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My "forever on the back burner" car; it deserves better. But first, let's give the car's life story, partly to get everyone up to speed, but also as a way to motivate myself - skip to post #3 if you don't care.
- - -
April 20, 2006
I drive this car off the "used" car lot with 215 miles on it, so it's essentially a new car. I was living in NW Ohio at the time, and this was my second car ever; first new car. Before owning the car, I had never even changed a spark plug on a car - basically had zero car knowledge.
[Insert pictures of Cobalt when new ]
I put an intake on it almost immediately. GM Stage 2, the GMPP extruded honed exhaust manifold, and the GMPP cat-back went on it a handful of months later. A 2.8" pulley followed not too long after that. Various miscellaneous mods in the following years. Such a fun car to drive - probably half to two thirds of its miles are from just aimlessly cruising around town for hours on end.
December 2008
I bought a 94 Jetta for $500 to DD so that I could park the Cobalt and pull all the supercharged components off and started a turbo build from scratch. Vulcan Turbo Manifolds (a now defunct company), eBay intercooler and piping, and a Precision 5031e. Looking back, it was a huge undertaking and I barely knew what I was doing. I still can't believe I pulled it off - parts of that build were definitely finished or rigged in very redneck ways. I got it on the road in early May 2009 - a month later I was activated and sent to North Carolina to prep for a deployment, so I barely got to enjoy it before spending 7 months apart from it.
I return in January 2010 and a handful of months later, I order the new-to-the-market Precision HP5557e with billet compressor wheel and ceramic ball bearings - with a few other new goodies on it that they had just released. I had sold my beater Jetta before deployment, so this time I buy a thousand dollar 1986 GTI and once again have a second car to drive, so I start working to install the new turbo with a different turbo manifold - again, in a rather hackjob fashion (nothing fits perfectly, and I didn't have the skills/knowledge at the time to overcome some of the obstacles that I ran into), but at the 2010 CED meet, I had met and become friendly with Ryan @ ZZP, so I took the car up to them to put some finishing touches on it, button it up, and tune it. They returned a much, much cleaner car to me.
Those VTA breathers on the valve cover? I don't recommend them; they just spew an oily mist into the engine bay, giving everything an oily film. Car ran great and I put a ton of miles on it that year.
October 2010
October runs around and the GMSC.net forum crew head for the Tail of the Dragon. I didn't realize it at the time, but this kind of ended up being the car's last hurrah.
One month later, my aggressive tuning caught up to me when there was a sudden 15° drop in temperature, and I didn't retune for it. Blitzed the ringlands on the #4 piston. In December 2010, I had picked up an LNF from a totaled car and was deep in the process of tearing down the existing engine and the new engine. But come March of 2011, I had been separated from the military and was struggling to find a good job in NW Ohio. Enter the return to Texas. I packed everything up and moved south - this had the effect of disrupting all of the momentum that I had going with the car at the time, but also separated me from my car guy friends that I had always worked on stuff with. So, I lost momentum and motivation... and the car sat with minimal work done to it for 5 years.
March 2016
The previous August, I had quit my job building tires for Cooper Tire and started the BSME program at UTA. It was spring break, and at the end of the semester in May, it was going to be time to move from East Texas to Fort Worth. Activate ADHD Hyper-focus! I buckled down and started blueprinting and assembling the engine (I used YouTube's Jafromobile as a guide).
Unfortunately, once the engine was assembled, I had to return to school. A few months later, I returned home and worked to get the engine/trans/cradle back into the car. I completed that basically the same day that I had to load it on to a trailer and drive it to Fort Worth. Just like with the last move, the stress and work involved with moving took precedent and disrupted all momentum and motivation that I previously had. So... the car sat untouched for one more year.
March 2017
Another spring break and suddenly, I once again decide to put work into the Cobalt. I start putting the finishing touches on everything, reconnect the wiring harness, torque everything, etc. Near the end of that week - it started on the first try. For the first time in just over 6 year I can say it... "all my cars run".
June 2017
Lots of break-in miles, a couple problems here and there, and then I start doing some tuning. The car isn't running quite right though; it's breaking up on the top end and putting a big hole in my timing map. Hmmm. I do some diagnostics and eventually settle on sending the injectors out to be cleaned.
