Iwanttogofast's #336 City Goblin - 07 SS/SC Donor

[Iwanttogofast]

Well, I am on my way to actually beginning my build with the teardown of my donor, which was delivered on Thursday evening. I had been waiting on just the right car (low mile Cobalt SS/SC from south), but ended up having to jump on one from Ohio because my chassis was getting ready for the jig. I couldn’t wait any longer for the perfect car to finally show up at auction. I live in Ohio and I absolutely DETEST what the road salt and brine that they use on the road does to our vehicles. As far as the donor…

The GOOD:

• Low mile Cobalt SS/SC – 95K. I feel that the LSJ is the best platform for me to build from.
• It started right up. Runs and drives
• The car seems to have been well cared for. The interior and trunk are clean, oil was clean(ish) and level was good. Other fluids seem good, too
• There are some performance parts that I will be able to sell. ZZP Intercooler, ZZP shifter, and Borla exhaust are what I’ve noticed so far
• Got a descent deal on the car. TOTAL price paid for my bid, auction fee, transfer fee, doc fee, and delivery to my home was just north of $3K. I feel that is fair

The BAD:

• The freaking RUST!! The engine cradle is 50% covered in rust. The undercarriage is quite rusty. And not just surface rust - Flaky rust. Aluminum engine components are very oxidized and powdery. Body doesn’t seem as bad, but I’m not using those parts
• Idle is wandering / surging slightly. Does have a P0172 rich trim, so I’ll have to check into that
• Alarm goes off every time it is started. May be a VATS issue, or could possibly be because I did not get a transponder with the one key. I pulled the horn fuse for now
• IDK if I have G85 LSD. Someone had the brilliant idea of removing the RPO code sticker from the trunk. I have read that ALL 2007-2010 Cobalt SS have G85, but other places say no. I have read that if the car came with Recarro seats, it will have G85(?). Not sure what seats these are because they do not say Recarro on them anywhere. Just SS stitching and a GM Performance tab on the side of the seat.
• Concern that the car was beat on because of the performance parts added

So, I had kidney stone shockwave treatment yesterday, and am still pretty sore. Hoping to be able to begin teardown next weekend. Time to get dirty…

 

[Ark :D]

Somebody transplanted seats from a newer SS into your donor, unfortunately. So you won't be able to tell, that way.

There's a plate on the transmission that will tell you.

 

[Towerdog]

Once you pull the engine out the tag on top of the trans will have LSD on it if it is. I would recommend skipping the fuel pump and buy a new one. I spent alot of time and headache trying to get the rusty straps off the tank to end up breaking a fuel line due to corrosion in the fittings.

 

[Dsteinhorst]

I thought rust would be a concern, but it's really not. My donor was a kid's DD in Detroit. I bought all new wear parts for mine, and the subframe looks brand new after blast and powder.

I second buying a new pump. I didn't tear down the rear of the donor at all.

 

[Iwanttogofast]

Somebody transplanted seats from a newer SS into your donor, unfortunately. So you won't be able to tell, that way.

There's a plate on the transmission that will tell you.

Are you sure that the seats are transplants? I've seen pics online of 2007 Cobalt SS with the same seats. ?

With no RPO code sticker, and transplant seats - is the transmission tag the only way to know for sure? I'd like to know before dropping the engine and trans...

 

[Ross]

The F35 transmission with a G85 differential. The clutch line is on the left, the shifter arm counterweight is in the bottom right. Recaro seats.

And the open diff F35 (Well technically, Lonnie put a Quaife in my F35, but the tag doesn't know that). 2006 SS seats.

 

[jayrolls]

Are you sure that the seats are transplants? I've seen pics online of 2007 Cobalt SS with the same seats. ?

With no RPO code sticker, and transplant seats - is the transmission tag the only way to know for sure? I'd like to know before dropping the engine and trans...

The seats are different than my 07 SS/SC.

 

[Zoom Zoom]

Well, I am on my way to actually beginning my build with the teardown of my donor, which was delivered on Thursday evening. I had been waiting on just the right car (low mile Cobalt SS/SC from south), but ended up having to jump on one from Ohio because my chassis was getting ready for the jig. I couldn’t wait any longer for the perfect car to finally show up at auction. I live in Ohio and I absolutely DETEST what the road salt and brine that they use on the road does to our vehicles. As far as the donor…

The GOOD:

• Low mile Cobalt SS/SC – 95K. I feel that the LSJ is the best platform for me to build from.
• It started right up. Runs and drives
• The car seems to have been well cared for. The interior and trunk are clean, oil was clean(ish) and level was good. Other fluids seem good, too
• There are some performance parts that I will be able to sell. ZZP Intercooler, ZZP shifter, and Borla exhaust are what I’ve noticed so far
• Got a descent deal on the car. TOTAL price paid for my bid, auction fee, transfer fee, doc fee, and delivery to my home was just north of $3K. I feel that is fair

The BAD:

• The freaking RUST!! The engine cradle is 50% covered in rust. The undercarriage is quite rusty. And not just surface rust - Flaky rust. Aluminum engine components are very oxidized and powdery. Body doesn’t seem as bad, but I’m not using those parts
• Idle is wandering / surging slightly. Does have a P0172 rich trim, so I’ll have to check into that
• Alarm goes off every time it is started. May be a VATS issue, or could possibly be because I did not get a transponder with the one key. I pulled the horn fuse for now
• IDK if I have G85 LSD. Someone had the brilliant idea of removing the RPO code sticker from the trunk. I have read that ALL 2007-2010 Cobalt SS have G85, but other places say no. I have read that if the car came with Recarro seats, it will have G85(?). Not sure what seats these are because they do not say Recarro on them anywhere. Just SS stitching and a GM Performance tab on the side of the seat.
• Concern that the car was beat on because of the performance parts added

So, I had kidney stone shockwave treatment yesterday, and am still pretty sore. Hoping to be able to begin teardown next weekend. Time to get dirty…View attachment 26696View attachment 26695View attachment 26697View attachment 26698View attachment 26699View attachment 26700View attachment 26701View attachment 26702View attachment 26703View attachment 26704

You must be the one I was bidding against on this Florida car, Sorry! 2006 SS
69,000 miles

 

[Ark :D]

@Zoom Zoom , don't you already have TWO Goblins?

