V1 Enterprising individual needed

[LaunchPad]

Me thinks some enterprising individual might make some $$$ if they were to turn out some ready to plug in harnesses. The harness does seem to be the single most difficult or tedious part of the whole build.

When I did my Stalker I was able to purchase all the plugs in bulk, and wire in bulk, and install watertight GM plugs so the harness looked factory fresh. Sourcing all that stuff was a PITA but building a new harness sure turned out to be easier in hindsight then a patch worked, chopped harness, and new tend to come with a lot less issues.

Anyone know of a source for cobalt plug ends besides stripping out of donors? My current 3d printer does not produce heat resistant plugs but there are printers out there that do. . . .anyone have sources for the DXF or STL files? Small batches of plugs can be outsourced for reasonable prices to a plethora of different online companies rather than buy a new printer so it is not necessarily a showstopper if files were available.

Please don't get me wrong I am not wanting to volunteer for this just yet though it may very well come down to it long after i finish THIS Goblin. . . because I am pretty busy with other project cars besides the Goblin in my queue but I am likely to need several more harnesses because post current queue projects are likely to be cobalt powered. You could say this is a full-time gig. lol.

 

[Ross]

Mouser has the plugs for a Cobalt, but a auto recycle yard would be cheaper.

 

[Vwsaabvt]

Someone else was going to do this...

Found the Video I think

 

[ah.b.normal]

I think the ugly elephant in the room that nobody talks about is the BCM and all the stuff it does. My project would prolly be easier if I could get away from the dreaded BCM, but so far I'm on "a no $ budget" budget,(tryin' to build fake silk purses out of Sow's pooper bits). But everything from the horn, electric windows and locks has to pass through the dreaded BCM! Lights, fuel pump, thru BCM, d@m*!t. CAUTION: ***RANT*****Change something like Auto to Man? = reprogram BCM. I had a BCM in a new Ford motorhome held us hostage for a week! NO Headlights, running lights or brake lights and it wouldn't say "why" it was doing this! Turned out a "bad" 50 amp fuse feeding the BCM! I got lucky and when I happened to wiggle the fuse, stuff would go on and off! Replace with new fuse; but guess what!, only the dealer had those fuses!!(split leg M case fuses, look em' up, nobody carried them in 2021) Read everything I've posted, I'm a stone ax man in this microchip world. I've lengthened and soldered together a lot of stuff, I've installed premade wiring harness kits in hotrods, fixed 70's Italian Exotics with "unknown source" wiring and I don't see why this wiring has to be so complicated! I worked on a 01 Chrysler mini van(used for wheel chair transport that had no interior lights(also then installed a stand alone interior lighting system); it had a bad switch on the glove box light!, I $4it you not! The BCM must decide it's ok to spin the starter. If it's gonna make all the decisions, what does it need ME for? (I just use a spring loaded sp/st switch) In Ancient Times I had stuff that I just flipped the toggle marked IGN "up" (to "on")and jumped from the batt pole to the S pole at the starter with a screwdriver. (Why do they insist on making this Rocket Surgery!?) I worked on a Focus?, no horn honk, no TAG Renewal; bad BCM! COME ON! that horn circuit idea has been working just fine for an entire century!, until it grew a BCM. If I could have just soldered a jumper wire in there somewhere, I Would Have! The computer to find the problem cost 2Grand! It was a 10+ y/o car, I'd bet after the next flat tire they were so P/O'd they scrapped it. END RANT********* Oh and not 1! but 2 LAN's . (Are we all just "lucky" to have survived cars without even one LAN much less a fast and a slow one!) And if the fast one is "so wonderful", what in the name of all that is holy and good do we NEED H/S LAN's Slow(Read: Retarded) Cousin "low speed LAN" for on this job? (JK) (sorry, I'm really stopping now.)

 

[LaunchPad]

WOW! thanks guys those are some nuggets that i think should be pinned on the forum. He did mention in the above linked video they had drawings of some of the plugs too. . . . The announcement video was 2 years ago. . . anyone heard if it materialized? i sure hope he did not fall victim to the COVID mess! I had to watch several videos to track down the guys contact so here it is for others- just note I haven't been able to drum him up just yet but working it.

