Sluggonaut's Extended Track #364 - 2007 SS/SC (Turbo) Donor

[JBINTX]

Got the intake and turbo-to-manifold plumbing done. I had to take a break from the engine harness so I knocked that out.

I only have a couple of connections I need to go back and identify in my pre-tear-down pics. My harness was pretty rough and I'm trying to tidy it up before rewrapping and installing it.

View attachment 31578

You may want o hold up on tightening those intake tubes until you install your rear shocks. The clearance is awfully tight.
And not sure if you thought about air cleaner position other than stock location.
See two links below.

Have you thought about adding the air to water intercooler for as well? Not sure how the LSJ stock cooler compares to what DF designed for the turbo kit.

Jason in Texas - ext. track - 09 SS/TC

This is the hose we supply for the heat exchanger, it gets cut in half.

dfkitcar.com

Jason in Texas - ext. track - 09 SS/TC

Sunday night ice cream run to Sonic with the family - in each of their rides. Kind of got our own parade going..... :) Goblin on, friends!!

dfkitcar.com

 

[Sluggonaut]

You may want o hold up on tightening those intake tubes until you install your rear shocks. The clearance is awfully tight.
And not sure if you thought about air cleaner position other than stock location.
See two links below.

Have you thought about adding the air to water intercooler for as well? Not sure how the LSJ stock cooler compares to what DF designed for the turbo kit.

I didn't even bother with clamps yet, as I am sure I'll be moving things around during the rest of the build. I'm not a fan of moving the air cleaner into fast-moving air, especially with such a short MAF tube. I do like the method of running it over behind the driver's seat but I have no problems leaving it as designed for now.

I believe those build logs were ones I've seen previously that made me think I'll be fine using the coilovers.

Adam and I discovered that the turbo kit is not what is needed for the ZZP Entry Level turbo swap that my donor had because it still uses the LSJ intake manifold and throttle body. A new manifold and throttle body or quite a bit of fabrication would be required to make DF's turbo kit parts work and even then a lot of those parts would not be used. I discovered this after I bought a second heat exchanger to run both the laminova intake cooling setup along with the A2W setup, but as I started mocking things up I realized the right call was to clock the cold side of the turbo about 1/2" counter clockwise and the donor stuff bolted right in.

The LSJ intercooler setup worked fine in the donor and I suspect the E85 tune likely helped with that. I'm not sure what the cooling capacity difference is between DF's HE and the one that was on the donor but we'll find out. I'll look into a different HE or more coolant capacity if the IAT's dictate.

 

[Sluggonaut]

Time to play the game I was hoping to avoid and thought I could avoid with labeling...that's right, it's another round of name that connector.

Tonight's mystery plug is on the same leg as the black/purple power plug that also has the red/blue Evap sensor plug. I'm not seeing any bare connections on the engine/trans in the area so not sure where it could go. I'm also not sure where its label went.

 

[Ross]

boost bypass solenoid that sits right beside the evap solenoid?

Ross's extended city, easy entry Goblin- 06 SS/SC, NW Arkansas

I would remove the two items on either side. Use a hammer to hit the face of the plug enough to maybe give the threads a little slack, but not enough to risk cracking the block. It needs to be a lightweight hammer that looses its energy in the plug rather than a heavy hammer that carries energy...

dfkitcar.com

 

[r3drckt]

Ross is right. With our turbo swap, it’s not used anymore. Believe the evap will also be dangling now as well since it’s been removed so this section can get zip tied off. The port on the throttle body that also went to the evap I believe will get plugged if not done so already

 

[Sluggonaut]

That's probably why I didn't label it, I didn't unplug it from anything.

Note to future builders: Label everything means label everything. If it wasn't plugged in, label it as not plugged because you won't remember that later. lol

 

[Sluggonaut]

What's the secret to getting the shock end bearings installed?

I brought them in from the garage last night and beat the piss out of them and couldn't get them even halfway in. Figured they were cold so after letting them warm up inside for a day I tried again and same result. I'm taking full swings with a dead blow and a socket and they aren't budging. They sure don't look this difficult to install in the video and he's using a rubber mallet.

 

[r3drckt]

Talking about the DF supplied aluminum adapter pieces that go between the spring hat and the top shock mount in the back? I had the same issue and ended up drilling the centers out (used a vice to hold the adapters) so they’d slide onto the shaft.

If you’re talking about the bearings that go in top and bottom of the front shocks, the tolerance is very small for them to slide in. Going in dry doesn’t make it easier so I used some assembly lube I had leftover from the engine rebuild. You could use some dielectric grease or even motor oil I’m sure to provide some lube. Other thing to try is heat the ends, freeze the bearings. Use a heat gun, not a torch

 

[Sluggonaut]

Talking about the DF supplied aluminum adapter pieces that go between the spring hat and the top shock mount in the back? I had the same issue and ended up drilling the centers out (used a vice to hold the adapters) so they’d slide onto the shaft.

