goodbye honda, back in the seat of a GM again, 06 slobalt SS

[Spawne32]

Well, got completely miserable with the amount of time and work i was devoting to the integra only to have horrible results time and time again due to being the underdog in an area of tuning that was never explored. Decided to part the entire car out and sell the shell (most of which is still up for sale). The opportunity presented itself recently for me to get behind the wheel of an 06 cobalt SS 2.4 NA with a 4t45e hydramatic, exactly like the one i had tried to buy back in 08 for 11,500. Only this one was significantly less and needed a whole lot more TLC.

Despite the car living in the ghetto most of its life, none of its problems were beyond saving. It had 3 reported accidents on carfax, none of them major, no frame damage, all plastic bumper damage. The clear was gone on the roof and hood, and the front and rear bumpers are pretty badly beat up, but the sides of the car were not beyond saving with my magic touch with the portercable and compound and polish and wax. The black leather interior, pioneer sound system, and heated seats all were in great condition. The window switches were broke, the car had no keyfobs to disable the alarm, the gauge cluster broke in HALF when i took it out because the gauges were almost backwards from tampering, found out that they stuffed paper behind the dash to hide the check engine light and traction control light. The car had 13 DTC's for VVT solenoids, evap purge vent solenoid, misfire, fuel injector's, etc.

All in all i spent just under 500 dollars in cleaning, maintenance, and repairs to get it back tip top, and i plan to have the hood, roof and drivers side door resprayed and pick up a used front and rear bumper for cheap. Some level of regular maintenance was performed, it was getting oil changes at walmart on the regular with castrol HW 5w30 according to the sticker, and the tires were all brand new nexen walmart brand tires, not horrific, not great. It had NO brakes whatsoever when i got it. So bad that i almost crashed bringing it home coming off 295, that the next morning i had the brakes on order at the parts store so that i could do the fronts at 8:30 in the morning. lol

She's back up to par now with a few other things that need to be done, maintenance stuff, and shes ready to go for the track and find out what she can do. The teg ran 15.5 @ 89 in its all motor capacity with a non vtec b20 motor, this car is faster right out of the box and makes a significant amount more torque. Pulled a car length on my buddys 01 acura CL 3.0 VTEC with the 13 DTC's the night i took it home.

here it is the day i got it







original delphi filters



nice surprise behind the cluster



new SC SS cluster panel off ebay



repaired the old cluster



oh yeh, this car hasnt been repaired in forever...



my new VMS shorty antenna



and here she is today




I get to finish conditioning my leather seats tomorrow in this crazy heat.

[Shipman]

I like them a lot, I say do the newer ss front bumper and grille, lose the wing, pick up the new ss wheels from like the 2010 ones. When I worked at a chevy dealer one of my coworkers had one and had the small wing and the sports package on it. I think that was the best designed chevy in a while. You have a good base and am glad you were able to fix the previous clowns mistakes and ignorance.

[Spawne32]

the wing kinda grows on ya after a while but i do prefer wingless, just like my teg bumper options i havent explored yet, however HPtuners is going to go on this thing stat, and a GMPP or K&N intake and a header/downpipe are the first two mods i am considering. Down the road if my budget permits it, i really want a harrop TVS 1320 blower kit. The 2.4 ecotec has the balls enough to support a blower of that size, one of my other reasons for picking this particular model. Biggest damn 4 cylinder GM has made in a while.

[Spawne32]

i should almost mention i cant see a ****in thing out of my rear view with that wing as well

[Shipman]

Lol thats how big wings do it. Also a little sour that its not 5 speed. My main issue is those wheels, imo theyre the ugliest ones ever.

[Spawne32]

Originally Posted by Shipman

Lol thats how big wings do it. Also a little sour that its not 5 speed. My main issue is those wheels, imo theyre the ugliest ones ever.

I like to make everyone sour over my transmission choices, but this is a daily car, not a race car, and it only see's track time a few times a year at atco. Ive never been particularly fond of manual car's for daily driving, and everyone seems to directly compare them to the size of your penis anyway. The wheels, im not sure what to do with, they are curb rashed pretty bad on two of them. I liked the wheels but I feel they dont match the car to be honest. I can considered a couple options off tire rack.

[Shipman]

None of those are my style at all, maybe the last ones are the better of the 3 in my opinion. Another suggestion is jump on a cobalt forum and look for a set of the newer oem wheels like I was saying, I think they look better than most aftermarket choices. Ill find the ones Im talking about and show you.

[Spawne32]

Originally Posted by Shipman

None of those are my style at all, maybe the last ones are the better of the 3 in my opinion. Another suggestion is jump on a cobalt forum and look for a set of the newer oem wheels like I was saying, I think they look better than most aftermarket choices. Ill find the ones Im talking about and show you.

i know the wheels ;) thing is people just like to charge a premium for them used

[Shipman]

Heres the whole kit I was talking about, subtle lip, better grille and nice wheels.

[Spawne32]

yah the front and rear bumpers from the newer models are a must if i can find them

[Shipman]

Good luck with the whole project, Ill be watching this build.

[Spawne32]

thanks, hopefully ill have some track times to post soon enough ;)

[schaffer]

Car looks good.



Probably could of picked up a ss/sc for the same price though.

[SikneSS]

since you seem deadset on modifying this thing, i'd highly recommend giving ZZPerformance a call and check out cobaltss.net (ZZP is a vendor on there).

even tho the Harrop is a very sweet blower, i believe you & your wallet will be happier with a turbo setup from ZZP.

[Spawne32]

Originally Posted by SikneSS

since you seem deadset on modifying this thing, i'd highly recommend giving ZZPerformance a call and check out cobaltss.net (ZZP is a vendor on there).

even tho the Harrop is a very sweet blower, i believe you & your wallet will be happier with a turbo setup from ZZP.

im already a member on cobaltss.net and i know all about zzp performance lol you may be right about the turbo setup, and i know the VVT would probably help more with the turbo then it would the supercharger

[SikneSS]

Originally Posted by Spawne32

im already a member on cobaltss.net and i know all about zzp performance lol you may be right about the turbo setup, and i know the VVT would probably help more with the turbo then it would the supercharger

rock on! so then you know to go with Powell Race Shop for all your suspension needs?

[Spawne32]

Originally Posted by SikneSS

rock on! so then you know to go with Powell Race Shop for all your suspension needs?

lol i know all about powell and i also know they are expensive as hell, i was looking at an eibach sway bar kit for 350 and either H&R or SSC springs. That's about all I would do to the suspension for a daily car.

[SikneSS]

expensive? lol, i don't think so but i guess some pockets are deeper than others. you definitely get what you pay for with PRS parts.

[Spawne32]

my pockets are empty cuzzz :p where is powell even selling cobalt parts anymore, couldnt find anything on their site?

[JimH]

Good luck on the build and with the car.....

I personally, working at a shop, despise these things. They look great, but are so poorly built and designed that GM's engineers must have no clue what they are like to actually maintain. I've replaced more steering shafts, and finger blasted the columns on so many of these things, it makes my wife jealous. You'll see one day when you try to get your key back out of the ignition.

On the flip side, they perform very well and have great aftermarket support. It's like the modern day Cavalier.

Have fun and Enjoy.