Floyd's City #180 - 2006 SS/SC - 3rd Round

[Floyd]

And finally, RIP my fingertips and wrists. Putting the new gaskets on was a bear. I put motor oil on them and hand-pressed them onto the bolts with an appropriately sized socket. Just about needed a shop press. I was really laying my weight on them.

Next up, I've got to start to get the nasty valve cover cleaned up and prepped.

 

[Floyd]

Valve Cover Painting:
Learned a lot when going through and painting this valve cover. Had to sand back and redo some places. I think most of my problems were caused by spraying too quickly in a cold garage. I took a ton of pictures over the process of it. If you want to see the end result, check the next post.

Cleanup and First Spray:
I had done a bunch of degreasing outside before doing a final sanding/scuffing/cleaning inside.

After I finished the color coat the first time.

The Damage:
I was getting ready for the clear coat when I noticed that I had made horrible runs on my final, heavy color coat.

The Repair:
So the next day began the sanding and repainting process. I also started doing lighter coats and taking a lot longer between them. A big cycle of of sanding, respraying, and blending to get all of my mistakes taken care of.

I was finally able put on a clear coat.

To make sure it was cured, I baked it for a couple of days at like 105F with a space heater in a small bathroom.

 

[Floyd]

Reversal of Removal:
Added a new gasket set.

I deep cleaned the gasket mating surfaces on the engine with degreaser and acetone.

Torqued all of the valve cover bolts to 71in/lb.

Did some last minute cleaning during reassembly.

I moved the breather and also replaced the smaller bolts on the engine cover and coil cover. I have not done anything to the coil cover yet, besides cleaning, but have a couple ideas.

 

[escapepilot]

Looks great. I love that color. And I'm jealous that you actually have the coil cover. Mine was missing and finding a suitable one isn't as easy as I thought it would be.

 

[Floyd]

Looks great. I love that color. And I'm jealous that you actually have the coil cover. Mine was missing and finding a suitable one isn't as easy as I thought it would be.

Thanks!

If it helps at all, when you find a coil cover, this is the size of the bolts I used as replacement bolts for my coil cover and plastic shroud. You'll want to get a fastener that you can remove without a socket, since they go down into a recess.

You can still find/buy the oem torx bolts new, if you want to go that route. They are the same bolts used for the plastic shroud on the front of the engine.

Should be these:
https://www.crateenginedepot.com/Ecotec-Ignition-Cover-Bolt-12789897-P10896.aspx

 

[k.rollin]

I think you're right. I may redo it a little later. Not that it's wrong, but I'm not a huge fan of sandwiching the cable behind the washers, like I have it now. I think it could look a little cleaner.
I might use some small angle brackets as cable tangs, then put some thimbles through them, and then route and sleeve the ends of the cables. I think I would want to buy the right kind of crimping tool too. My crimpers are all for electrical work.

I used eyebolts as anchors at either end and ran 1/8 inch wire rope with thimbles and aluminum ferrules. Covered the sharp ends of the cable with heat shrink tubing. The tools I used were $30-ish online.

 

[Floyd]

I used eyebolts as anchors at either end and ran 1/8 inch wire rope with thimbles and aluminum ferrules. Covered the sharp ends of the cable with heat shrink tubing. The tools I used were $30-ish online.

I ended up redoing mine and taking the same approach. I got some stainless eyebolts that were long enough that I could really tension up the cables more after crimping the ferrules.

 

[Floyd]

Rear Control Arm Replacement:
So, I had some Moog K201285 bushings to put in, but I took the old control arms out and they were mismatched, and one had already had the ball joint replaced, so I decided they were cheap enough to order another set.

I ended up buying a new set, pressing out the bushings, and putting in the new Moog bushings. The moog bushings were loose though. Like, you could slide them in by hand.

I bought some Loctite 660 and used that to press the new bushings in. I measured and there was a 0.006" diameter difference between the bushing outer and the control arm inner. That means that I needed to fill a 0.003" gap on all sides of the bushing. Loctite 660 can fill a gap up to 0.020", so it was more than enough to cover the difference.

 

[Floyd]

The new control arms went in fine, I do wonder about the "limiting brackets" that come on the cobalts (from the things I've read). My goblin did not have a set of those when I bought it. Does anyone know if those are needed and make a difference in the stiffness of the rear end?
Here is the limiting bracket that I'm talking about. There are 4 of them. They go behind the 4 bolts that mount the control arms to sides of the subframe.

https://www.stockwiseauto.com/acdelco-22672863-suspension-control-arm-support-bracket?Year=2006&Make=Chevrolet&Model=Cobalt

Pictures of the new control arms installed:

Another side note, it's great having a Haynes manual. Some of the torque procedures are more complex than I expected. That "additional 180 degrees" on the big subframe bolts was A BEAR.

