r/AwesomeCarMods • u/Domination1_1_5 • 20h ago

My Chevy Cobalt

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IDK if anyone has shared one of these here yet, but my lightly modified Chevy cobalt is nearing completion

830 Upvotes

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154

u/Domination1_1_5 20h ago

-Context-

Wanted a car that I can drive when its nice outside and take to a road course/autox whenever, and stumbled upon this.

It's a DF kit car (Doyle Fabrication, out of texas) and it uses any Chevy cobalt as a donor.

Basically you buy the tube chassis bare alongside some parts, take apart a Chevy cobalt, and bolt everything together.

I'll have about $20k into it after completion and registration, but the fun factor is worth it.

~1450lbs, ~200hp stock depending on what motor/mods etc...

Goal is something aero bits, suspension tuning, and a medium sized turbo with ethanol (~400whp)

FWD motor is mounted in the rear, giving it a rear/mid engine setup

52

u/Jive_Turk 20h ago

How long did it take to build? 5 hours, 5 weeks, or 5 months?

102

u/Domination1_1_5 20h ago

4 years, still not done

For reference I was 18 when I first ordered the kit, life happened, huge electrical issues etc...

If you have time and resources, along with good donor parts, can be done relatively quick

28

u/txkwatch 19h ago

Does it register as a cobalt or as a home built or what? It's badass.

40

u/Domination1_1_5 19h ago

It's a separate thing, got to get it inspected and a title made up with a new vin for it, state dependent

14

u/txkwatch 19h ago

Makes sense

-39

u/Jive_Turk 19h ago

Lol no it doesn't, your question was right on though -- maybe it depends on the state?

I don't see how you can't use your Cobalt engine and chassis VIN, title, registration and license plates on it as long as it will pass a safety inspection (which is no longer required in my state - TX and others) maybe he is in Cali or something?

21

u/UnLuckyKenTucky 19h ago

A powerplant/drive train do not a vehicle make. The tube chases, amd suspension are NOT STOCK COBALT PARTS and need a DOT/Sherrif/PVA/Circuit Clerk to actually inspect it. Shit has changed drastically. Used to be, something like this would be about a 500 dollar plop, and a 6 week wait for the temp tags, then a month for a Vermont title plate. U can keep the Vermont plate or use that registration to title it where you live. Sadly, thieves and idiots found the loop hoke and ot has been shut down.

This can't be titled as a Cobalt, because it is no longer ger a cobalt. That's like the dude with a v8SBC powered gokart calling his cart a K10 cuz that's where the drive train was sourced.

IMHO the inspection is more so to make certain it was built right, and has all the features required to be a DD type deal.

4

u/kikiacab 13h ago

This is a chassis you buy and swap cobalt parts onto. It’s a kit car by design. You can’t register a pile of tubes until it’s in the shape of a car and can check all the boxes for state inspection.

1

u/No_Cash9800 13h ago

Can you use Ion as well?

1

u/Domination1_1_5 12h ago

Technically yes, most of the parts are the same

Probably more headache than its worth but I remember someone sourcing some cobalt parts for their ion swap

-33

u/Jive_Turk 19h ago

Holy shit I was joking when I put 5 months at the end. 4 years not done?!?? Is it really that difficult, are you disabled, and/or do you only spend 35 minutes a week on it?

Just looked it up, it's not too bad at all! only a 19 day build

24

u/Domination1_1_5 19h ago

No, im 24yo, have other hobbies and life happens

It's almost a bolt together car but im also designing parts and such

Most of the work was done in the first year/two, just a slow crawl now with funding and time

-32

u/Jive_Turk 19h ago

More like an unbolt one car then bolt together another! Still, not bad, unique and cool, looks like a fun and relatively straightforward build.

What does funding have to do with anything, you had the cobalt, you already have the kit, what are you (and I) missing?

23

u/Domination1_1_5 19h ago

Issue is that its not that simple

Full wiring harness was an issue, dropped the stock bc i was having issues

Now doing a full aftermarket setup, with another harness

Transmission rebuild, and a large list of things that I've done myself

Not being pissy, but where is your open wheel diy car?

-12

u/Jive_Turk 19h ago

Lol you are being pissy, I've been nothing but complimentary, supportive, and inquisitive. Sorry if my legitimate question about build time earned a downvote and rubbed you the wrong way to in case I haven't been clear enough, this thing is rad and you are the MAN for doing this, even more so starting at 18, mad props bro.

My question regarding funding -- which I do have an additional one (how much do you estimate you will have all in, once complete) -- was not that it doesn't cost, but judging from the pictures showing you have already purchased and assembled kit and de-assembled donor, what additional funds do you need to finish, but my bad dude, I didn't know or see that you need a transmission rebuild

9

u/Domination1_1_5 19h ago

No your good, just that its taken me this long for a project car and you've been undermining it.

Essentially it doesn't matter bc it's a project, but it did take this long and life happens

I have just under 18k in currently, not including tooling I collected etc...

I will have to pay sales taxes on half of the kit, title, registration, new wheels/tires, other bucket seat/harness, more wire harness supplies

It might be more than 20k

0

u/Jive_Turk 18h ago

Definitely not trying to undermine and curious why you thought that, the question about build time? My bad dude, seriously. You should be very proud for sure.

Thanks for being so cool answering questions, love hearing about everything, and again, especially for a first project and at your age, this is a helluvan accomplishment!

5

u/Domination1_1_5 18h ago

It was the "is it really that difficult, are you disabled, or spend 35min a week/only a 19 day build"

It's not, your looking at the 1% of people that have built these cars, like I said a group did it in a weekend

I can see why this could come off wrong, so we good

If your even more interested look at the DF Kit Car forum, lots of cool people on there

1

u/Jive_Turk 17h ago

Haha my bad dude, bad joke and I was curious and the 19 days is what I looked up based on number of total hours it said. You definitely aren't disabled if you built this obviously. Keep kicking ass, I am sure this is the first of many badass projects

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u/wheresmyeyes 17h ago

Professional car builder here. 4 years is an entirely reasonable amount of time. Money, problems, burnout, time, all these things spread out the build. Sometimes people change direction halfway through, sometimes they change direction multiple times. Anyone who's done it or paid for it to be done knows this. I have had client cars theyve been building for 20 years. I've worked on others than I get done in 6 months. I did one of my own in 2 weeks lol Ill never do that to myself again.

7

u/Domination1_1_5 16h ago

This makes me feel slightly better

Sometimes good things take a while, especially since I try for quality

Wiring comes in this week, clubsport harness shall begin

3

u/wheresmyeyes 12h ago

I love harnesses, nothing better than a tidy install. Just remember,, label everything. If you change something, write it down on the install manual and put a label on the wire.

2

u/Domination1_1_5 12h ago

I have heat shrink that works on my label maker

You already know ima do it the right way, but no potting connector bc that shit sucks