Help with donor choice

Joebob

Joebob

Goblin Guru
Hey all,

Long time reader and first time caller. Covid and working from home has me interested in a new project and always wanted a kit car but I hate Bodywork so the Goblin sees perfect. Still working with the wife about it but have started looking at donors. I live in NW Houston and am tired of rowing my own in traffic so I have settled on the 2.4L SS/NA. auto. My goal is to do it on the cheap so I am looking to keep the wheel/tires/seats ect from the donor to start the build and once driving, can start upgrading.

Which brings me to my first forum question: I have found this car in Fort Worth IAAI lot and while the car is low mileage and in great shape, it was hit in the front and not running. From the forum's experience in stripping the car, what items could be broken from this damage and is it better to look for one that is running and driving?

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From what I can see:
  • No rust so stripping looks easier
  • 3/4 wheels look great with the other not so bad
  • tires are full tread but cheapos
  • newish replaced struts or at least the tops
  • cross drilled rotors means somebody cared about the car
  • damaged aftermarket hose
  • seats while not preferred black are in great shape
Please let me know if this seems like a good choice or should be patient for a better candidate.

Joe
 
JBINTX

JBINTX

Goblin Guru
Not many have reused the Cobalt seats. But, I love mine. Very comfortable.
You can buy tires and wheels at a later date when finances allow.
 
Desert Sasqwatch

Desert Sasqwatch

Goblin Guru
From the photos that one looks like it's in pretty good shape for a front ender. Don't see anything critical damaged, but the harness going into the ECM should be looked at and the intake manifold behind the upper grill support structure look like the only things I would question. That should be a decent donor as long as the engine was cared for properly.

BTW, welcome to the forum. :)
 
Goblin Graber

Goblin Graber

Well-Known Member
Looks like a solid donor. Way better than the one I started with. I only kept the steering rack, calipers, and one of the knuckles Up front. Everything else was broken or wore out.

Nice to see someone else building an automatic! If you’re doing your one harness check my build thread on things you need to do to your harness that aren’t in the videos.

If you want some black cobalt seats there’s a nice pair in my driveway you can have. Lol
 
Joebob

Joebob

Goblin Guru
Thanks all for you insight. One other question that I couldn't find the answer is the brakes. I think I saw that the TC and the SC cars lose their brakes to the standard LS size. Does the 2.4L SS/NA as well? It is a 5x110mm and 11.6" vs the base 10.6". Would the kit be with all new calipers and rotors or do I reuse the stock fronts and the kit comes with just new fronts? Just trying to find all the benefits of the SS/NA over the much more plentiful base.
 
Rttoys

Rttoys

Goblin Guru
What’s not used from the Cobalt, will be provided from DF. You will need to “upgrade” for the parking brake though.

what part of nw Houston are you in? Bunch of us in Houston.
 
Joebob

Joebob

Goblin Guru
Does Texas cars need the parking brake for inspection? With the automatic, I was not planning on it but was still going to strip it out of the donor. As far as brakes, was just wondering what to keep and clean up vs, wait for the kit parts.

I live in NW Houston near Jersey Village and close to BW8 and 290. I think JBINTX is almost a backyard neighbor.
 
JBINTX

JBINTX

Goblin Guru
Joebob said:
Does Texas cars need the parking brake for inspection? With the automatic, I was not planning on it but was still going to strip it out of the donor. As far as brakes, was just wondering what to keep and clean up vs, wait for the kit parts.

I live in NW Houston near Jersey Village and close to BW8 and 290. I think JBINTX is almost a backyard neighbor.
Click to expand...
Oh heck yes! Hearthstone neighborhood.
keep the parking brake stuff.
 
Brett

Brett

Well-Known Member
I haven't touched an auto but you might have some cooling tubes that need to be replaced due to the accident. I could be wrong.

I'm at beltway 8 and i10, just north of the mall.

Outside of Red Oak, I think Houston might have the highest concentration of Goblins.

I wonder why that donor has drilled and slotted rotors. Also, the wiring connector under the hood is wide open which is not typical. The listing says stationary, I wonder why it wont start. Typically, they will put a jump box on them to at least get them running. When I was looking at donor's, I had a requirement of running but not driving, I didnt want to be troubleshooting engine issues on top of the build.
 
Joebob

Joebob

Goblin Guru
Brett, you are very close to my work at Clay and BW8. I think the plug got some collateral damage from the ECU cover that looks shattered. I am not familiar with what is between the radiator and the engine except the TB and intake manifold. I don't plan on bidding very high to leave myself some room for repairs and if I don't win, I'll just keep looking. There is a local driving one in East Houston for $2800, but that is a lot to chop up.

Joe
 
Rttoys

Rttoys

Goblin Guru
I was always shooting for sub $2000, for a SS of some sort. Ended up with my supercharged for $1400. I held out about a year to find one I wanted, but it was a good call.
 
