Phil's Track Goblin #203 - 08 XFE Donor

[Owenmachine]

Hey guys,

I had been looking at the exocet(I come from the Mazda world, I currently have a 600awhp 2006 MS6)


I stumbled across the goblin. I ordered (4/17/2020) my goblin as something to do as a had a possible pandemic furlough coming my way. Of course it never happened and I have been sitting on everything for almost a year. I plan to street drive my goblin

I have been lurking the forums for while now, I even met @RichN , as I also live in NH.

I have been doing quite a bit of work on it before I started this log.

My donor is an XFE which stands for Xtra Fuel Economy. it is the most stripped version of the cobalt they made, didn't even have an arm rest. I didn't take any pics of the car before I tore into it. I am not using the 2.2L L61. it will be replaced with a forged 2.4L LE5



I spent a lot of time looking at the wiring diagrams for the cobalt before I started to rework the harness. I used thin insulation motorcycle wire sourced from 4rcustomswire, they are fairly local to me, but they do free shipping to lower 48 on most products and they do striped wire


I made some modifications to the original design.
knob for gauge dimmer
light bar for a truck tailgate on the wing, it will have running/brake/turns/reverse
"interior" dome light
upsized wires for horn ( I'm using Hella Sharptones )
Front lightbar
wiper controls (trying to reinstall the factory wiper motor)
Remote start
Electronic parking brake motor from e-stopp
footwell lighting
evap can

I've been taking daily progress pics, I'm just gonna dump 'em out



that should bring you all up to date on my progress

 

[ccannx]

Hey guys,

I had been looking at the exocet(I come from the Mazda world, I currently have a 600awhp 2006 MS6)
View attachment 21776View attachment 21775

I stumbled across the goblin. I ordered (4/17/2020) my goblin as something to do as a had a possible pandemic furlough coming my way. Of course it never happened and I have been sitting on everything for almost a year. I plan to street drive my goblin

I have been lurking the forums for while now, I even met @RichN , as I also live in NH.

I have been doing quite a bit of work on it before I started this log.

My donor is an XFE which stands for Xtra Fuel Economy. it is the most stripped version of the cobalt they made, didn't even have an arm rest. I didn't take any pics of the car before I tore into it. I am not using the 2.2L L61. it will be replaced with a forged 2.4L LE5
View attachment 21777View attachment 21778


I spent a lot of time looking at the wiring diagrams for the cobalt before I started to rework the harness. I used thin insulation motorcycle wire sourced from 4rcustomswire, they are fairly local to me, but they do free shipping to lower 48 on most products and they do striped wire
View attachment 21779View attachment 21780View attachment 21781

I made some modifications to the original design.
knob for gauge dimmer
light bar for a truck tailgate on the wing, it will have running/brake/turns/reverse
"interior" dome light
upsized wires for horn ( I'm using Hella Sharptones )
Front lightbar
wiper controls (trying to reinstall the factory wiper motor)
Remote start
Electronic parking brake motor from e-stopp
footwell lighting
evap can

I've been taking daily progress pics, I'm just gonna dump 'em out

View attachment 21790View attachment 21789View attachment 21788View attachment 21786View attachment 21787View attachment 21785View attachment 21784View attachment 21791View attachment 21792

that should bring you all up to date on my progress

I had an 07 MS3 loved that car but after the 3rd transmission I traded it in on an 04 Z06. Never had a transmission issue since. I've seen the MS6 car take a lot of abuse and keep on going makes me wonder how they hold up to so much abuse. Your going to be surprised and happy when your done, the Goblin pulls like nothing I have been in before.

 

[Sparvy]

Hey guys,

I had been looking at the exocet(I come from the Mazda world, I currently have a 600awhp 2006 MS6)
View attachment 21776View attachment 21775

I stumbled across the goblin. I ordered (4/17/2020) my goblin as something to do as a had a possible pandemic furlough coming my way. Of course it never happened and I have been sitting on everything for almost a year. I plan to street drive my goblin

I have been lurking the forums for while now, I even met @RichN , as I also live in NH.

I have been doing quite a bit of work on it before I started this log.

My donor is an XFE which stands for Xtra Fuel Economy. it is the most stripped version of the cobalt they made, didn't even have an arm rest. I didn't take any pics of the car before I tore into it. I am not using the 2.2L L61. it will be replaced with a forged 2.4L LE5
View attachment 21777View attachment 21778


I spent a lot of time looking at the wiring diagrams for the cobalt before I started to rework the harness. I used thin insulation motorcycle wire sourced from 4rcustomswire, they are fairly local to me, but they do free shipping to lower 48 on most products and they do striped wire
View attachment 21779View attachment 21780View attachment 21781

I made some modifications to the original design.
knob for gauge dimmer
light bar for a truck tailgate on the wing, it will have running/brake/turns/reverse
"interior" dome light
upsized wires for horn ( I'm using Hella Sharptones )
Front lightbar
wiper controls (trying to reinstall the factory wiper motor)
Remote start
Electronic parking brake motor from e-stopp
footwell lighting
evap can

