Not an actual corgi's Build Log - 2007 SS/SC

[Corgithulhu]

Cross your fingers, but so far it's held up nicely after another 15 minutes of neighborhood patrol. I think the dripping might just be the bled fluid that is still clinging to the bell housing making its way to the floor. I'll clean it up when I get some time this weekend and see if it continues.

Amazing how much road dust and detritus gets kicked up into your face and the seats. Definitely need to make the side panels and hood the next priority.

 

[Rttoys]

Wait till an autocross when your tires are hot and tossing rocks everywhere.

 

[Corgithulhu]

Just some intense action shots sitting in the driveway while we cleaned up the garage the other day. The first pictures after roaming around the neighborhood streets a little bit! Runs just awesomely, no real concerns as far as driving it on the streets casually. I can't wait to get some miles on it and get more comfortable.

Also, I genuinely don't hate the aluminum side panels. I think I'll take some lacquer thinner to them to clean them up, and see how I like it. I have always been a sucker for bare metal parts like that. I think the hood will become a gunmetal-ish silver or something. Speaking of the hood, did anyone else have trouble getting the bolt tabs to line up after putting in the Dzus nuts in? I was only able to manage the two bolts at the dash and one Dzus nut without forcing the hood to bend more than I like. Maybe there's a technique I'm missing?

 

[Rauq]

Put hinges on it, Dzus are for scrubs

I always had alignment issues with my upper hood mount bolts but I still generally found it easier to do the Dzus first and then tweak the rear of the hood to get the bolts into their holes. Then again, my hinge install was prompted by the Dzus springs snapping during hood removal, so what do I know.

 

[Corgithulhu]

As a certified pleb, I might have to try and upgrade to hinges like you did. I felt like the first time I put the Dzus clips on, those little springs would break. My problem was, when I did those first and moved to the back, the bolts were half an inch out of place, slightly upwards and rearwards of the frame's tabs, and I didn't want to try and bow the hood to make them fit.

 

[Ross]

I bent the Dzus clips a little, and took a dremel tool to the hole... moved it over a bit. Converted the slotted Dzus fasteners over to the allan head ones. Much better now.

 

[Corgithulhu]

Mine actually shipped with the allen head ones already in! DF must have switched after feedback from you guys. I think opening up the hole might be the first attempt.

 

[Rauq]

Yeah I had the allen head Dzus as well. Getting the hood mounting bolts to align was always a 2 person job until I put my hinges on. I fudged the hood every so slightly forwards from where it was before and it seem to line up better now.

 

[Corgithulhu]

Well, I finally got the paperwork together, and it's mailing out tomorrow! In case a new upstate Goblin builder finds this thread, this is for a Goblin being registered in Greenville County, SC. I will copy Rauq's list but edited for how I packaged since I didn't do a custom plate, as well as added links (as of this post) for the SC DMV forms:

• Form 400, title registration
• Form 4038, affidavit of a specially constructed vehicle, with DMV agent signature
• $15 check for title
• $40 check for standard tag
• $500 check IMF
• MCO
• Printed invoice from DF (important that the invoice number matches what's on the MCO)
• Tax receipt
• Proof of insurance
• Pictures of the car including a close-up of the serial number tag riveted to the frame, and a zoomed-out view highlighting where the serial number tag is located

I will (try and remember to) edit this post to confirm that everything went well once I get the tag in a few weeks!

 

[Rauq]

In a week or two (probably two) call in and see if you can get any status updates, then sweet talk the folks to see if you can get a direct contact line to call them back in another week or two. The lady I was talking to was real helpful.

 

[Corgithulhu]

Long time no update!

So the plate/title is still a week or so out, per an update last Monday. They told me the paperwork was all straight, it just took a long time to process such an unusual registration. Oh well, slow going I suppose.

This weekend was big for the car itself, though. Finally got the new wheels, and just got them bolted up this afternoon. The wheels are Konig Countergrams (Konig part number CT8751438C), tires are Falken Azenis RK615K+. They are mounted to spacer/adapters. Here's a full list of the pertinent wheel sizing I used in case it helps someone with their own:

17" x 8" wheel
+38mm offset
25 mm spacer (adapts 5x110mm Cobalt bolt pattern to 5x114.3mm/4.5")
245/45-17 tires

YMMV of course if you are running different suspension/brakes/etc., but that got me to a dead on fitment that looks (IMO) great.