 

[Floyd]

Also, got the diode installed on the wiring to the intercooler fan. I appreciate the advice. It now shuts off immediately with the key turning off.

Here's a pic before I sealed it, heat shrunk it, and taped it.

 

[Rttoys]

I doubt you’ll feel anything without those.

 

[Floyd]

I ordered a button panel and the steering rack limiters. I have already wired a connector for the button panel side of the of the wires. I have never used Deutsch connectors before, but they are great. I also got some great heatshrink labels on amazon. They just go in a label maker I already had.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BPV6JWQ/

 

[Gtstorey]

Those “support” brackets I’m pretty sure came oem. Mine had them.

 

[Floyd]

Those “support” brackets I’m pretty sure came oem. Mine had them.

The Haynes manual refers to them as "movement limiting brackets" and gives a warning about not reinstalling them.

 

[Gtstorey]

While I agree they probably need to be there, my faith in anything in a Haynes or any similar aftermarket repair manual was gone 30 years ago.

 

[Floyd]

New Dzus, No More Loose:
I replaced my Dzus fasteners tonight with allen head Dzus.
For reference, I ordered some suggested in another thread: https://www.ebay.com/itm/332408339388
For the life of me, I couldn't get the old fasteners to fully hook into the frame, and the slots on the fasteners were getting all gummed up.
I just used locking pliers to grab the old ones pull them out. Then I took a couple of the new ones, stuck them in a vise and did the same thing.

These Dzus are also a hair longer than the ones I took out.
To install the new ones, I made a "ball joint press" kind of apparatus with a C-clamp and a socket.
And I placed a piece of vinyl tape over the head to keep it from getting scuffed.

Here is an example of the layout used when putting in the new ones:

Maiden Voyage:
After that, I reattached the front cowl and I couldn't help myself. I took it out for the first time since I've had it out for inspections.
I just ran it a couple miles down the street. It was dark and 45 degrees out. I put on some ear warmers, but my hands were freezing by the time I made it down there.

AFR Issue:
It also caused me to notice something else. After warming it up, every minute or so, when I was near idle, the AFRs would start to bounce up really lean and then back down. It would start to idle rough and oscillate back and forth from stoichiometric to really lean (18:1+), actually maxing out the gauge sometimes. But other times at idle, it would sit right at 14.7:1.
This oscillation would also sometimes continue to happen when starting from a stop in first gear. It would cause the goblin to buck around a little during takeoff. It does have a sensitive throttle, but it was more than that. I also still notice a throttle delay of between half a second and a second.
All that said, when driving and actually moving more than a few mph, the AFRs looked good.
So now I'm going to start to look for vacuum leaks, and maybe exhaust leaks.

 

[Floyd]

Just a quick update. The exhaust manifold torque was all good.
And I've taken it for a couple drives since my last post and the AFR issue I was seeing has sorted itself out. I realized what probably caused it. Early in the winter, I took apart the intake, used MAF cleaner on the MAF, used tb cleaner on the throttle body and cleaned a bunch of grime out of it. I didn't reset/relearn anything, so I think it just needed to be driven to self-adjust.

I will say, it is FAST and I've hardly pulled it past mid 3500 rpm or so. Although, it's been cold too, so it doesn't take much to break the rear end loose.

I have some more cold days coming up in the forecast. I'm going to install the steering rack limiters and install some new moog tie rods. And I bought everything I'm going to need to do a string alignment in my garage after that.

The current alignment tracks straight, but it does feel "floaty" in the front. It doesn't resist steering input or pull back to straight with much strength (I assume it could use more caster). I've read some of the alignment threads and it seems easy enough to set it up. I'll set everything to the recommended spec and see how that feels before I decide on any tweaks.

 

[Robinjo]

I will say, it is FAST and I've hardly pulled it past mid 3500 rpm or so. Although, it's been cold too, so it doesn't take much to break the rear end loose.

The current alignment tracks straight, but it does feel "floaty" in the front.

It is fast AF! It really is easy to light the tires up.
For the floaty front, look into a splitter or front wing. It’s night and day after getting one.

 

[speedhacks]

This is awesome Floyd! I love to see all the 90% plus fine detail items I never got to make it further along. Only thing I'd mention is those are the 3rd set of control arms (thought they were finally matching). That's craziness. Took me a bit to find matching axles as well when I bought new ones of those at several of my local auto parts stores. I couldn't pin down if it was just different brands or what.

It is an absolute monster. Have you been considering autocross or any of the like in the future this year? I found that it helps find limits (safely).

 

[Metal Mech]

I ordered a button panel and the steering rack limiters. I have already wired a connector for the button panel side of the of the wires. I have never used Deutsch connectors before, but they are great. I also got some great heatshrink labels on amazon. They just go in a label maker I already had.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BPV6JWQ/


View attachment 38657

Those are awesome I have never seen them before. I wonder if they will fit my label maker. If not it might be time for a new one haha.