I've been taking daily progress pics, I'm just gonna dump 'em out

View attachment 21790View attachment 21789View attachment 21788View attachment 21786View attachment 21787View attachment 21785View attachment 21784View attachment 21791View attachment 21792

that should bring you all up to date on my progress

Nice! Another NH Goblin. Did you paint the chassis or powdercoat it? I've been looking around to get mine powdercoated once it's here (tomorrow) but the shops I've talked to want north of 1k just for the chassis or won't do it due to the size. I'd like to powdercoat a few of the other items like the gas tank, a-arms etc but was told adding those items gets me nearly to 2k which is a bit of a hard pill to swallow.

 

[Ark :D]

Welcome! Thanks for posting a build log. I can't get enough of these things.

 

[ctuinstra]

Nice! Another NH Goblin. Did you paint the chassis or powdercoat it? I've been looking around to get mine powdercoated once it's here (tomorrow) but the shops I've talked to want north of 1k just for the chassis or won't do it due to the size. I'd like to powdercoat a few of the other items like the gas tank, a-arms etc but was told adding those items gets me nearly to 2k which is a bit of a hard pill to swallow.

That’s too bad. That just a shop wanting to get rich. Ours cost $800 for almost everything.

 

[Ark :D]

That’s too bad. That just a shop wanting to get rich. Ours cost $800 for almost everything.

Yeah, really. My entire powder job (frame, fuel tank, misc bits) cost me under $500. The powder coater I used didn't have all the usual awesome colors to choose from, but they had a good amount.

 

[Rttoys]

Basically same here. $400 for the frame and control arms. Price would be higher if it was a color that’s not “normal”.I was expecting a lot more, but the guy said although the frame is “big”, there’s not much there to powder, so it’s cheaper.

 

[Ark :D]

Basically same here. $400 for the frame and control arms. Price would be higher if it was a color that’s not “normal”.I was expecting a lot more, but the guy said although the frame is “big”, there’s not much there to powder, so it’s cheaper.

Yes, it's all about the surface area. My coater wanted an additional $185 to do my subframe, which seemed proportionally a lot to me, so I just painted it with high-temp black gloss engine paint and it looks great.

 

[Owenmachine]

The color is illusion royal from prismatic powders. It's zinc primer, 2 coats color, and then acrylic clear. Those pics don't do it justice. I had everything I could powdered. Cost about $1800. Even the sheet metal was done.



As for the ms6... I grenaded one trans. It was @ new England drag way. I was racing Justin from freaktune. Took the pads right off the fork


Since then I had brass pads machines and brazed on the forks. And I had the final drive gear raised. Stock trans rev limits at 80mph in 3rd, new trans 108. I did this There are 2 final drive ratios one covers 1st-4th, the other 5th, 6th, and R. It's a strange motor. It's held in time with "friction washers" no pins, no keways, no splines.

 

[Owenmachine]

I didn't like the thought of self tapping screws. I had been drilling and tapping for stainless machine thread. Bcm kick plate, and brake lines, so far.

 

[Owenmachine]

I didn't like the thought of the coolant tank spring scratching up my finish, 1/16 hear shrink on the ends


I didn't want to risk the steering wheel nut scratching the adapter, 14mm stainless washer

 

[ToxicBill]

Cool to see who got the chassis numbered just before mine (#204).

 

[Owenmachine]

Plenty has happened. I built the motor (LE5). Molnar rods, Hahn (wiseco) Pistons, balanced to 10K RPM, Balance shaft delete, Davies Craig water pump with pump and fan controller.

Motor/Trans is in, rear subframe, control arms, knuckles, toe link, cv axles, Rear brakes.

Because of the XFE donor it came with a 2.2 w/smog pump. I got a running 2.4 out of a junk yard with harness for $300.

The motor was from a Malibu. A Malibu is very different layout. I ended up getting all the engine wiring diagrams for all 3 layouts (cobalt 2.2 w/smog, cobalt 2.4, and Malibu 2.4) I re-pinned the 2.2 ecm connectors to the cobalt 2.4 Pinout.

Here are some pics, please excuse the very messy garage.

 

[Rauq]

Are you shooting for all-motor horsepower? How does the 3.63 XFE trans line up with those plans?

 

[Owenmachine]

Not all motor, I plan to turbo it with a Borg Warner s257sxe. I prefer the XFE trans for boosted applications because the longer you stay in a gear the longer you're in boost. This is only ideal to a point, there is always the law of diminishing returns.

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

If you have the SS/TC there is a no lift shifting feature that keeps the motor in boost even during shifting.

 

[Owenmachine]

Here are some more pics.

@desert sasquatch it's a XFE donor. I'm installing a N2MB wot box for 2 step and flat footing