Aaaand that was the problem. Holy hell, what a difference that made. Boost up to 25 psi and start working on tuning it every day again. The following weekend rolls around. Cruising on the interstate when a white C6 Corvette comes flying up behind me. It's clear ahead of me, and once the lane next to me clears, I see him change lanes and floor it - I floor it a second later. His front bumper makes it about even with mine before I proceed to pull a bus length on him. One of the highest feelings of joy that I think I've ever had. Not even five minutes later, I'm sitting at a red light. I leave the light and decide to punch it from 15 MPH in first... just for the hell of it. Car hits the redline (8000 rpm), shoots an absolute monster fireball that sounds like a shotgun... and then gives me a flashing CEL and sounds like a subaru. ****. Me.
Three or four of my exhaust-side lifters had collapsed. One of them did so in such a way that the piston to valve contact was made, and the valve spring was actually able to become unseated. Pulled the head a month later, took it to a DFW area engine builder, had the valves, guides, and springs changed, along with a valve job. Even get a deal on some ZZP coilpacks. Once I get it back, a new semester is starting, so I have no time to work on it.
January 2018
A new semester is about to start and I get the motivation to get the car back together. The car won't start though. All sorts of diagnostics, no compression, doesn't sound normal, I'm devastated - I think I timed it wrong and destroyed the valves. I go to remove the cam gears and I realize things don't look right... the teeth that hold the cam gears to the cams are missing... sheared clean off. I'm guessing that I didn't torque them to spec... new bolts, new cam gears, time it... starts right up. Do some light tuning to catch it up, reduce the rev limiter to 7500... we're golden. I tell myself, "Self, we're gonna take it easy for a while and just enjoy driving the car again."
Two days later, I'm taking a girl out on a date, we're in the Cobalt... I think, "what the hell, let's show off and rip some wicked acceleration on this interstate on-ramp." Third gear RIIIIPS... but when I get to about 6000 rpm, the car feels like it hits a massive wall of misfires, and I let out of it right away. Look down... flashing CEL. Damn it. Look in side-view mirror to merge onto interstate... there's a MASSIVE cloud of white smoke behind me. 😐😐😐 Double damn it. That girl and I stopped dating a week or two later. Triple damn it.
I'm devastated. I put the car into a storage unit and tell myself that I won't touch it again until I'm done with school.
Last edited by USMCFieldMP; 01-29-2021 at 03:18 PM.
A handful of months after graduation, my girlfriend and I are moving into a new house together - time to pull the Cobalt out of its hiding spot.
As I tear into it, I start getting hopeful that it's just something simple, like a blown head gasket. That's what all the initial indicators seem to point to... everyone's favorite "chocolatey" coolant/oil mix.
Look at the left hand side of the sleeve on cylinder #1 (leftmost)... that's a crack, and it went about 4 inches down the sleeve. This block is trash.
A little bit of a motivation killer. But soon after that, I picked up an bare LSJ block along with a bare LAF block (Gen 3 2.4L). I work to pull everything out of the engine bay and run into another bump in the road... when I drain the transmission fluid, it glitters with a nice metallic flake. 😐 Major motivation killer.
January 28, 2021
It's time to stop screwing around and to get this car that I once loved so much back on the road. The goal is to assemble the engine this weekend. Maybe a little bit more than that, but I don't want to do anything less than that. With that said, there are a few things that I need to take care of - namely, how do I want to do the turbo drain on this engine. I used an LNF block for the last build, but I'm using another LSJ for this one. Machining out the Saab turbo drain port seems like the easiest solution, versus having a bung welded into my oil pan. Something for me to think about and consider.
I gave the block a little bit of a bath with a pressure washer and some Purple Power degreaser... it helped a bit, but this block is pretty ugly. WD-40 on the sleeves and I took a razor scrapper to the mating surfaces and started prepping for assembly.
OTTP Main Bolts and OTTP Timing Bolt have arrived and are ready to go on. I need to grab a tube of Permatex from Auto Zone, but other than that, I'm pretty sure that I have everything. Let's do this.
Nice write up, will be good to see it on the road again.
For your turbo drain, just drill and tap into the pan. I did that for my Radium AOS and have had zero problems (it is an AN4 line, but on the front of the pan). Just make sure its an ORB AN fitting for the oring.
I did that with my first turbo setup and it always had a slow drip of a leak to it - but again, I was an idiot back then, so I'm sure I could do it better this time. I seem to remember the pan being really thin in that area though. I might pull out some measurements and see. I mean, it really wouldn't be that hard to have a bung added, but I did like the simplicity of using the LNF port.
