V1 Cheqmate5000's Track Goblin #527 - 06 LSJ

[Cheqmate5000]

Chassis #527
SS/SC (LSJ)
F35 trans at first
Full cage with double door bars
Hood, no side panels, no engine cover

Plan is to street drive with hopefully some autocross and possibly visits to the track.

(Updates will likely be disjointed as pictures will be uploaded from my phone but typing likely from computer)

More to come ...

 

[Cheqmate5000]

Donor - 2006 SS/SC with ~180k in a beautiful yellow and rust color scheme. Test drive went fine (little low on the PSI but driving decent). I checked compression outside of the previous owners trailer and found #4 was a bit lower than the rest but decided to move forward with the purchase. Driving 1.5 hours home and ran into immediate issues. Way down on power, misfires ... considering joining the two donor club before I got the first donor home. Spent the next few weeks diagnosing issues and a combination of new coils, new sensors, and connection issues in the ECU connector got the cobalt running smoothly again.

April 27, 2024

 

[Cheqmate5000]

Save for chassis delivery

 

[Rttoys]

The stripes on the finder means it’s high performancer than normal

nice find and glad you are making it right before the changeover. It’s hard to diag problems after it’s in the goblin because you don’t know if it’s a new problem or old.

 

[ah.b.normal]

Donor - 2006 SS/SC with ~180k in a beautiful yellow and rust color scheme. Test drive went fine (little low on the PSI but driving decent). I checked compression outside of the previous owners trailer and found #4 was a bit lower than the rest but decided to move forward with the purchase. Driving 1.5 hours home and ran into immediate issues. Way down on power, misfires ... considering joining the two donor club before I got the first donor home. Spent the next few weeks diagnosing issues and a combination of new coils and connection issues in the ECU connector got the cobalt running smoothly again.

April 27, 2024
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Even if it ate some time it is always a good idea to try to get the donor functioning correctly before destruction, having an old problem still there when building can feel like a curse! Also, it's been said many times but is too true, organization is it's own blessing. Take many pix and label all the stuff! I could be mistaken but I do not recall ever reading a build log where the builder felt he used too many labels or was too organized! And when you come up with a mystery connection don't stew too long, just ask. (We all get "warm fuzzies" when we get to help.)

 

[Cheqmate5000]

The stripes on the finder means it’s high performancer than normal

nice find and glad you are making it right before the changeover. It’s hard to diag problems after it’s in the goblin because you don’t know if it’s a new problem or old.

Interesting, I have a feeling the stripes were aftermarket as there don't seem to be any other signs of higher performance.

 

[Cheqmate5000]

Even if it ate some time it is always a good idea to try to get the donor functioning correctly before destruction, having an old problem still there when building can feel like a curse! Also, it's been said many times but is too true, organization is it's own blessing. Take many pix and label all the stuff! I could be mistaken but I do not recall ever reading a build log where the builder felt he used too many labels or was too organized! And when you come up with a mystery connection don't stew too long, just ask. (We all get "warm fuzzies" when we get to help.)

Great suggestions. Not my first car build but always good to keep organization in the back of my mind. You will find I will do a terrible job with this.

 

[Cheqmate5000]

Leakdown tests turned out pretty good considering #4 compression is down from the other 3 cylinders. Current guess is scored piston walls.

Wow the rust on this car. Buyers blindness, good thing the body is going to the scrapyard as this has no business being on the road. I couldn't use my 2 post lift as the pads crushed the body before the car lifted.

 

[Cheqmate5000]

Few notes from these random pictures.

I pulled all of the rear wiring to the driver's seat and ran the car one more time to ensure engine still ran correctly.

Draining the fuel

Wow, spindles are nasty. Glad I bought new ones from Df with the kit.

Captured nuts were spinning so grinder to the rescue.

 

[Cheqmate5000]

Manifold has a big crack, put header on the list of parts to order.

Rotors and valves look reasonable.

 

[Cheqmate5000]

That was an adventure. 20 minutes on Facebook Marketplace and a scrapper showed up to haul the shell away. He said he would have been quicker but he had to stop at CVS to get deodorant. I appreciate that.

Super sketchy and nearly tipped his trailer over twice but the shell is gone.

 

[Cheqmate5000]

Engine degreased and cleaned, cores cleaned, dual pass installed, engine painted, stand welded up.

Take note of the colors as it won't be long before I change my mind on the color scheme.

 

[Cheqmate5000]

Fusebox power plane was split so took it apart and soldered on a thick copper plate to reinforce and reconnect the circuit. Good as new-ish

 

[Cheqmate5000]

The goal for the engine stand was to be able to run the engine outside the car before I ever cut a wire. I didn't want to deal with the fuel tank in the shop so clean paint can for the win.

"Exhaust" attached.

Thit sure I can attach video but got the motor running on the stand after working through a few issues.

 

[Cheqmate5000]

Df has done a great job providing info on the wiring process. No major issues encountered and was able to retest the engine on the run stand using the rewired harness.

 

[Cheqmate5000]

What a day! The delivery driver braved single digit temperatures to help get the chassis on the cart and into the shop. This was the first time I had seen a goblin chassis in person. I have been watching build videos all through Covid and hard to believe I have one.

Plenty of time was spent sitting in it and pretending to drive.

 

[Robinjo]

Plenty of time was spent sitting in it and pretending to drive.

I think we all did that. They are so much smaller in person than the pictures and videos seem to look.

 

[Cheqmate5000]

It didn't take long, shaved down tabs I don't intend to use and started modifying the floor tubes to maximize the headroom with 20" wide aluminum seats.

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

The tab that was removed in the first photo, that was on the top outside of the bottom tube is used for mounting the side panels. Are you not installing the side panels?

The thick tab removed in the third photo was to anchor the submarine belt in a 5-6 point harness. Assume this will not be used?

 

[Cheqmate5000]

No side panels for me.

Since I shifted my seat over to be centered I had to I stall new floor supports which includes a bar for the submarine mount. I want that to be at the correct angle so I installed a thick tube and will drill and mount directly to the tube later.

Decided I wanted to make a new steering column mount to help correct the steering wheel angle/alignment with my seating position. Once seating and steering were set, I wanted to move the clutch over to give the most room for my foot to not hit the brake on accident. While I was in there I cleaned up the gas pedal mount to make both sensors as compact as possible while still using the stock sensors.