SkyRay's Extended Track Goblin #314 - 09 SS/TC

SkyRay

Active Member
We're back to working slowly on the car. It was helpful on Wednesday when the latest video came out... I realized that the slots in the front wall were for the key fob/TPM sensor. Unfortunately mine is in pretty rough shape (I put more details on the page with the video, so folks could find it without digging through build logs). For now I have it zip-tied in place... will follow up with some doublesided tape or another container later.

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Adam and I continued on with the build led by the original video series. We got the instrument cluster installed (that was a perfect item for him to help with), and we got the ignition switch installed. Hopefully I'll get some more time to make progress this weekend, now that the weather is cooling down a bit.

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SkyRay

Active Member
Ironically, the extra video that came out on Friday (trimming the ignition switch) covered what I thought I had done Thursday. With the new video I found that I needed to get some more material off the housing. I guess my hacksaw is in really poor shape because I was getting nowhere with it, so I went to using my Dremel tool. While effective, it put a ton of heat into the housing. I'm hoping I didn't reflow the solder or damage some of the mechanical components in the there. Saturday morning I was able to get some 3/8 inch clamps at Lowes, and found the edge trim, and the throttle pedal harness Lonny sent arrived (Thank you!). So Adam and I installed the 3/8 inch clamps, and connected the ground lugs, and started connecting the radiator mount structure on Saturday morning.

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We had to leave late morning for a concert at Texas Woman's University, where daughter Caroline is studying music education. Interestingly, on Friday a university employee ran into her bike in the bike rack outside her dorm. It seems like I'm eternally working on things with wheels, I don't think this will be repairable...

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After the concert we dropped Adam off with his Oma for the night, and Lindsey and I had our "date night" working on replacing the timing chain and, while we're in there, the water pump. While a beating, I can't imagine how painful that would be if the engine were in the Cobalt engine bay. We got everything disassembled Saturday night, and then after church today (Sunday) we got it put back together. Now to replace the clutch! I'm hoping to get a little more done this week before we have to skip town next weekend. At a minimum, the remainder of the painted components are ready, so I'm hoping to pick them up. Have a great week!

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G Atsma

Goblin Guru
As a matter of fact, I am from several generations prior. However, the name Oma was selected because of time spent living in Germany while deployed with the USAF.
OK. "Oma" caught my eye as I am of Dutch descent (Friesian actually) and know some of each language.
Thanks for responding!
 

SkyRay

Active Member
OK, catching up again on the build... Life hasn't allowed me to get as much done as quickly as I would like. Two weekends ago I spent the weekend moving my parents out of the family home of 42 years... We were loading a pod to send to Knoxville with my parents, a horse trailer to go to the next town with my brother, and a Uhaul to come home with me. Then last weekend I spent an evening in Denton at daughter #2's concert. While they kept me from working on the car, I wouldn't have missed them for anything! More of those events are coming up in future weekends.

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Prior to the outings I was able to get the radiator and fuel tank into the car. Unfortunately I did the radiator right before the new video came out, and didn't cut the hose per the new instructions. I also didn't mount the horn per the video that published today... I'm finding that I'm getting to redo a lot of things as the new videos come out. The gas tank went in smoothly, though it was painted red rather than black as I requested. On a positive note, the guy did a great job getting all the paint out of the tank before he painted it red the second time. I didn't want to send it back for a third attempt. And, of course, of the tons of baggies of donor hardware I have, I don't have the second screw to hold the filler neck to the chassis. I was able to find another screw with the same thread, so that will work until I stumble upon the original or get to stop by a salvage yard. Hang onto that hardware!

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Since I'm about at the point where the engine needs to go into the car, I decided to spend last weekend replacing the clutch and flywheel. Everything was going pretty well... until the screws that hold the throw-out bearing didn't want to come out. I ended up using the "phone-a-friend" technique to get a buddy who is an auto mechanic to come help. A chisel and hammer knocked the screws loose, then a lot of care was used to get them the rest of the way out. The cutout in the screw is very shallow, so make sure you have excellent engagement before trying to remove them. I don't want to put the damaged screws back in, so I've ordered replacements, but they won't be available for a couple weeks so I'll have to wait on them before I can close up the transmission and put it in the car.

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To continue making progress, I installed the steering wheel last night. It appears I'm missing the two turn signal mounts, so I'll have to request them. But it is nice to have the steering wheel in place.

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A handful of questions for the experts...
- After I got the wheel in, there were 3 larger 5/16-18X 5/8 screws remaining unused. Are they extra if using the removable steering wheel? Or do they go with the turn signal mounts I don't have? And there is a ton of extra hardware in the steering wheel box that I presume will go unused...
- For the transmission, when I removed the driver side axle from the transmission and the passenger side axle from the intermediate shaft, fluid came out. However, once I had it all apart, there was no way for fluid to get into the intermediate shaft from the transmission. Are you supposed to put some amount of transmission fluid into the intermediate shaft before installing the axle? What about on the driver side? And how much?
- Should I put the intercooler pump onto the engine before I put the engine back in the car?

