblin Guru
This has nothing to do with my build but interesting nonetheless.

My son's ex-girlfriends car engine bit the dust in her Cobalt we got for here. I finally found a donor, this '05 Malibu with 125K on it. It ran and drove, in fact the engine was super quiet and ran like new and would make a great donor. I took the shell down today to the local scrap yard to get rid of it. With just a bill of sale and a few minutes later I walked out with $105. The best part is that it's only 10 minutes from home.

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BaltimoreHokie

Goblin Guru
Shiny bits arrived today!

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I meant to respond a while back about the timing kit. If you've already ordered it wont be much help but the link above from amazon included some of the Cloyes pieces. All of the guides were Cloyes branded. I think the only difference was the chain has three blackish links, instead of 2 blackish and one yellow link. That kit I linked was also only 85 and included both the balance chain and the timing chain pieces. I put it all together and it is all good and running.
 

ctuinstra

Goblin Guru
I too was one that had troubles compressing the steering shaft. In the videos it showed the shaft moving in and out freely so I knew the shaft should. There is some discussion on the dimple on the shaft and how it some removed it trying to free the shaft.

The truth is the grease inside has simply hardened some or turned waxy. I was able to free mine up by allowing paint thinner to seep down inside by holding it upright and pouring just a bit inside and allowing it to work it's way down. I also tried penetrating oil and heat.

I did carefully drill out the dimple to allow me to pull the two apart so I could do a better job of cleaning inside. I repeated using spray cleaner, paint thinner and soap/water. And finally the two just slide in and out without little resistance. In the video, there is still some penetrating oil inside giving it the sucking sound. The tolerances are very tight and the slightest bit of grease/oil to solidify and they are stuck like glue.

I never hammered directly on the u-joints bearings. I used a adjustable wrench adjusted around the shaft and up against the u-joint. Again I used the adjustable wrench on the steering wheel side after folding over the u-joint and using the wrench as u-shaped spacer so I could tap on the end of the shaft to compress it.

I'll coat it with a slight coating of lithium or silicone grease after painting and then press another dimple in it.

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ctuinstra

Goblin Guru
I used a spray cleaner (contact cleaner). This stuff will dissolve plastic if you aren't careful. Flushed them with it and then rinsed with water and blew them out with air. It's LPS brand HDX Heavy Duty Degreaser.

ht
 

ctuinstra

Goblin Guru
THE FRAME IS HERE!!!! Time to start building.

I received the email that the frame is ready. Adam and I arranged a time for us to come get it. He asked if my son was going to be there also. Kaleb had school and I wasn't sure if or how he could get out of school, but I emailed him and asked if he was interested in going. A couple of hours later, he told me that he had already talked to his Principal, Counselor, and teachers and had made arrangements to take all of his finals on Wednesday just so he could go with me on Thursday. Wednesday after work I drove for three hours to get home (I was out of town on business) to pick him up so we could leave at around midnight. The trip to Texas was going to take us nine hours and we wanted to arrive around 10:00AM, so we left just after midnight. And after a full day of work and already had a lot of driving that day, this was going to be a long tiring trip.

We made it right at 10:00AM on Thursday. We were greeted by Adam and Lonny. They were so welcoming and it was wonderful to finally meet them! They showed us the shop and where and how they build the cars and frame. It's amazing to see the wall of parts bins just to fill the kits orders. The work they do is so impressive! I just couldn't get enough of all of the information. They also showed us the donor car lot, it's quite a collection!


Here is Kaleb's first ride in a Goblin. It's short, he thought he was recording the whole ride but apparently not.


 
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ctuinstra

Goblin Guru
Here is the backlot with the stock of donor vehicles. It's amazing that most all of the still run and drive.

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Ray doing his thing. He was working hard at it all day long!

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Kaleb checking out some of the stock for the frames.

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Parts bins for building the Stage kits.

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New shipment of radiators.

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Everything loaded up and ready to go. Most of the items are in the back of the Jeep. It all held up well during the long haul over the nasty Oklahoma roads.

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Briann1177

Goblin Guru
Nice. Their used car lot has at least doubled in size since I last saw it back in July. And yes, OK has the worst roads in the nation. It's funny how quickly the quality improves as soon as you cross a state line.

Looking forward to the build out.
 

KJP

Well-Known Member
They have quite a few cobalts out there, looks like someone has been busy finding some good donors!
 

ctuinstra

Goblin Guru
Over the New Year's weekend, Kaleb and I cleaned up and organized the basement garage so we could work on the car there. I have the detached garage that was in the first photos of this project and it is heated, but I don't keep it very warm out there and I hate to heat it up only to work for a hour here and there. The basement garage is where I keep all of the tools and supplies and since it's heated with the house, it just works better for this winter project. I can run down there anytime and work for just a few minutes or whatever I'm in the mood for. I think I will work on it much more than if it were out in the other garage. Once it's done, it will live in the other garage.

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ctuinstra

Goblin Guru
Did a lot of little prep work to the frame before sending it off to be powder coated. Welded on some license plate tabs that Kaleb made in school. Also welded in a foot rest for the driver since we have a clutch in the way, it's mounted just to the left of the clutch, just a little place to prop the foot (theNuker gave me that idea).

I also decided instead of pop-riveting the top cover of the center tunnel, I'm going to tap the holes and screw it down. That way I can easily remove it when I make mistakes. I have a ton on M4 .7 screws from work that work very well in the holes. In fact the holes are drilled just the perfect size that I can use the self-taping M4 screws and they drive right in! I may add a few more around the shifter area just to make sure it's good and solid. And if the screws don't work out, I can always use the rivets to make it more permanent.

Currently the metal panels and a few other pieces are off getting powder coated. Apparently it's too cold for them to run the media blaster and those pieces don't need blasting. Not sure if it's just too cold in that building or it causes problems with the compressor equipment. Maybe next week we can send off the frame and the valve cover to be done. Then it's finally assembly!!!!
 
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