Keckster
Well-Known Member
Hello Everyone!
First things first I'm David and I have been working hard to save up for a goblin kit for years! I finally made my down payment for a 3 stage kit on my 23rd birthday this past July!
I am currently an engineering student working during covid because online courses are not my cup of tea. As a side hobby I've also been trying to make some YT car content. I have been backlogging goblin content until I get the kit delivered, which happened this past Tuesday! I anyone would want to follow along with my content you can find it at: https://www.youtube.com/user/keckster98
Enough about me! What have I done so far? To start, I probably chose the worst time to actually start searching for a donor car as the used car market is through the roof... Eventually I found a clapped out 06 Cobalt SS of FB Marketplace listed for $1500. However, there were some problems with that price for me.
-First, the listing stated how the car "runs and drives" but has an issue pairing the new keys after the original broke off in the ignition...
-the interior is absolutely trashed
-upon other small things, the last major red flag was how rusted the entire body was
Back in May I went to check the car out not intending to pay $1500 but it was the closest cobalt listed less than $3k...
I arrived where this poor SS was sitting for 6+ months and the seller is nowhere to be found. He forgot about us for another 2 hours later which helped me get an even better deal in the end. With all the alone time I really had time to check the car out and even got it to crank which gave me hope. To end that long night I got the rust bucket down to $800
Upon getting the car home I got to work trying to figure out this starting issue. I never been so frustrated/disappointed in my life... I had tried everything, When the key is turned the car will turn all accessories on but the engine won't even try to turn over. The cluster doesn't even show the light test, the only light on the cluster is the security light. With the key in the run position I was eventually able to start the car by manually jumping the relays in the fuse box to power everything manually but no luck with any relearn process on the keys which told me there is some sort of wiring issue. At this point I knew the engine ran and sounds healthy so I just decided to start the disassembly process since we have to re-do the harness anyway.
Although the outside body was trashed and the interior was gross, The important interior parts and engine bay were in pretty good condition... Everything went without a hitch until I had to drop the subframe. Every single subframe bolt broke the cage off the nut on the top side while I was trying to remove them. you can see in the following photo I even had to cut a hole in the floor to get access to this dumb uncaged nut on the rear driver side subframe bolt.
Finally, out came our new heart for my goblin! Then the rest of the rust bucket is off to the scrapyard.
First things first I'm David and I have been working hard to save up for a goblin kit for years! I finally made my down payment for a 3 stage kit on my 23rd birthday this past July!
I am currently an engineering student working during covid because online courses are not my cup of tea. As a side hobby I've also been trying to make some YT car content. I have been backlogging goblin content until I get the kit delivered, which happened this past Tuesday! I anyone would want to follow along with my content you can find it at: https://www.youtube.com/user/keckster98
Enough about me! What have I done so far? To start, I probably chose the worst time to actually start searching for a donor car as the used car market is through the roof... Eventually I found a clapped out 06 Cobalt SS of FB Marketplace listed for $1500. However, there were some problems with that price for me.
-First, the listing stated how the car "runs and drives" but has an issue pairing the new keys after the original broke off in the ignition...
-the interior is absolutely trashed
-upon other small things, the last major red flag was how rusted the entire body was
Back in May I went to check the car out not intending to pay $1500 but it was the closest cobalt listed less than $3k...
I arrived where this poor SS was sitting for 6+ months and the seller is nowhere to be found. He forgot about us for another 2 hours later which helped me get an even better deal in the end. With all the alone time I really had time to check the car out and even got it to crank which gave me hope. To end that long night I got the rust bucket down to $800
Upon getting the car home I got to work trying to figure out this starting issue. I never been so frustrated/disappointed in my life... I had tried everything, When the key is turned the car will turn all accessories on but the engine won't even try to turn over. The cluster doesn't even show the light test, the only light on the cluster is the security light. With the key in the run position I was eventually able to start the car by manually jumping the relays in the fuse box to power everything manually but no luck with any relearn process on the keys which told me there is some sort of wiring issue. At this point I knew the engine ran and sounds healthy so I just decided to start the disassembly process since we have to re-do the harness anyway.
Although the outside body was trashed and the interior was gross, The important interior parts and engine bay were in pretty good condition... Everything went without a hitch until I had to drop the subframe. Every single subframe bolt broke the cage off the nut on the top side while I was trying to remove them. you can see in the following photo I even had to cut a hole in the floor to get access to this dumb uncaged nut on the rear driver side subframe bolt.
Finally, out came our new heart for my goblin! Then the rest of the rust bucket is off to the scrapyard.
