V1 Advice on purchasing V1 Kit

[woodlandfarms]

So lots to unpack. I intended to build this car 5 years ago, purchased a 2005 Cobalt manual non turbo that was totaled in the rear end. Hauled it back, and life has been in the way until now. DF has informed me order now or don't get one. OK fair enough. I live in Washington State. I believe there are not any issues with licensing and registering, although navigating insurance will be interesting. My plans are to enjoy the build process. The car will be for canyon carving and maybe track days at PIR. The last "what do I order" post was more than 3 years ago, so I would love any insight as you all have had these for a while. Some notes, in no particular order. I have a 3D printer, was going to play with it, have yet to fully dive into the 3d printer files section here. I have looked at the electrical offerings but I am not in love with the offerings from DF... Maybe the rear view mirrors are worth it? Not sure if the panel gauge makes sense either. I think I can come up with better, am I wrong? I am thinking of chucking the engine cover. Do I need DF coil over kit? I want to make the roll cage removable. For general driving leave it off, for track days I beleive it is required. In all of this, I do have to consider the wife / wallet equation. I saw a few notes the shifter is a must have (?) So I am trying to be prudent as I know there won't be much ROI on this purchase. So if anyone has insight now that you have had your cars for a while, I would gladly take it on my kit order.

 

[jirwin]

• Get a full cage if you plan to track it. Most tracks won't like a removable cage imo, but you could always ask them
• IMO and from what I've seen, the further you stray from the DF design, the longer it'll take and the less likely you'll even finish it. Go with "plug and play" and then change what you want later
• Definitely get shifter. I've had all 3. DFs is best
• Footwell cover is nice and I like mine, but not necessary if you want to save money... though I live in a colder climate than most (Michigan)
• Wing mounts you could do, but you don't need rear downforce in the Goblin probably, and the air really probably isn't clean enough for it to matter... Unless you're Justin Reed lol. I made my own later with SendCutSend too FWIW, but mine is 100% for looks
• If I did it over I'd go coilover from the start, though it's not strictly necessary unless you're tracking it
• 2005 Cobalt 2.2L manual is the second worst donor choice next to a 2005 2.2L auto. It's not tunable, so theres zero upgrade path. I know that sucks to hear, but just letting you know in case you don't already know
• If money is really an object, maybe buying someone else's completed build would be a cheaper/better option

Hope that helps.