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What is the DF Goblin? It is a low priced kit car produced just outside of Dallas, TX based off the popular Cobalt. Why cobalt and not the K20 or some other motor you may ask? Because the Cobalt is so popular you can pick up salvage ones from auctions for $500-$750. The goal for this kit car is not to be the fastest, most track capable car, but rather a cheap and fun project that you can build in your garage without any special tools/welding. Estimated time of completion is 100 hours including taking apart the donor car.
For my car I knew that I would want a lot of power, coming from liter bikes in the past. A popular option is getting the standard cobalt for $500-$700, and then supercharging it for another $700. Rather than build up the standard motor, I decided to get the already stout LNF motor. I paid a little more, but the engine is well worth it.
The 2.0 LNF ecotec motor is a beast. It's been used in us spec Atoms and also the 999 Motorsports MK2 (http://www.999motorsportsusa.com/tag...ch-lnf-engine/). While the cobalt itself had some faults, the motor is fantastic. Unique LNF features, compared to the standard Ecotec motors include:
a twin-scroll turbocharger
cam-driven high-pressure gasoline direct injection fuel system
dual camshaft continuously variable valve timing
sodium-filled stainless steel Inconel exhaust valves
low-friction cast aluminum pistons with oil squirters
forged steel crankshaft
forged steel connecting rods
cast stainless steel exhaust manifold
With just an exhaust, intake, tuned on E42 I have seen these put down over 350whp/420wtq, plenty for a car that weighs 1400lbs and should be very reliable. The 2008 donor that I purchased also has the 315mm 4 piston Brembo brakes and optional LSD.
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Pictures of some completed cars:
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October 27th, 2015
I just picked up a donor that will be used for a DF Goblin kit car. It is a 2008 Chevy Cobalt SS with 30k miles. It was totalled because of a rear end accident, perfect for this build. Other than the rear end damage it is a real gem and runs and drivers perfect. I'll be getting my frame in the second batch around the end of jan/mid feb. In the mean time I will start stripping my donor down to the required parts. End goal will be to have 300 RWHP in a ~1400 track/street legal weapon.
The car was purchased on Copart and I used A Better Bid as a Copart Broker. They charged $200 and also arranged shipping to AL to TX for $550. It ended at $2600 on CoPart and all said and done I paid around $3800 delivered at my door. I had listed it on uShip as well, but A Better Bid was able to secure the best rate since they are also a transportation broker. Shipping only took about a week and I highly recommend this broker.
Delivered in my garage!
Last edited by errorunknown; Jul 26, 2016 at 01:54 PM.
May 12, 2016 (had a wedding after I purchased the donor, also there was a bit of a wait on production. They had build their first batch of 10 production frames and were working on the tooling for the future frames)
Hey guys, wanted to post a quick update. I am almost finished stripping the entire car. I have cut off the front support beam and all that is left is to to remove the wiring harness and subframe with engine. Can't wait to get the frame and start building!
Also, selling old parts has been a great success, I have almost collected almost $2000 at this point! Hoping to get another $500 with the remaining parts which would put the net cost of the donor at about $1500!
July 20th. 2016
My frame for my car just got built up. I took some screencaps from the webcam that they have set up and also had Adam send me some pictures. Also decided on Illusion Blue for the powder coat!
And building on that, I kicked my tail into high gear to finish stripping my donor. Ended working till 4am on Saturday morning dropping the motor and removing any remaining hoses, tank, etc. All that remains at this point is dash assembly to release the rest of the wiring harness.
Also to note, removed the engine and subframe by lowering the car onto two small furniture dollies, and then lifting the car away. I was then able to roll the assembly away from the car. Almost time to dump the chassis!
Time for an update! I picked up my frame from Adam about 2 months about and it looks awesome. Started a new job so I haven't had much time to work on it, but finally finished taking out the dash from the donor. The scarp body is ready to be hauled away finally!!
Finally got rid of the donor chassis. Tried out Facebook classifieds after not having luck on Craigslist and it was gone in a matter of days, at no cost to me. Did some much needed garage cleaning and reorganizing of my tools. Started test fitting the brake lines and riveted the front bulkhead.
Wow time for a mega update. Project was put on hold while I changed jobs at end of 2016 and purchased my first home this past May. Lots of time was spent organizing the garage to make the build process easier. This past weekend my wife was out of town and I worked like a madman for over 40 hours and accomplished a lot.
March 2017
Received stage 2 parts and determined what needed to be painted/powder coated, ended up just going with some primer and spray can bedliner.
While disassembling the brake position sensor from the pedal box for painting, the head sheared off. I tried cutting a notch for a screwdriver or pliers, but no luck. Will likely just order one from eBay.
April 2017
Painted parts hanging to dry
April 2017
Riveted the floorpan and front firewall into the car, did not get pictures of this but was straightforward. Wife helped out with getting the radiator hoses in through the lower frame tubes. WOW what an challenge. Used the tire shine lube method and it was still a huge pain in the rear.
May 2017
Moved into new house! Goblin quickly claimed its section of the garage. The move forced me to do a quick inventory of all of the donor and kit parts and I placed it all in boxes.
August 2017
Did an extensive organization of the garage, getting ready to get into the project again
October 6 2017, Friday 7pm
Getting ready for maniac build weekend, picked up any missing tools and started at it, starting with installing the steering rack and power steering unit
Disassembling steering components
Put in the brake booster, pedal box, steering shaft
October 7 12:07am, time for the radiator
October 7 1:30am, Radiator in place, time to place the radiator hoses in place
October 7 2:20am, installed fuel pump and tightened down the ring for the tank and finished connecting the hoses
October 7 9:48pm
Finished mounting the fuel tank, this was a real pain because the straps were barely long enough to grab the threads.
October 8 2:11 am
Decided to keep on chugging along and tackle the front suspension, this was the fun part of the build
October 8 4am
Front suspension parts are in place!
October 8 10:27am
Admiring the car with actual daylight
October 8 1:30pm
Finishing up the front, needed to swap some parts around after realizing that I had some pieces backwards
October 8 2:45pm
Finishing up the steering assembly
Remaining parts at this point. I also got antsy and installed the seat and steering wheel to get a taste of the seating position. Getting very close now!
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