I run a Powell trap door oil pan too, otherwise I'd just order/grab a new pan and have it welded.
I did that with my first turbo setup and it always had a slow drip of a leak to it - but again, I was an idiot back then, so I'm sure I could do it better this time. I seem to remember the pan being really thin in that area though. I might pull out some measurements and see. I mean, it really wouldn't be that hard to have a bung added, but I did like the simplicity of using the LNF port.
I run a Powell trap door oil pan too, otherwise I'd just order/grab a new pan and have it welded.
Its tricky because you want it snug, but if you over tighten you deform the o-ring to far to seal. I think I have two threads holding, and no signs of drips (was under it last weekend and no signs of drips, have 4ish months and 3-5k miles don't have my log book in my office).
Great back story on your build man. Fingers crossed you get a good amount done on her this weekend. I'm in the process of rebuilding my 07 G5 GT Sedan. I bought it new off the lot in March/07. Many times I wanted to get rid of her and being frustrated but I just never could do it. Now being wiser and older like yourself lol, I want to rebuild it the right way. Good luck with your build man. Can't wait to see more progress with it.
Thanks. Mine was much of the same. I had a ton of frustration and issues with the car the first couple years with it in and out of the shop for all sorts of warranty work; almost sold it about a half dozen times (sometimes I wish that I had ).
Sweet read!
I just shoved my car in a storage place because im tired of moving it.
anyway, I'm actually in East texas (longview) if you ever need anything. Got a couple friends out that way too. 1 in Granbury and 1 in cedar Hill.
Sweet read!
I just shoved my car in a storage place because im tired of moving it.
anyway, I'm actually in East texas (longview) if you ever need anything. Got a couple friends out that way too. 1 in Granbury and 1 in cedar Hill.
Spent most of Saturday and the first half of Sunday watching the Rolex 24 at Daytona, but soon after that was over, I headed to the garage and got started cleaning surfaces with a razor again. Cleaned up a decent bit and just accepted the fact that this was (externally) going to be an ugly block. I then positioned the block up for a hone, oiled the bores, honed the bores, and gapped all my rings. I actually only had to grind the first ring down - the second and oil rings came out of the box at or above the spec I was using... which was actually a little bit unnerving at first.
With the piston rings ready, I threw the bearings from my last block into this block - they only had a few thousand miles on them and all still looked mint - **** it. I made sure to keep them matched to the same crank journals they had been on previously. Reusing the old rod bearings too - same scenario they still looked like they just came out of the box.
Installed with OTTP's main bolt kit and a little bit (too much) ARP Fastener Assembly Lubricant.
I installed the piston rings and then went digging through some old boxes to find my piston ring compressor tool. Started pushing pistons into their bores and slowly/gently lining up the rods onto the crank and installing the rod caps.
Just in time for dinner!
My next step is to try to get the block mounted on my engine stand - or moved to the floor - before it gets to heavy to move around by myself. Following that though, install some of the timing components into the block, turbo oil feed fitting, head studs, etc.
I actually really need to make sure that I check my head for flatness. I didn't do that when I took it off of the car - cylinder number 1 definitely took a large coolant bath... hopefully it'll be fine.
Spent most of Saturday and the first half of Sunday watching the Rolex 24 at Daytona, but soon after that was over, I headed to the garage and got started cleaning surfaces with a razor again. Cleaned up a decent bit and just accepted the fact that this was (externally) going to be an ugly block. I then positioned the block up for a hone, oiled the bores, honed the bores, and gapped all my rings. I actually only had to grind the first ring down - the second and oil rings came out of the box at or above the spec I was using... which was actually a little bit unnerving at first.
With the piston rings ready, I threw the bearings from my last block into this block - they only had a few thousand miles on them and all still looked mint - **** it. I made sure to keep them matched to the same crank journals they had been on previously. Reusing the old rod bearings too - same scenario they still looked like they just came out of the box.
Installed with OTTP's main bolt kit and a little bit (too much) ARP Fastener Assembly Lubricant.
I installed the piston rings and then went digging through some old boxes to find my piston ring compressor tool. Started pushing pistons into their bores and slowly/gently lining up the rods onto the crank and installing the rod caps.
Just in time for dinner!
My next step is to try to get the block mounted on my engine stand - or moved to the floor - before it gets to heavy to move around by myself. Following that though, install some of the timing components into the block, turbo oil feed fitting, head studs, etc.