This guys builds hospital beds so don't let his website distract you.

Michael Wilson
email: [email protected]
website: bedtechs.com

 

[LaunchPad]

I think the ugly elephant in the room that nobody talks about is the BCM and all the stuff it does. . . . .

I hear you. All my "projects" have whatever makes the engine run 100% separated from the rest of the electrical do-dads. I agree with you that there is no reason for it. My Stalker for instance has a blown GM3800 that could be changed out of the car to something entirely different with very little real work because the "Engine-electronics" unplug in a very small number of places and come out with the engine. Basically ONE fire wall plug for the engine, the computer, a ground to the block and a hot to the starter/alternator. This was not so when I got the car from the salvage yard! When I got it you could not remove anything without going all the way back to even the tall lights- everything was intertwined and a mess.

Having already worked one cobalt main harness as per the videos. . . yeah this is NOT ideal. . .

 

[ah.b.normal]

Because of my peculiar relationship with a Cobalt, not a Goblin, I have the added frustration of having to keep many of the cabin accoutrements functional. Looking hard at manual windows and door locks. I'm keeping the dash air bags but cutting out side curtain bags, if the donor has them, my 06 doesn't.(I'll likely be building three cars, unit #1 probably will not survive. Fortunately bodies are cheap. It's their paper work that proves to be trouble!) ABS as well, the new weight bias is likely to drive the ABS brain wacky! Somewhere between ineffectual and oppositional. Besides low cost due to age and number built, part of the allure of the Cobalt is the electric steering assist, no hoses! I imagine a newer electric car's A/C may revive my car's interior cooling. I'm always fishing for ideas.

 

[ah.b.normal]

In one of my main harness refurbs I immediately cut out a ton of radio/amp and On Star muck! (If I want music I'll remember.) A bunch of stuff that went towards the battery will now go forward to the abandoned engine compartment and be shortened. The fuel pump wires run on the floor. Leaving just a few wires headed back to tail and dome light. No rear window defog because It won't have a window there, or the little glass triangles on the quarter. I am building in a Lexan topped, removable panels/bulkhead. Adam at DF told me that I am actually building what they had initially fiddled with before going Exo-Skeleton. They turned away when they spied the Ariel Atom.(which originally had a S/C(?) ECO-TEC engine sourced from Vauxhall, UK/ Opel EU. Opel is the originator of ECO-TEC architecture. It is not directly related(but does share bell housing pattern) to any of it's US GM 4 cyl predecessors. QUAD4, Iron Duke or that other "forget-able 4" that I have long since forgotten. **BLATANT OPINION** I think GM would have prospered if they'd have just bought Toyota 4's through the 80' and 90's. The Cobalt won a race series in Japan! Powered by a Toyota 4 and trans. Imagine a Celica powered Cobalt? I owned an 2003 MR2, reliable and fun.)

 

[ah.b.normal]

Sorry LP! I forgot my caution statement: The big red "A" IS ON PURPOSE! It is a warning! Grab a cold drink, sit down and get comfy OR SKIP IT. AND always remember to stop reading my muck when your interest is lost! Some of MY "rabbit holes" can be deep and even scary! Don't feel badly for me if you desire to not know all this cr@p0la, there are bits I WISH I didn't Know! Be happy and Keep On Dreamin' Y'all!

 

[LaunchPad]

part of the allure of the Cobalt is the electric steering assist, no hoses! I imagine a newer electric car's A/C may revive my car's interior cooling. I'm always fishing for ideas.

methinks we are digressing from the original thread. These could be two whole new thread.


My Stalker has such huge steering input with such a small steering wheel what I learn from the Goblin project may eventually move to a cobalt unit being installed in the Stalker. Tho I must confess when I took on the Stalker project it was originally JUST to put it back to original "as-built" condition in order to take some important lessons/ measurements etc over to another car that I was designing for production. . .. but I am just not able to leave things alone when I find them to be sub-par. But because i own the car and i do wish to drive it might as well make it how i want it too. LOL

You might just look into hotrod (hotrod magazine has several such ads each month) stand-alone AC units as I have gone to for some of the more complicated/ practical builds. My 4 wheeled T-rex project will have AC in the 4 production cars one way or another. My "Marlana/ Morgan super sport" project also will have AC. Limited engine bay room sometimes will cause a remote electric only AC or even a remote brake booster.

