This will be street legal. It's already registered in Montana - I havd some work to do before I can register in nj

I was wondering when that beast was gonna finally roll into NJ! I would be thrilled to make some cool stuff for it, too!

Awesome! :D
Should push right along cause don't seem like it would weigh much.

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...psdisa2oab.jpg

It's home!

Mike will be taking you up on that!!! Going to need some serious help

Lmk if you every come south to see it!

I am all in, Chris - gotta come check out your new spot one day anyways. :-)

So... Time for a little update on the project...

The car arrived back in NJ in the middle of Nov and since then I'm been tearing it apart and putting it back together again. There are a few things that needed to be completed in order for me to register the car in NJ (It's already registered and Titled in Montana) - The main things were fitting a parking brake and wiring the dash.

Along the way though I found that a few things weren't as fully functional and needed attention. First up was the cooling system - The car runs two small radiators in the size pods with fans on the back to help draw air through. Unfortunately on night one most of the coolant ended up on the garage floor! The culprit turned out to be several pipe insert bore reducers that were used to reduce the pipe size from 1.5" to 1.25" - easy enough fix to buy some actual pipes that reduced from 1.5" to 1.25".

Whilst I was at it I bought some bendable metal piping to enable me to route the pipe away from the serpentine belt where it was rubbing.
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...psb5a97cb1.jpg

The pods themselves are fiber glass bolted onto the frame. I wanted to add some stiffening to help support the pods so cut up some 1/8" aluminum plate to make inserts the shape of the pod underneath the radiators.


Lastly I added some honeycomb radiator protector inserts...
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps5b75558f.jpg

Next up was some of the mechanicals - In order for the serpentine belt to operate correctly i need to run the stock AC Compressor as an idler pully. A used AC compressor was purchased and installed however it wasn't spinning and was just rubbing on the belt.

An hour or two of internet searching didnt turn up anyone who made idler pullies so I decided to remove and gut the used one. Amazing the amount of stuff I was able to get rid of and must have lost 6lbs of weight.

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...psjbsvwvkf.jpg

The much reduced setup is now working great and spins free. At some point I may look to buy a new pully and bearing.

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps650233b9.jpg

Onto the exhaust - The car arrived with no gasket or support for the exhaust and a simple U-Bolt clamp i.e. in need to love.

I found a company that makes nice billet aluminum 3" exhaust supports - I was able to use that with some aluminum plate and bar stock to make a support off on the engine. It seems like its holding it well at the moment. In due course (with the help of Mike @ RC-Monster) I'll see if I can tidy up the setup.

A stepped band clamp and titanium exhaust wrap finish it off nicely.

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...psc36d0dc0.jpg
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps1b278760.jpg
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps81626cbf.jpg

I've bought some high temp exhaust paint and in due course will paint the box and tips to match if i decided to retain that setup. Its VERY loud - Sets my wifes car alarm off if I rev the car in the garage - LOL.

Wiring was the next project to tackle - The car is using an aftermarket Bike Dash Setup - KOSO-DX2N which looks pretty good. As you can see there are plenty of wires to get through!
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps13fd8b10.jpg

The tach was the main issue that stumped me for a while but was able to get it working finally this week by tapping into a coil signal wire.

NJ requires a 3rd brake light so I made up a rear licence plate holder with some more 1/8" aluminum plate and found a brake light with integrated plate light.

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps5668ec20.jpg

Whilst I was at it I decided to make a CF dash insert to add some extra bling...
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps10d4e1c1.jpg

Some bling...

Found a guy on a Cobalt SS forum who laser cuts steel for the coil pack / injector covers and ZZP oil cover.

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...psb423485a.jpg

Also used another 3" exhaust clamp and chrome bracket to mount the air intake off of the "engine hoop".
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...psa86b20f6.jpg

Next up - trials of the parking brake and steering stops!

That looks amazing!
Have fun with it, and I look forward to a video where we can hear the engine :)

Car is looking great - soooo looking forward to riding in it! Steering stops are done and should arrive midweek to you. :-)

The steering stops...

So one of the issues encountered was that at full lock the wheels would rub on the front A arms. Even before the car reached NJ the arms are looking pretty scratched up and the powder coat has chipped off :( In addition one of the NJ inspection items is that the wheels shouldnt hit anything as they go through the full range of movement.

I took the idea from another owner to create steering stops which would attach to the front hubs and reduce travel enough that the wheel won't contact the arm.

I started with some cardboard cutouts to get the rough shape, progressed to a CAD drawing (eMachineshop is great) before a final mock up on the car.
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...pse2292eaf.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps5c2da9ea.jpg

Next it was over to a friend Mike @ RC-Monster.com for some machineing - 1/4" 6061 should do the job. I asked Mike to leave the hole at 3mm so that they would act as pilot holes when I came to drill and tap the hubs. Mike was able to turn them around in a couple of days :)!
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps69569a0f.jpg

All that was left was to brave the -6C 20F weather today to drill and tap the hubs and mount them up. I used 1/4" - 20 bolts to hold them in place and some 1" X 1 1/2' rubber bumpers top and bottom to act as the stops.

This will enable the bumper to work over 2.5" of travel which should be more than enough.

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...psf32de362.jpg
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps56031337.jpg
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps3313c370.jpg
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...pse8066246.jpg

Thanks again Mike!

And while I was surfing the web I was able to find this helmet (DOT and SNELL Approved) on sale for 80% - Couldn't resist so now I'm all set for when the shifter arrives back next week!

Joe Rocket 101
http://www.joerocket.com/catalog/ind...1_Solid_Helmet
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps17b59bc7.jpg
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps7715077e.jpg