I haven't gotten that far yet, but duly noted.

If you’re talking about the bearings that go in top and bottom of the front shocks, the tolerance is very small for them to slide in. Going in dry doesn’t make it easier so I used some assembly lube I had leftover from the engine rebuild. You could use some dielectric grease or even motor oil I’m sure to provide some lube. Other thing to try is heat the ends, freeze the bearings. Use a heat gun, not a torch

That was my next step - dropping the inserts in the freezer and heat gunning the shocks but I wasn't sure if that was a good idea. I'll try some silicone spray or assembly lube also.

 

[Ross]

The bearings that go in top of the Cobalt front shocks/ now rear of the Goblin, aren't needed, as we don't steer the rear of the Goblin, unless you are doing a wheel alignment. So you can skip putting in those bearings.

 

[Sluggonaut]

We're talking about assembling the front coilovers that come with the DF kit:

I had BC coilovers on the front of my donor - those have been rebuilt and will be going on the rear of my Goblin. Thankfully, I do not have to install the end bearings on those too.

 

[Rttoys]

The less force, the easier they go in. You fight it and they will fight back. I was about to get the sledge out on mine and I walked away. Came back and plop. Right in.

Old truck is to put the bearings in the freezer for a few hours and have the shocks inside your house (warm). Should fall right in.

 

[Sluggonaut]

The less force, the easier they go in. You fight it and they will fight back. I was about to get the sledge out on mine and I walked away. Came back and plop. Right in.

Old truck is to put the bearings in the freezer for a few hours and have the shocks inside your house (warm). Should fall right in.

Bearings are in the freezer now. I stopped fighting them the first time as I didn't want to mark anything up. I came back the second time and nothing changed, so I posted here looking for wisdom.

I appreciate all the feedback!

 

[r3drckt]

Hey @Sluggonaut, finally got my stuff plumbed up. Here’s the vent tube from the valve cover. It goes straight to the turbo housing according to zzp’s install instructions for the z54 and z57 turbo. I’d assume your ko4 is similar. If not, then put a catch can on that port (oil line from valve cover to catch can, filter on outlet port of catch can).

I forgone the option B tank as there wasn’t much room for it with the swooping corners I had to do with the straight hose I had to avoid kinks. It put the lines higher than I wanted to mount the option B tank. So I reused the Factory fill neck and it’s the highest point in the system.

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

If you do a catch can, you will want one with one inlet and one outlet port, to pull all the pressurized air inside the engine from the valve cover through the can and into the turbo inlet. A vented catch can will allow too much outside air into the system. Remember there is constant vacuum on that turbo port, there is never any back pressure that would cause the catch can to pressurize.

 

[Sluggonaut]

Frozen bearings, heated shock, and silicone lube was a no-go. I need to find my assembly lube with my small engine stuff so I can try it with a vice tomorrow. This shouldn't be this hard. smh

Room temp shock end mics out at 25.33mm opening and my frozen bearing is 25.60mm. Will a 5lb sledge overcome 27-hundreths?

 

[Ross]

Pounding sounds like a bad idea to me... can you modify the parts to be the correct size? Sand or polish the surfaces down. Sounds like you have a bad part, assuming you don't want to wait for replacement parts.

The heat/cool will transfer out of the parts quickly, and you probably will get them very stuck together, and only half way assembled.

 

[Sluggonaut]

The heat/cool will transfer out of the parts quickly, and you probably will get them very stuck together, and only half way assembled.

I found that out last night. I can only heat the shock ends so much before the heat just starts moving down the shock body. The bearing temp also normalizes very quickly. They aren't even going in enough to cause a problem. I just take the clip off to get a socket in from the other side and they tap right out.

They size difference its also causing them to not go in straight. One edge wants to go in so it causes the other side to lift up.

In the video and QA1 website the race is black and looks flat on the circumference. Mine is all steel and the circumference is convex. Not sure it makes a difference but it is a visual difference.

 

[Sluggonaut]

Latest approach - Assembly lube, frozen bearings, heated shock end using a socket on the race and rubber jaw pads on the vice. Cranked the vice until I couldn't turn it by hand and went to the pipe. Turned with the pipe until the vice handle started to bend.

Looks like the widest part of the beveled race is just entering the shock end and I'm at the limit of my equipment:

I can't believe assmebling a shock out of the box is one of the more challenging parts of my build so far. It's not quite as frustrating as removing the rear axle beam form the donor but it's not far behind on the list.

 

[Scott #321]

Wow, it just shouldn't be that tight. Any burs showing on the other side? I believe I put mine together with a small wooden mallet.