Exposure

22 Jan Exposure

Today’s theme is rather fitting, since even thirty minutes outside in Chicago will lead to some pretty gnarly frostbite.

The majority of today’s blog post will consist of exposing new parts of Alex’s LS1-swapped Subaru WRX. For starters, as you’ve seen in recent posts, the exhaust is more or less done minus the exhaust tips, which the owner is currently deciding on. While that happens, we had one more hanger to weld onto the complete exhaust system — right at the resonators, where it will connect to the OEM hanger. We also had to weld in the O2 sensor bungs, so we dropped the whole exhaust and placed it on the welding table, which due to the exhaust’s size is actually a couple different tables with a sizable gap inbetween.

With the bungs and the final hanger in place, we mounted everything back up. At the same time, we decided to expose the full custom rear subframe assembly. You may have noticed a boatload of yellow tape covering the subframe in the past; this was to prevent it from scuffing or being marked up during installation and all that subsequent work to the rear end of the vehicle. Well, with all the fabrication knocked out of the way in that area, we decided to strip off the tape and see how the final product will look from underneath. Despite the neon hue, we actually really like it; it pulls your attention to the parts of the build that were built specifically for this car, and gives you an idea of its intricacy.

All that’s left for the exhaust system are those tips. The second Alex decides, you know we’ll have it right back here on the blog.

Now we’ll quickly turn our attention to the front side of the WRX. As with many of our other builds, we’ve got a custom catch can in the works. After finding two unused bolt holes in the engine bay close to the PCV system (and when you do a motor swap like this, there are bound to be many unused bolt holes), we fashioned up a mount and have put together the rough shape of the can thus far. We’ll be back to this soon, but we figured it’d be good to get another part of the WRX on the blog for now.

Finally, we leave you with a kind of exposure that you don’t want. You may or may not know this, but your tire’s rubber is filled with all manner of non-rubber materials, namely steel bands that run the length of the tread. They’re so far into the rubber that your tires should be replaced well before you see them; in a good scenario, you’ll never see them. However, improper alignments (and a number of other factors) can contribute to odd tire wear, as shown below on a customer’s car. Exposing the steel bands to the outside environment means your tires are incredibly close to giving up the ghost and completely failing, so it’s best to avoid that. If you do happen to see cording, call your preferred tire shop ASAP and get those suckers replaced. Your humble narrator can attest to the fact that having a tire blowout on the highway is not fun, nor is swapping on the spare just five feet from 60+mph traffic.

Have a great day, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow!