I'm planning on swapping my 04 cavalier's rearend for a 05 cobalts. I was wondering if this has been done before, and how much work would be involved. I'm not sure if this has been posted before i did a quick search and found nothing. some input would be great.
Just convert the tail lights and try to match the trunk lines on top if that is what you are shooting for.
If you really have to ask how much work it is, then you shouldn't be doing it yourself.
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they cobalt has sepertate springs , from the shocks
way to much to be worth , your better off doing the GA/GT rear swap
Are you talking about whole rear end swap (brakes, suspension, ect...), or just the quarters, deck and bumper?
It would be a decent amount of work to keep the lines smooth on the body, I would just cut out your Cavi tail mounts and weld in the Cobalt ones, good amouont of fabbing to do this...
And the Cobalt being so new it won't be cheap to do.
Finished product would look sweet, I was thinking of finding a way to put Cobalt tails on my 03 cavi also.
while on the subject i was thinking about doing a cobalt frontend on my 04 cav i have two fenders but haven't tried to line them up there are some differences in the designs of the fenders....the two cars front end widths seem to be the same.....
advice please
Considering its a differemt platform, Good luck.
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El Fuego ( the unstable ) wrote:Considering its a differemt platform, Good luck.
what he said ^^^
it would be a project and a half just got swap a sunfire rear on the cavy rear and they're on the same platform. putting a totally different body on the back of a different platform is far too much money for the end result. for the amount you'll spend on the project, you might as well sell the cavy and go buy a brand new cobalt. it would probably be easier to put a cavy front end on a cobalt than a cobalt rear on a cavy. i knew a guy who wanted to put a corvette rear on his grand prix. i told him he was nuts. this isnt any different.
Wow, this sounds like it would be an ugly conversion (in terms of financial cost and looks), no disrespect. I would just try to find a way to fabricate the cobalt tail lamps in to the Cavalier rear body. However, if you do go through with this, all I can say is good luck to you. Post pictures if you accomplish this feat.
Just like the 2nd gen Cav parts are not interchangeable with 3rd gens, the same is said with 3rd gen to the Cobalts.
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The Cobalt is on the Delta platform, and obviously we're all J's. I don't see the swap happening buddy.
yeah after a little thinking i did make that observation......just a slight moment of stupidity.....my apologies for the asnine ??????plus the body lines wouldnt even match up..like i said strike that and make it disappear quickly
El Fuego ( the unstable ) wrote:Considering its a differemt platform, Good luck.
I like how in the only one to Mention that.
^^^ I was just going to try and find those pics... I took those at a show earlier this year in MN. I don't know the guy personally, but a buddy of mine does. The swap was pretty dang nice
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like i mentioned previously i made a mistake.....and if you take the cavs fenders and set them side by side with the cobalts the mount points are almost dead on.....not to mention the two cars dimensions are pretty damn close if i got the parts free why not try.....but i do realize just to make the body lines look good together would take some work....
and yes cobalt fenders are shorter then the cavs...but the cobalts bumper also goes in deeper than the cavaliers....even the guys in our collision center seem to think with a little fabbing it might work....
well god luck to you on your adventure.
everyone keeps mentioning the rear end......i am talking about doing the front end which seems like it would work....and if you can put a 350 in a chevette you can put a cobalt front end on a cav....
juggalo4life wrote:everyone keeps mentioning the rear end......i am talking about doing the front end which seems like it would work....and if you can put a 350 in a chevette you can put a cobalt front end on a cav....
You can fit a 602 merlin in a chevette, still doesnt mean its good.
I dont think the cobalt is that much different than the cav. The rear suspension is exactly the same. I saw it in the cobalt ss that they built on Tuner Transformations. As for the rest of the body it resembles the cobalt alot. Im thinking its still on the same platform and the differences are about as much as between the sunfire and the cavalier. I think the front end conversion is possible but it definetly wont be cheap
Adam (StealthCavalier) wrote:El Fuego ( the unstable ) wrote:Considering its a differemt platform, Good luck.
what he said ^^^
it would be a project and a half just got swap a sunfire rear on the cavy rear and they're on the same platform. putting a totally different body on the back of a different platform is far too much money for the end result. for the amount you'll spend on the project, you might as well sell the cavy and go buy a brand new cobalt. it would probably be easier to put a cavy front end on a cobalt than a cobalt rear on a cavy. i knew a guy who wanted to put a corvette rear on his grand prix. i told him he was nuts. this isnt any different.
blah blah blah... no wonder your car is so generic looking.
ideas and innovation are key to modification. any fool can slap on a body kit, rims and suspension. but to do something that completely defies convention and reason, to do something truely unique, you have to stop saying "well if i wanted this feature of a car i shoulda bought that car". how many people have done tail light conversions, head light conversions, etc? quite a few. oh, maybe they shoulda bought that car that already had those tails/headlights. or maybe they shoulda bought a lamborghini if they wanted their doors to open up.
now, granted a full rear swap would be an incredible task, but a tail light conversion (as pictured above) is fully reasonable. a complete front end swap is also a little out there, but not beyond possibility.
i say, if you think you can do it, go for it.
don't let people like Adam tell you that it's a bad idea cause they think it's a bad idea, and not worth the money. none of the mods any of us do to our cars are "worth it" as an investment, but is it worth it to you? that's all you godda ask yourself. don't let people like Adam tell you it's not worth it simply cause it wouldn't be worth it to them.
damn i appreciate your comment cannon fodder
^^ heres an idea, not sure if it will work though. how about u cut the cobalts fenders and simply weld em on to the cavs fenders. of course, u haave to cut the cavs fenders too. then u could try to do the same with the hood. cut up ur stock hood and weld the cobalt hood on, or simply weld the lower portion of the cobalts hood on ur stock hood so the headlights will match. then if u can p\do that, the bumper should just bolt up, headlights should too, except for where the screws that hold the lights inplace go, but if ur this faralready, im sure u can figure out a way to hold the headlight in place, drilling holes comes to mind, or even fiberglassing. of course, when u open ur hood it might not look very nice (weld spots, whatever it is thats holding ur lights in place, etc.) but the exterior should look fine, i think.