 

[Corgithulhu]

Also, this was critical for me to help get my offset and sizes dialed in:

Wheel Offset Calculator

Use our wheel offset calculator to visualize the new tire position when changing wheel and tire sizes. Convert wheel offset and backspacing to calculate the correct setup for your vehicle.

tiresize.com

For reference, the OEM wheels from my 2007 SS/SC have the following specs:

18" x 7"
+42mm offset
215/45-18 tires

 

[Corgithulhu]

Finally got the plate in, and obviously the first thing that happened is it became chilly and/or rainy. The rain has held off this morning so far and it got warm, so I took it out for the inaugural road run. The road was still soaked, so I didn't go very far or fast. It ran great, with a bit of a swim in the steering over about 20 mph. I think I should revisit the alignment to make sure nothing has settled out of whack.

Also the dashboard gauges all died as I made my way back home, so I got that going for me. Which is nice.

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

Make the alignment with weight equivalent to at least your weight in the driver'sseat, otherwise the alignment will change when you are in the car. The Goblin is so light that weight changes can have a significant effect on the suspension geometry.

 

[Corgithulhu]

Well I measured the toe and the back was pretty far out. Probably an inch off center for both sides, which was pretty dramatic. Brought it down to about an 1/8" and tried it again.

I don't know if it was my fix, the dry/warmer roads, or both, but it hooked up and was such a joy. I drove it much longer than expected around some back roads, and even used it to return the loaned tie rod tool! I was giggling like a little kid the whole way around the back roads. Everything about the car was just so great...the handling, the acceleration, the noise. Hat's off to the team at DF, this is such an amazing machine!

 

[Corgithulhu]

So it's been a while since I posted. The car has been going pretty well, just shaking down the whole thing. It's been a huge blast and keeps putting a smile on my face!

Today, however, didn't go to plan. My dad and I poked around the alignment and made some adjustments. We took it for a test drive, made an adjustment back home, and took it out again. I stopped to fill it up, and it clicked the starter relay before going totally dark when I tried starting it to leave the pump.

Normally I have to flip the headlights on before it will start. Kind of a weird quirk, but it worked. If I turn the headlights off after starting the engine, the gauges would typically stop working after maybe 10 or 15 minutes of driving, and turning the headlights on would fix it again. This time, I couldn't flip anything to make it work. I have a battery kill switch that cuts the ground to the battery, and I leave that off while the car is storage or when it's parked somewhere. Cycling that switch, the light switch, and the dash buttons, nothing got it to light up. I had to have my dad tow it home, which was very luckily a short distance (and very lucky they were in town and him with me)

My guess is the BCM is having issues since it's been centered around the gauges and dashboard, but I have no idea where to look. I don't want to just buy a new BCM because I'm not confident that would fix it, plus I'd have to get it scanned/programmed to the car by a Tech2 device owner. I just don't feel like it's the BCM failing because the Cobalt donor did not have issues like this at all - they manifested after building the Goblin. Does anyone have any tips on where to look? The battery was 12.5 volts when I got it home, so I feel like it's charging okay and holding a charge okay. My grandfather always said that the majority of electrical problems are in the connections, and that's just what my spider-senses are telling me.

 

[Gtstorey]

Loose connections at the bcm or fuse box. Start moving the connectors around while trying to start it. Or you have some bad grounds. Or both. The only other option is to get the full wiring diagram and start at the switch and start tracking down where it goes bad.

about the only way I can see that the headlights could do this is a cross connection somewhere that is feeding power into another circuit or back feeding a ground through the lights.

 

[Rttoys]

I’d say wiring too, since “it wasn’t like that before”. Like GT said, pull connectors and reseat them. Grab areas where you spliced in and wiggle/move them, just to see if anything turns on or flickers.

oh. And just because you have 12.5v at the battery, doesn’t mean the battery is good. A load test will help diag a bad battery.

 

[Corgithulhu]

I’d say wiring too, since “it wasn’t like that before”. Like GT said, pull connectors and reseat them. Grab areas where you spliced in and wiggle/move them, just to see if anything turns on or flickers.

oh. And just because you have 12.5v at the battery, doesn’t mean the battery is good. A load test will help diag a bad battery.

Great point about the battery. I think I'll take it to have it load tested outside the car. I know it's not the right battery for a Cobalt, the PO just shoved a random battery in, the wrong model/size. It wasn't even held down in the donor!

Thanks for the advice, both of you! I'll start playing with connectors and see what I come up with. Hopefully that's all it is. I did see someone on a Cobalt forum who had symptoms similar to mine have success with putting a little dielectric grease on the BCM plugs and reseating them.

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

Did you make any modifications to the harness from the DF videos? Adding a fan or a pump? Were any normally unused circuits - per the DF videos - being used in your build, like seat heaters, fog lights? Sounds like there is a backfeed loop in your harness that is somehow tied into the headlights, either through the relay or wire shorted. And now with the non-start that loop is not making contact. This one is going to tricky - sorry I don't have any other advice than what has already been offered.