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And a final comment, I finally stumbled upon the Helpful photos log yesterday. They are immensely helpful. If you're reading my log looking for pointers, that would be one of them...

Now to fix the hose, add the horn, and put the engine wire harness back on the engine!
 

Gtstorey

Goblin Guru
I wouldn't change things that work just based upon it being different in the new videos unless there are clear differences in parts. The old ones got a lot of cars built.
 

ATMironov

Well-Known Member
Since you found the Helpful Photo album, did you see the Steering Column photos?
That should explain where all the screws go.

Not sure about the intermediate shaft though, but I doubt you need to put oil into it... I'm guessing it gets oil from the transmission... but I'm sure someone else who actually knows will chime in.

Progress is looking good!
 

Rttoys

Goblin Guru
Screws are for the turn signal switch. There’s also 2 little brackets for that.

There’s no fluid in the solid parts of the axle shafts or intermediate shaft. Only “fluid” is grease in the cv boots. Fluid will come out of the trans when you pull the shafts from the trans, but that is replaced via the transmission fill hole. If there’s any fluid in the intermediate shaft, that’s probably rusty water or assembly lubes of some sort. There shouldn’t be any fluid inside the intermediate shaft.
 

Brett

Well-Known Member
I have an extra set of turn signal mounts. LMK if you need them and I can drop them in the mail.
 

SkyRay

Active Member
Thanks for the responses. I did look at the steering column pics but never saw the three larger screws. In fact, I can’t find any holes with the larger thread. The closest thing that I think I saw was in the pic at this link it looks like the three larger screws may be used to hold this wheel to the column. That’s what I’m going to go with, unless someone has other thoughts.

Thanks for the intel on the fluids, Rttoys.that would make sense that there could be some rusty water or other muck in there.

Thanks, Brett, for the offer. I reached out to DF today and they said they would ship me the brackets, so I should be all set before long.

Tonight I installed the horn, the block for the brake reservoir, the brake master cylinder fittings, painted and reinstalled the boost pressure gage, and installed the turbo heat exchanger.

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I still need to wire up the exchanger fan… I need to dig around to make sure I get the polarity correct. It also looks like for the heat exchanger it is either the fan or the heat exchanger duct kit, but not both. I guess I’ll start off rolling with the fan.
 

SkyRay

Active Member
I ordered a set of lock-n-lock containers from Amazon, and used the smallest one to hold the TPM unit. I cut a hole in the side to feed the wire through. I'm not sure if I'll use some silicone to try to seal the hole around the wires, or if I'll drill some holes on the bottom to allow any condensation/water to run out. Also, I may need to get some thicker double sided tape because the stuff I have barely clears the top of the container, and I'm not sure how long it will hold. Once the BCM is screwed down and isn't leaning on the lock-n-lock I should be able to tell better if my current tape will hold.

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SkyRay

Active Member
More progress made over the weekend. Since I'm still waiting on throw-out bearing screws, I proceeded to work on later stage items:
- Received the turn signal control mounting brackets from DF, so got it installed.
- Loctited and torqued down all the steering wheel screws.
- Installed, including wiring, the control panel around the gage cluster and the rear view mirrors/turn signals
- Wired in the heat exchanger fan
- Connected the brake lines (though I need a reservoir since the port to the clutch line broke during disassembly. Rock Auto sent me one for an A/T... not helpful. I saw what a couple others have done, teeing off one for the brake lines or using the Tilton 3 remote reservoir... but I wanted to keep it true to the original. Will make a decision soon.)
- Per someone's recommendation, I tapped the 3/4-16 threads in the control arms to clean any rust out of them. They weren't too bad. I was going to do the smaller threads, but had bought the wrong tap from Amazon.

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So tonight I decided to continue with the front suspension. I installed the large Rod Ends with no problem. I installed 7 of the small rod ends with minimal problem, and then it happened. The last of the small rod ends was going in nicely and then it bound up. To get it out it took a large Crescent wrench to get it out, and by the time it came out, the threads of both the small rod end and the control arm looked pretty mangled. So, I guess I'll see about getting another lower driver side control arm and one 1/2-20 Rod End and jam nut from DF. It will be painful to have to get it painted (I had a falling out with my painter).

I went ahead and started installing the passenger side control arms. You can't really see it in the video, so I was surprised at the gap on the lower arm at the fire wall. I guess torquing the nut down will close the gap? I was also surprised at how far forward the lower large rod end was versus the upper large rod end. Maybe the lower will pull backward when the nut is torqued down? Does this look right?

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So, while the weekend was productive, I feel like tonight was a 1 step forward, 10 steps backward kind of night. Sheesh.
 

Lonny

Administrator
Staff member
The upper rod end should always trail the lower rod end. This is what gives you caster. The upper rod end should be closer to the frame than the lower rod end. This offset, along with kingpin inclination, sets the camber.
The relationships of caster, camber, and kingpin inclination are what causes the steering to recenter and gives you feedback while cornering.
 

