V1 Factory Built Turbo Goblin - 2009 SS donor

[Adam]

Three of the first ten production kits will be fully built in-house by us. One of the three is getting its donor hardware from a turbocharged 2009 Cobalt SS that was wrecked very hard in the front left.

The damage didn't look too severe from the outside, but the front end was crushed enough to have broken three of the engine/transmission mounts. The subframe was twisted, the oil cooler water necks were sheared off and many other pieces were bent.

We very much recommend that you do whatever it takes to get the engine to start before taking your donor apart. If you don't get it running now, you won't know if the engine works at all when you are troubleshooting during any hiccups that might occur when you first try to start the engine in your Goblin. On this SS donor, we ran into a couple of hurdles when trying to crank the engine.

The first thing we did was cut off the front bumper and force the left frame rail straight so that we could look for cut wires or broken connectors. We found a couple of ABS wires that were pinched in two and soldered them back together. Besides those wires, everything looked okay.

We ran into the next problem when we decided to crank it up: the key was nowhere to be found. We checked all the usual places but the key was nowhere to be found. Luckily we had pieces from another donor lying around, including an ignition switch assembly with a key. So we unplugged the SS ignition and hooked up the other switch.

When we turned the key, nothing happened. No lights on the dash or dinging from the door ajar alarm. We were pretty sure the ignition switches were interchangeable so we started checking the engine bay fuse box for power. Sure enough, there was no power getting to the fuse box.

After several minutes of searching for the cause, we found that somehow the large positive battery cable that runs under the carpet was completely severed. As soon as we mended the cable, everything lit up as it should and when we turned the key, the engine started to turn over. However, the engine never fired.

We went through our normal "it won't start" procedure. First we checked to make sure the fuel pump was working. We listened near the tank as we turned the key and heard it humming inside the tank. Next we checked the ignition by pulling a spark plug and checking for a spark. That's where we found the problem. There was no spark.

It took us quite some time to find the reason it wouldn't spark. Despite all of the engine wiring looking okay, one wire was not okay. During the wreck, the wires going to the crankshaft position sensor must have been pinched and one of the wires was broken internally. As soon as we fixed the wire, the engine cranked right up.

 

[Adam]

Prior to arriving at our shop, the donor had been partially stripped by a salvage yard. They worked under strict orders to not take or damage any of the parts that we would need. Their work gave us a head start on disassembling the donor, so we had it apart in just a few hours.

We did run into some trouble because of how wrecked the front end was. Because the left front frame rail was pushed back, it was hard to get to bolts that hold the dash and driver side firewall. After we had pried our way to the bolts and loosened them all, the dash was still stuck in the car. Apparently the wreck was bad enough to have bent the car around the dash. By using a little more muscle than usual, we eventually got the dash out.

With the car disassembled, we were able to better assess the damage, particularly around the power train. This is when we noticed that the rear transmission mount was broken. The left tie rod is also bent, so we are going to really pay attention to how the rack feels when bolted to the Goblin frame with the rest of the steering system to determine if it survived the crash.

Luckily the most important parts survived. The engine/transmissions mounts broke without damaging the cylinder block or transmission case. The turbo didn't get crushed against the firewall but the plastic turbo plumbing didn't survive. We plan to make custom aluminum plumbing that will fit the Goblin perfectly and look great, so its alright that the plastic was broken.

 

[Adam]

While we are waiting for shipments of parts to finish up the stage 1 kits, several of the completed frames (and control arms) are going to the powder coating shop. The first to get coated was the frame for the factory built turbo Goblin. Here it is, coated in bright orange:

 

[Ben Jammin]

That looks great! Gives a good idea of what they are going to look like in a bright color.

Adam, I sent you a message last week about powder coating or painting my chassis at my location instead of at yours. When you have the seats, harnesses, and the front a-arms there I will pop down and pick everything up.

;D