SACTX

SACTX

Well-Known Member
Hey Joebob, another Houston guy here. You're right by my work as well, 529 and Eldridge.

I think that top plug is the Transmission control. If the cover is all that's broken it's not a problem. Hard to tell from the pictures but the aftermarket intake is pretty smashed up and the maf sensor is pushed up against the valve cover. It may have an intake leak or a damaged MAF that caused it to stop running. There could also have been some damage to the manifold as DS said above. Any of that will stop the motor immediately.

Slotted rotors and an aftermarket intake means someone that did some small mods to the car but I don't see anything drastic. The rest of it looks pretty good and well taken care of. Weigh that against having to possibly chase some possible motor/electrical gremlins.

I was with Russell in that I wanted a car that ran. I built mine just like it came out of the Cobalt and now I'm going to be upgrading it. I didn't want gremlins that I didn't know where they came from...

Good luck and we're here to help!
 
Joebob

Joebob

Goblin Guru
SACTX said:
Hey Joebob, another Houston guy here. You're right by my work as well, 529 and Eldridge.

I think that top plug is the Transmission control. If the cover is all that's broken it's not a problem. Hard to tell from the pictures but the aftermarket intake is pretty smashed up and the maf sensor is pushed up against the valve cover. It may have an intake leak or a damaged MAF that caused it to stop running. There could also have been some damage to the manifold as DS said above. Any of that will stop the motor immediately.

Slotted rotors and an aftermarket intake means someone that did some small mods to the car but I don't see anything drastic. The rest of it looks pretty good and well taken care of. Weigh that against having to possibly chase some possible motor/electrical gremlins.

I was with Russell in that I wanted a car that ran. I built mine just like it came out of the Cobalt and now I'm going to be upgrading it. I didn't want gremlins that I didn't know where they came from...

Good luck and we're here to help!
Click to expand...
That is what I am hoping for. A replacement MAF, TB, and intake manifold are all relatively cheap parts new and even cheaper at local pick a part places.

It seams I am surrounded with @SACTX, @Brett, and @JBINTX. If this happens I will have lots of local support.

Joe

Oh and I changed my avatar so you can se my other toy car.
lincoln.jpg
 
WYGoblin

WYGoblin

Well-Known Member
Joebob said:
That is what I am hoping for. A replacement MAF, TB, and intake manifold are all relatively cheap parts new and even cheaper at local pick a part places.

It seams I am surrounded with @SACTX, @Brett, and @JBINTX. If this happens I will have lots of local support.

Joe

Oh and I changed my avatar so you can se my other toy car.View attachment 18972
Click to expand...
Like your other toy also. I sold my 65 Lincoln to make room for the goblin. I miss that car still but the goblin is way more fun to drive
20190821_102651.jpg
 
Classy

Classy

Well-Known Member
I need to get a **** job and then, get my wife back on board with spending money on this. I think she is planning on getting the deposit for Christmas

Until I have a real job again, I am doing welding and fabrication on the side of you need anything
 
Joebob

Joebob

Goblin Guru
A bit of an update. Turns out I won the bid and now owner of the cobalt. got delivered 3 days early and now sits in the garage. First picture is as arrived and pushed up the driveway. I cost a lot with all the fees but I got what I wanted (I hope). The car comes with the:
LE3 2.4L VVT 171 HP
FX2 3.91 final drive ratio
FE3 aluminum suspension
YF5 CARB emission certification but no air pump
85K miles, Almost new Struts, axles, brakes, pads, transmission flush 2000 miles ago, wheel locks on every stud, pristine interior, not a dent ding or scratch on the body past the A pillar.
19188


Took the hood off and looked it over. Battery in trunk was in good shape and unplugged. Nice Ingen intake was hose was only temporarily squeezed by the radiator support. Now the bad: Throttle body was smashed and not unexpected. The intake manifold below is intact.
19189

The headlight harness clipped to the radiator took a beating and also found the melted purple DRL resistor wire many people also commented on. I cut out the wire and looped it to itself. and repaired the one cut headlight wire.
19190

The radiator and condenser were cracked. The ABS module took a beating and ripped the plug off the board but the tube connections are good. and the mounting brackets for the fuse box and the overflow tank broke in the accident......And it does not turn over.

Does the Throttle body need to be intact to signal the ECU to crank the engine? I have a new radiator and TB coming in a few days to get it plugged back together. All other car functions work fine from Radio, windows, wipers, sunroof, turn signals, ect. just when I turn the key, a big nothing and no car lock symbol on the warning lights. I am going to wait on the TB before I start to freak out and think I got an electrical lemon. in the meantime, I got the kids helping pull the front bumper off.
19191

Stay safe out there,

Joe
 
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