Robertwhamm's Journey to make his Cobalt into a car worth keeping.
 

The Back Story:

So I have been on the fence - off the fence, on the fence - off the fence.. and so on.. About getting a new car, and that car being a 2011 Mustang GT.

The more I think about it the more I stop and tell myself I really don't need it. I have a car already that does what I want it to do, get me from point A to point B without looking bad and able to get going fast when needed.

I currently owe a little less than $10k on my 2007 Cobalt SS/SC and have 63k miles on it. About 75% of the miles were put on the car when I daily drove it Mon-Friday 100 miles each day to College. I have since been graduated with an associates degree in Information Technology (internet and web based technology) and have a great job and I am making more money than I ever thought I would be rocking my Associates degree and being my first year in the field.

I will be moving out of my parents house and into an apartment roughly 5 miles away from work so I shouldn't be putting hardly any miles on my balt anymore.


Cut to the chase:

This thread will show what I am doing to make my car into a car that I enjoy driving around, looking at, and just want to keep. I plan on keeping this car and paying it off and only then will I consider buying a new car.

When I first got my 2007 Cobalt SS/SC in the Summer of 2008:

https://www.cobaltss.net/gallery/fil...02237_9663.jpg

About a year later:
After owning the car for about a year I started to make changes to the appearance and performance. I added GM stage 2, 2.9 pulley, GMPP exhaust and manifold, Injen Cold air intake, Hurst sts, lowering springs, Drag dr-19 wheels, Carbon fiber trunk/dash trim/mirrors/emblems, LED tinted brake lights, 3rd gen projector headlights, Interceptor gauge.

https://www.cobaltss.net/gallery/fil...snet1_copy.jpg
https://www.cobaltss.net/gallery/fil...snet2_copy.jpg
https://www.cobaltss.net/gallery/fil...snet4_copy.jpg
https://www.cobaltss.net/gallery/fil...snet5_copy.jpg



Present Day:
All the aftermarket appearance things I was doing to my car was fun in all but I really started getting sick of my Carbon fiber and Red theme I had going on... Soooo I sold my Carbon trunk and got my stock trunk filled and painted, put the stock mirrors back on, switched back to stock head lights, replaced my dash trim back to stock and that is now were I stand today.

Car as it sits extremely dirtily outside work.
https://www.cobaltss.net/gallery/fil...2_10_03_24.jpg
https://www.cobaltss.net/gallery/fil...2_10_03_12.jpg




Near future mod/upgrade list:

So my current goals for the cobalt is to make it into the nicest car possible (for me). Here is a quick run down of what I am going to be doing.


Appearance/Comfort:
1. Getting full set of black on black SS/TC seats for upgraded comfort and support. (already in the process of paying for/ arranging shipping)
Please note not my image
https://i107.photobucket.com/albums/...vemeber404.jpg
2. Covering the red door panels with same fabric to match the tc seats.
3. Wrap the Headliner in the same fabric as TC seats.
4. Get the dash trim/steering wheels controls/door trims professionally painted black and install a pioneer in dash (AVH-P3100DVD) and black hvac controls.
5. Get a nice set of shift boot, Arm rest cover, and redo my ebrake to add a boot and handle to it. -Redline Goods
6. Tint the windows to protect my new indash since last time I had an indash ( https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/elec...-today-189023/ ) happened.
7. SS/TC upper and lower grills
8. Remove carbon fiber badges currently on the side of my car
9. Getting a set of stock headlights retrofitted from BuyHids.com
10. And more to come :)

Performance/Driving:
1. purchasing new wheels, tires, and brakes/pads in 2 weeks.
http://www.discounttiredirect.com/pr...34.sml.ang.jpg
http://www.discounttiredirect.com/pr...hanhz9.ang.jpg
2. Either a set of coil overs or a set of TC Struts + my current lowering springs
3. New motor/tranny mounts to reduce the amount my motor shifts when starting from a dead stop <- annoying
4. As far as the supercharger setup I'm on the fence about upgrading to a TVS and going for 300HP or just dropping to a 2.8 pulley with Dual pass and a S3 heat exchanger with a good tune.





Photoshop of the new wheels on my car (might get them powder coated gold):
https://www.cobaltss.net/gallery/fil...ltttttttt2.jpg
https://www.cobaltss.net/gallery/fil...altttttttt.jpg


Will continue to add updates throughout the day/week/months

I'll reserve this post for updated progress...:

Update 3/8/2011:

Got my DR-34's and Hancook tires in the mail today!

My red lug nuts were dropped off last night and I picked up a few cans of Plastidip and Duplicolor fabric paint for my interior!