I actually really need to make sure that I check my head for flatness. I didn't do that when I took it off of the car - cylinder number 1 definitely took a large coolant bath... hopefully it'll be fine.
Indeed. I really contemplated drilling out the Saab/LNF turbo drain myself, but ultimately decided against it. I'll just take ECaulk's recommendation and drill/tap the oil pan. I also need to figure out if I want to keep the A/C in the car or not. Among other things. The transmission situation looms large in the background. Do I reinstall everything that I have now just to get it back on the road... and just wait for this F35 to die? Or delay progress in an attempt to wait and find the right F23 that I want... and then experiment with making sure that I have all the right parts for that swap?
I hate that shipping on LKQ - no matter where it's coming from - seems to be a standard $280. Often, that's more than the cost of the F23 being sold. There is one in New Braunfels for like $250. The website didn't have a pick-up option though... only shipping. I'd have to imagine that I could do a pick up if I called them though. I'm not having much luck with Pick-n-Pulls... everything is an automatic. I'll keep my eyes peeled though.
I know for a fact you can pick the parts up. The one in Kennedale I used often. I would just call them. Thats a day trip. It really comes down to how bad is the F35 you have currently?
I know for a fact you can pick the parts up. The one in Kennedale I used often. I would just call them. Thats a day trip. It really comes down to how bad is the F35 you have currently?
The last oil drain was metallic, but it wasn't to the point of making odd noise when driving it. Early stages of dying.
If I run it again, I'd probably throw a bunch of cheap gear oil in it and try to give it a bit of a flush. Fill it with some stock fluid and just try to drive it semi-gentle (which I'm reeeeaaaally bad about ). I do have my OE F35, just without a working second gear synchro. That might be this weeks project - try to disassemble that transmission. I need to reach out to J-Pow and get the list of parts that need replaced.
Metal shavings are always fun. I had that happen to a T5 Borg Warner Trans. Tried flushing it out with gear oil and then reapplied fresh fluid. It blew up not 30 miles later.
I kind of imagined that would be the case with this too. Part of me just wants to get the car moving, but the rest of me knows that I don't want to have to pull the trans back out in 2-3 weeks.
The New Braunfels LKQ actually has a regular Cobalt F23, as well as the XFE F23. The XFE would most closely resemble the LSJ F35 gear ratios, just a longer first and fifth gears. It's also twice the price though.
EDIT: Just found an 06-07 HHR trans (4.17 final) for $300 shipped on eBay. Might just do that. Next cheapest on there is $435 - from LQK in Stockton, CA.
There's also one listed in Grand Prairie, right next to where I work. I might see how cheap they'll let me pick it up for (EDIT: $200 picked up). It's out of an 09 though, so a little bit longer final... around 3.94, iirc.
I would think and I am speaking from a V8 aspect. Most turbo guys won't run anything bigger than a 3.55 gear ratio most end up lower 3.23. I would also think you would want more top end. The first gear being longer wouldn't really matter unless you were drag racing it, but as long the ratios were similar to the F35 it should be ok. Most pulls are in 3rd anyways so first really wouldn't matter.
I know most people seem to opt for the longer gears, but bringing the 2-3-4 gears closer together should help with acceleration - I'm curious as to how it'll affect spool. I'd think it'd honestly be a minimal effect, and I've got a WOT box and used to do WOT shifts, so I'm not tooooo concerned with boost dropping off between shifts. It's definitely not a drag car, so I'm also not too concerned with first. Highway pulls have always been a Cobalt's forte.
And these transmissions are honestly cheap enough that if I get a short ratio one and hate it... moving to a longer ratio transmission would really just cost me time.
I know most people seem to opt for the longer gears, but bringing the 2-3-4 gears closer together should help with acceleration - I'm curious as to how it'll affect spool. I'd think it'd honestly be a minimal effect, and I've got a WOT box and used to do WOT shifts, so I'm not tooooo concerned with boost dropping off between shifts. It's definitely not a drag car, so I'm also not too concerned with first. Highway pulls have always been a Cobalt's forte.
And these transmissions are honestly cheap enough that if I get a short ratio one and hate it... moving to a longer ratio transmission would really just cost me time.
I'm pretty sure the F23 is way more friendly to being DIY than the F35
01-29-2021, 01:38 PM