SkyRay

Active Member
Well, I'm learning a lot. I've always heard of caster, camber, etc, but never too the time to understand it. I guess I will now!

Haven't made much progress lately... this weekend we went to Aggieland to oldest daughter's orchestra concert. It was outstanding as always. That's her holding the flowers in the pic below. We were going to stop by DF on the way down to pick up a new A Arm... however, Dallas traffic impeded our progress and we had to keep on trucking (at a high rate of speed) to get to the concert (barely) on time. Adam was willing to meet us at the Interstate to handoff the part, but we were so late and the traffic was so questionable that instead he put the parts in the mailbox Saturday afternoon so we could pick them up on the way home... Which ended up being 1:45am Sunday morning because we had to stay until the end of the A&M - Alabama football game. We were going to leave at halftime, but we couldn't leave with the game still in the balance. We were glad we stayed!

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Sunday night I went to put together the front shocks. Unfortunately my snap ring pliers were too large for those snap ring holes, so I got to buy some more snap ring pliers. Tonight I got the shocks together but I couldn't get them on the car because the shoulder on the bolt is too large to fit through the hole in the lower A-Arm. I'll have to see if I have a drill bit I can use to open that hole up. It seems like things are moving very slowly. I'm still waiting for the throwout bearing screws to come in, and now the second lower A Arm is at paint. I'm hoping I get all the parts in this week as I'm planning to take next week off of work to focus on the build. Here's hoping!

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Another question: The first step in video 18 of the original build videos is to “seal up the bulkhead using silicone.” In the second video series that hasn't happened yet. Is that because it was deemed to be no longer necessary, or we just haven't gotten there yet?
 
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Brett

Well-Known Member
Videos haven't gotten there yet.

DF has pivoted to recommending a specific 3M sealant that is actually windshield sealant. Seems to be much more "sticky" and provide better adhesion versus just vibration control.

I contemplated using panel bond but I couldn't justify the cost for the tooling versus how often I would use it.
 

SkyRay

Active Member
Alright, a lot to get caught up on. I've had a bit more time to work on the car lately. I've made a lot of progress, but unfortunately I'm still stalled without the throw-out bearing screws that are needed to finish putting the engine back together. So, what have I done in the meantime?

The lower driver side A-arm came back from paint in 3 days. And I paid handsomely for that quick service. It allowed me to get the A-arms assembled for front suspension. However, I couldn't get the shocks installed because the paint was too thick and made the holes undersized. That allowed me to get a step drill bit from Harbor Freight... I had never used one before, and it worked like a champ. So the front suspension was able to be completed.

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I decided to complete last week's video and install the fuel tank vent lines. Not too difficult, but my kit didn't have the pre-cut pieces. I used the 3/8" line, which was very hard to get onto the filler neck vent line.

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With that done, I was ready to get the fuel pump into the tank. I followed OptimizePrime's instructions for reorienting the pump. I did my best to clean out the tank using a vacuum at the filler cap and compressed air to get particles in the air, then used a lint cloth to dust as much of the inside as I could reach. I then installed the fuel pump. The only issue I had completing the task was that the lower side of the pump hit the nuts on the studs before the o-ring was compressed to 1/4 inch. There was still compression in the o-ring, so I let it go.

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I also went to install the rear strut mount to the chassis. I thought I saw somewhere that the torque for those bolts was 66 ft-lbs (NO!). That led me to break one of the bolts. I was able to get replacements at Lowes (I'm replacing all the ones I got to that torque in case they have begun to yield), but I'm still unsure of the torque value.

I also removed and reinstalled the steering wheel as the splines moved when I was tightening it down for good last time, and the center of the steering rack travel didn't align with the steering wheel being at center. Likely that could have been aligned out, but it would have bothered me.

Following the suggestions from my prior post, I went ahead and sealed the gaps in the front wall using RTV. Not a whole lot can be done with the steering column gap. The key fob/TPM monitor module that was dry rotted and put into lock-and-lock container fell off the front wall. I used some donor screws to secure it through the slots. I also went ahead and mounted the BCM and kick plate. I'm hoping I don't regret going ahead and doing that.

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The port to the clutch broke off the brake system reservoir while I was tearing down the donor. I was unable to locate a stock replacement reservoir but saw that some had plugged it and then split the line to the brakes, while others used the Tilton three reservoir unit. I started off trying to repair the unit. I found that a disposable straw was the right size to create a bridge between the reservoir and the recovered broken off piece. However, one I got the repair completed I decided I didn't want to risk the glue and RTV breaking down and decided to use the Tilton method. I was able to reuse some scrap steel sheet metal I had laying around to build a bracket to mount it using much of the same hardware that would have been used for the stock reservoir.

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Finally, to keep progress moving ahead, I went ahead and installed and wired the front headlights.

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Thanks for following along!
 
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