Drag DR-34s: They look way better in person and with tires on them!!!!
https://www.cobaltss.net/gallery/fil...8_11_43_34.jpg
https://www.cobaltss.net/gallery/fil...8_11_43_21.jpg
https://www.cobaltss.net/gallery/fil...8_11_43_09.jpg
https://www.cobaltss.net/gallery/fil...7_21_05_48.jpg
https://www.cobaltss.net/gallery/fil...7_17_59_02.jpg

Update 3/12/2011:

Got the new wheels and tires on! still waiting to put on the red lugnuts until I swap out all my crappy old lug studs.

https://www.cobaltss.net/gallery/fil...1_18_18_57.jpg
https://www.cobaltss.net/gallery/fil...1_18_19_09.jpg
https://www.cobaltss.net/gallery/fil...1_18_19_25.jpg
https://www.cobaltss.net/gallery/fil...1_18_19_48.jpg

Update 3/15/2011

Got my Rotors and pads in the mail today and they are reallllll nice :) going on the car tomorrow!

https://www.cobaltss.net/gallery/fil...5_08_37_43.jpg

Should really compliment the new wheels :)

Update 3/17/2011

R1 Slotted rotors and ceramic pads installed along with my ricer red lug nuts :) And omg does my car feel like a freaking brand new car with awesome new breaks and tires! I can't freaking wait to get my SS/TC Seats in next week and really see what a nice car should drive like :P

https://www.cobaltss.net/gallery/fil...6_19_01_37.jpg

Should really compliment the new wheels :)

Red and gold? Eww

Im taking that as a joke :)

Ha I have been hooked on red in gold ever since my first car, 2005 Mustang I got when I was 16

https://www.cobaltss.net/gallery/fil...4/im003264.jpg
https://www.cobaltss.net/gallery/fil...4/im003258.jpg
https://www.cobaltss.net/gallery/fil...4/im003253.jpg

Red and gold has always had a special place in my heart :)

It would have looked a ton better if I could have ever afforded a nice set of gold wheels

Ooo that'll look perty.

Looks good, you have good plans. When you plan on getting the new wheels send the old ones to me

kthxbai!

:)

Thanks! I am really going to do what I can to have on of the nicest cobalts around.

I know you can polish a turd only so much though :lol:


When I take them off they will be for sale, On the Cheap! But let's save that discussion for a for sale thread :)

Why not just PC the Drag wheels you already have?

i like the red and gold alot

the chrome lip will throw it off

Yeah the lip wouldn't look right and I'm not a fan of the lip and like the other drags a lot better.

Well, you would PC the whole wheel, not just the center. I'm just saying, it's kinda a waste to buy another crappy set of wheels when you already own one you could freshen up and apply the money elsewhere.


http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...G5/BBS20RS.jpg
And you're right, chrome and gold would not work together at all.

How about Window Tint?

It's on the list haha.

Well if I could get my currents wheels refinished and look that good in let's say less than $300 I would go for it. Considering I am getting a set of the new ones for $600 and I can prob sell my old ones for $300. Not to mention the new ones are coming pre mounted and balanced with the new tires on them which also saves me time and money.

But those wheels look friggin amazing. It's definitely an eye opened and makes doing that a real possibility.

I've been debating doing my wheels gold as well. I'm tired of all the black/red themes. Lol

Liking the plans! Let me know what your going to do with the door panels that have the red insert. I might be interested.

looks good

I always hated a red car with gold rims - made me think of a 90's mustang with 180 spoke rims - until I saw USMCFieldMP's car and loved it.

I think new shoes will deff make it look better. It already looks good.

What tails are those? I like how they don't stick out like most LED's I've seen.

I know, Black and red is to played out now-a-days. I'm really wanting to go the red and gold route but there is only a limited amount of things I can think or doing that will look clean and good. But I will be brainstorming/photoshoping multiple possibilities :)

I've always had a soft spot for red on gold, I never knew were it started, I just randomly chose the gold color for the stripes on my old Mustang and it was love ha.

And I agree the new wheels are Much much cleaner looking.

The tails are the ever so popular/hard to find Ebay tail lights that I'm not even sure anyone sells anymore. I might be selling them soon if I can find a nice set of stock looking LED tails that aren't smoked.

I also have the red and black theme going on. Somedays I like it some I dont. then again my wheels are black because they are rashed and black hides it better. Otherwise theyd still be silver :lol:

If you sell them, let me know. I've been looking for a set of clear ones for a while. I am planning on tinting them red to match the car.

as nice as you can make the balt, the mustang is going to be a better platform in every way. and there is nothing like a new car

Trust me man I know ... But I just can't get myself to sell my cobalt for what I owe and have been paying on for more then 2 years now. The plan is get the Cobalt payed off then and only then go out and get the 5.0. So not only do I have my new Mustang I have a winter/shitty weather beater thats not really a beater :P

If I could get a dealer to give me 10K trade in on my balt for a 2011 premium GT I'd already be driving one, but since the best I will prob see if >$8k trade for it I'd rather just wait it out. I have some great hookups though at a ford dealer through A guy that I work with and I was quoted $30k out the door for a GT Premium with 3.73s........ It's just waiting for me to buy it haha.