 

[Zoom Zoom]

@Zoom Zoom , don't you already have TWO Goblins?

Yes but I didn’t have 2 donors

 

[Iwanttogofast]

This G85 LSD thing was driving me nuts, so I had my wife watch the front tires while I spun them in the grass driveway leading to my outbuilding. She said that both front tires spun, but the drivers side wasn't at first, but then kicked in. ? My Silverado 2500HD has G80 locking rear diff, and it spins both tires immediately. Maybe the LSD in the Cobalt operates differently. Does this sound like I have G85? Is it true that all 2007 and up Cobalt SS have LSD?

 

[Zoom Zoom]

This G85 LSD thing was driving me nuts, so I had my wife watch the front tires while I spun them in the grass driveway leading to my outbuilding. She said that both front tires spun, but the drivers side wasn't at first, but then kicked in. ? My Silverado 2500HD has G80 locking rear diff, and it spins both tires immediately. Maybe the LSD in the Cobalt operates differently. Does this sound like I have G85? Is it true that all 2007 and up Cobalt SS have LSD?

Can you look up the vin. to see if it has the G85

 

[Ross]

I looked up my VIN with the G85, and I couldn't find it. Maybe a better VIN lookup would have it.

 

[AMCAMX1969]

Quick and dirty way to check if you have the LSD is to have 1 tire on the pavement and the other on the grass and see if it just spins the tire on the grass, if it has a torsion type differential it should send the majority of the power to the wheel on the pavement. This does not give a definite answer but it will give you a good idea.

 

[Rttoys]

06 lsd

 

[Rauq]

This G85 LSD thing was driving me nuts, so I had my wife watch the front tires while I spun them in the grass driveway leading to my outbuilding. She said that both front tires spun, but the drivers side wasn't at first, but then kicked in. ? My Silverado 2500HD has G80 locking rear diff, and it spins both tires immediately. Maybe the LSD in the Cobalt operates differently. Does this sound like I have G85? Is it true that all 2007 and up Cobalt SS have LSD?

Your truck (and mine) have autolockers. With a bit of differential wheel speed, the differential immediately goes from open to locked, 0% to 100%. The Cobalt LSD does work differently, as others have said. It should resort to sending to the tire with more traction as much power as it can handle. One thing to note is that a torsen LSD has a limit- with enough load removed from one side (wheel in the air), it doesn't really act like an LSD anymore.

 

[Iwanttogofast]

I'm pretty sure (based on the fact that both front tires spun - whether at the same time, or not) that I do have LSD. Thanks, everyone!

 

[Iwanttogofast]

Very busy weekend, but I carved out some time to begin tearing down my donor. So far, so good.



I was able to get that crushed passenger door off, but it was a beotch. I ended up taking all of the fasteners off of the fender except that top one that requires the door to be open. Then I bent the fender up and removed it with a cutoff wheel. Took all of the door hinge bolts out, but still had the pivot arm to deal with. I was able to get a straight die grinder with a small cutoff wheel in there to cut that. Then a lot of bending back-and-forth on the front of the door, and large pry bar at the latch area until I had access to the latch. Sawzall and it dropped right off. Everything else has been pretty straight forward. Hoping to have the donor completely stripped, chopped up, and hauled away before I get my kit (mid-October) to retain as much space as possible in my outbuilding.

 

[Iwanttogofast]

I wasn't able to work on teardown last weekend. My wife is suddenly making plans during my teardown time, and we talked about it. Explained that I'm trying to get this done and have the donor gone before chassis delivery - probably around 10/17. We've also got lots of Libras in my family, so birthday parties galore right now.

But, I was able to carve out about 8 hours this weekend. I got the fuel tank emptied (about 10 gallons, unfortunately), seats out, front suspension out, brakes removed, and a couple of other small things. I am dealing with rusty / frozen fasteners, which slows down progress substantially. ALL stab link nuts and outer tie rod nuts spun on me. That added a lot of time. It's just very frustrating having to use penetrating oil and the torch on so many fasteners. Hopefully smoother sailing for the rest of the teardown.

 

[Iwanttogofast]

I had about 6 more hours into teardown yesterday. I am to the point of dropping the drivetrain, but I need to wait until next weekend to do that because I want extra eyes watching everything to avoid any issues. I've been on my own so far, but I have help coming for the powertrain removal.

I have come to the conclusion that I bought a turd. Not just because of the rust issues, but I have seen so many things that make me rub my forehead in frustration. The car has been in at least one accident (very possibly two) PRIOR to the salvage accident that took it out of commission. Stuff is zip tied all over the place because of damage and/or broken fasteners. The connectors under the fuse block have tabs busted off and are taped together with electrical tape - which tells me at the very least that the fuse block has been out before. I have reason to believe that the powertrain has been dropped before, as well. I have a turd, but will continue to do my best to make chicken soup out of chicken s#!+...