V1 Alex's Track Goblin - 2007 LS Donor

[smithvmi]

So after several attempts to find a donor in decent shape for a Track Frame goblin for mixed road and track use, I have stumbled upon an interesting option.

I found a running engine and transaxle out of an '09 Cobalt with 918 miles on it for $1200. Now I just need to build a car around the powertrain.

This is appealing for a few reasons. The '09 engines have VVT which is highly desirable. Also, I will have no leftovers or wasted, unused donor parts to either write off as a loss or clutter up my limited shop space/driveway. I can also build the car from the powertrain up, exactly how I wish, which would not be the case even if I found a late model car at auction with god knows what hidden gremlins lurking around.

I'm interested in everyones opinion on this. I have no real timeline in which to complete this and I feel like I would learn more doing it this way. What are your thoughts?

Alex

 

[okneib86]

Re: Frankenstein's Goblin - Alex's Track Goblin

I think thats a viable option. A more expensive option. I would imagine buying everything separate would be a little harder. It may be hard to find a junk yard willing to sell the body harness. And buying them new is probably not an option. I would imagine you could buy a junker cobalt cheaper than the harness from GM. I did see a few powertrain harnesses on ebay. As far as learning more - while disassembling the cobalt was not hard, I did learn a lot. I think I have a better understanding of how the goblin will go together after taking everything apart. I have a two car garage, so it was hard to get the cobalt apart and out of the garage before my wife got to agitated. Good luck with your build.

 

[smithvmi]

Re: Frankenstein's Goblin - Alex's Track Goblin

Avoiding the agitation you mentioned is another big advantage with my option.

 

[Adam]

Re: Frankenstein's Goblin - Alex's Track Goblin

A powertrain with only 918 miles is definitely a great thing. My concern is that you will spend a lot of extra time and money trying to piece together the rest of the donor pieces you need. Also, a bunch of fasteners are reused from the donor. If you can find a donor without an engine and transmission, you could make out alright. Just make sure that it is the same year and trim as the car your powertrain came out of.

We've bought lots of replacement donor pieces from local salvage yards. Here's estimated costs for a few pieces that you would need to get:

• subframe: $100
• front knee assemblies (strut, knuckle, hub): $200
• rear hubs: $80
• BCM: $50
• instrument panel: $40
• steering column, intermediate shaft and ignition: $75
• steering rack: $75
• master cylinder and reservoir: $40
• engine harness: $100
• body harness: ? (good guess is at least $250)

Just with those pieces you are already over $1,000 and there is a lot more to gather than I listed. You would also have trouble getting all of the fasteners you'll need.

 

[smithvmi]

Re: Frankenstein's Goblin - Alex's Track Goblin

Thanks for the feedback. While I knew I'd pay more for component parts, I failed to account for the fasteners when I first considered building the car around the powertrain.

So, luckily I found a 2007 cobalt with a relatively new (2012) engine with 30K miles, and will be doing the traditional single donor build. The purchase should be finalized this week and I will begin studying the car hands-on ASAP.

 

[smithvmi]

So it begins...

 

[smithvmi]

Donor car disassembly is complete.

Not looking forward to the wiring harness. I was considering a painless performance custom harness.

http://www.painlessperformance.com/webcat/10308

Any thoughts?

 

[TomsGarage]

That was quick! What was your method for engine removal? Any hurdles? I'm about to pull mine, still need to remove the wire harness too

 

[smithvmi]

While the car was on jacks I placed tires under the subframe with the engine/tranny still attached. I then removed the engine mount bolts and put the rear of the car on an engine hoist and lifted the front of the car over the engine (with assistance of course) and rolled the body away.

Redneck engineering can't be beat!

 

[smithvmi]

So since I didn't think the degree of difficulty was high enough for my first major automotive project :'( , I decided to add a supercharger. If anyone is thinking about supercharging a 2.2L LE5, here are some things you may wish to know.

If you choose to run an LSJ TB, it has 8 pins. Your LE5 TB has 6. so....either buy an adapter from ZZP which may or may not work, or splice the 6 wires into 8 using an LSJ TB pigtail.
You may find guides online that go by wire color but GOOD NEWS EVERYONE the aftermarket LSJ TB pigtail I purchased had ALL WHITE WIRES so it was super fun figuring out the ABCDEFGH and color combinations. My advice is buy the ZZP adapter. They told me that if I was nice to it I could return it for a full refund if it didn't work. (I received this news 10 minutes after the point of no return on my 6-pin pigtail.)

This link helped a great deal: http://www.cobaltss.net/forums/2-2l-l61-performance-tech-45/6-pin-l61-8-pin-le5-tb-235114

Also, the LSJ(S/C) inlet pressure sensor has nowhere to go on a LE5 PCM, or so I've been told, correct me if I'm wrong. As of now I'm left staring at a sensor that does nothing except plug a hole.

Finally, you can use your LE5 MAP sensor on the LSJ intake, but the hole doesn't quite line up. I fabricated a bracket out of some metal as a test.

On an unrelated note, I picked up a painless performance aftermarket chassis harness. 18 circuits, and all the wires are designated in writing. If you order in April you get a free box of braided wrap, which is about $25 retail.

 

[smithvmi]

The harness ... man this was a doozy.

 

[northvibe]

You have a printed wire harness map?

Holy smokes good idea

 

[BAR-AIR]

Text below pictures.

Smithvmi,
Just getting ready to hard wire my 6 pin to 8 pin for the ZZPerformance supercharger. Luckily all my wires aren't all white but they are not factory color coded either. If you could check my work against yours I would appreciate it. Hate to have to redo.
THX, BAR-AIR

 

[smithvmi]

The build is happening at my dads and I'm at my place. I might be able to check this weekend though.

 

[smithvmi]

Alright yall, anticipation has given way to mania, and I've started playing around with sketchup and designing a body/aero kit for the track goblin. Real seat of the pants stuff, very rough and not complete, but cool. Feel free to take it, change it, poke holes in it, etc.

I can only attach the png's, the sketchup files aren't supported by the forum. If you want the file pm your email.

 

[rallyracer]

Alright yall, anticipation has given way to mania, and I've started playing around with sketchup and designing a body/aero kit for the track goblin. Real seat of the pants stuff, very rough and not complete, but cool. Feel free to take it, change it, poke holes in it, etc.

I can only attach the png's, the sketchup files aren't supported by the forum. If you want the file pm your email.

Nice!

Now if you can just find a company to make that body out of CF, as to not add a bunch of weight


Made it easier to view the images too.

 

[smithvmi]

BAR-AIR, see the pics below.

Let me know how it works. From what I can tell the color code is almost factory but your ABCDEFGHs seem to match mine. I plan on attempting to start it up prior to soldering the wires.

 

[BAR-AIR]

THX Alex,
I'm in the process of actually wiring the car now. I had modified the harness a couple of months ago. Appreciate you checking that for me.

 

[smithvmi]

Cool, I hope our method works!