-LP

 

[ah.b.normal]

Why yes we are. Your plethora of projects look really interesting! My project started with just the electrical systems of a Cobalt. I am on the road full time and can't carry a Cobalt along with me. When I have time I haul out my "tubs of wiring" and dive into thinning, research and re-routing, ETc. My Project did not have a Body until March 2023; I have been working on this project since Jan 2022.(I have weeded all the Automatic out of the 05/06 engine harness to convert to manual, this applies to N/A as S/C all manual.) Relocating my ECM to the rear, keeping the fuse panel in original location. DF's creation of their Goblin gave me the false steering rack, motor mounts and some science to aid my project. I am a hack and I know it.(oops, dirty laundry is calling)

 

[Robinjo]

I emailed Michael Wilson back when I was doing my harness and got no response. I just assumed he abandoned the idea since it’s not a huge market for profits.

 

[LaunchPad]

my "adopted" dad and i have been looking into all sorts of ways of contacting Micheal Wilson. no luck thus far. From the videos he sure appeared to be a major goblin fanatic so i would almost expect to see him here in the forums.

i agree it is not a HUGE market. not even a mid sized market. . . . and i believe it is shrinking - these cobalts are getting long in the tooth and all. but for my own purposes i have need of at least 5 harnesses right now today and i already did one main harness as per instructions. very much less than ideal. if someone did sell these things it would almost be a no-brainer to throw down the money on the table and use the time i cant buy anymore of for other things less tedious.

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

The other option is sending a harness to DF if the time versus money factor doesn't favor time.

 

[LaunchPad]

I was under the distinct impression that DF no longer worked harnesses. I am not finding any links to set that up on their website. do you have a link?

Emailing goblin (for other issues) has produced less than crickets chirping. My "adopted" dad spoke to someone on the phone 2 weeks ago about the floor pan issues and was told they would email me very shortly about costs but nada yet. its a small company and I am sure they are busy running the business aspect. Harnesses are little to no return I am sure! . . .and I can understand that MY goblin was an already sold project for someone else so sourcing some of the now missing items is not necessarily of huge concern.

 

[Ark :D]

I was under the distinct impression that DF no longer worked harnesses. I am not finding any links to set that up on their website. do you have a link?

Emailing goblin (for other issues) has produced less than crickets chirping. My "adopted" dad spoke to someone on the phone 2 weeks ago about the floor pan issues and was told they would email me very shortly about costs but nada yet. its a small company and I am sure they are busy running the business aspect. Harnesses are little to no return I am sure! . . .and I can understand that MY goblin was an already sold project for someone else so sourcing some of the now missing items is not necessarily of huge concern.

Call them. They will always come through for you, in the end.

 

[escapepilot]

I know Lonny was out of town recently. I’m sure someone will get back to you soon.

 

[LaunchPad]

We talked to Alisha today at DF about harnesses and skid plate stuff. DF no longer does any work on harnesses or sell competed ones.

We still could not get anything ironed out about skid plates and other stage 1 and 2 sheet metal. . . . . She told us someone will contact us shortly. She could not elaborate on what shortly meant. That is what Adam said 3 weeks ago. So apparently at full stop on all fronts.

A side not to harnesses. I also received the TC extension kit today. Cost $84 and some change to include delivery. They only let me order one and pretty glad they limited things now because the kit was 90% electrical tape and zip ties. I have not yet broken down the actual number of colors and gauges the kit covers but it seems to me that my break-even point on buying the kits for wire SHOULD BE right at 5 harnesses to just buy 500ft spools where I get the rest of my automotive wire from. i sure do not need anymore tape or zip ties. lol

 

[Ark :D]

I just asked Lonny directly and there must be some confusion here. He told me they do indeed still rework Goblin harnesses, at a rate of about 3 a month, and they are currently 4 deep in queue.

You can reach Lonny directly at two one four, three three four, zero two three two if needed.

 

[LaunchPad]

well thank you profusely! we will try again in the morning!