Classin’ Up The Joint

08 Feb Classin’ Up The Joint

Today, we’ve got all sorts of happenings at FMU HQ that are adding a fair bit of class. Let’s take a look.

First up, we’re just about finished on the mysterious exhaust we’re making for a customer’s car in our fabrication shop. Seeing as how we had to remove the entire midsection for the purposes of welding, we figured it’d be nice to show you some shots that weren’t incredibly zoomed in and intentionally darkened up. This is what the midsection looks like, starting with a single 3.5″ pipe and splitting off/necking down to two 3″ pipes, with one final neck down to the rear section’s 2.5″ piping right at the end.

While it’s down for one final weld, we also decided to add a bit of bracing by the differential. Utilizing a relatively simple system that can be removed quickly, we dimple-died the brace for a little added class.

Here’s the final weld we had to finish off. As you can see from the piping, we need access to every angle of the pipe in order to TIG weld it to perfection, so it must be removed fully from the car so we’re able to rotate it as we need to. Otherwise, we’d never be able to fit the welding equipment between the exhaust pipe and the driveshaft heat shield.

Finally, we needed to connect the midsection to the exhaust mounts located right about in the middle of the vehicle. This was accomplished by bending some stainless steel and welding it from both sides. We don’t want excess movement of the exhaust under load, so using a little extra bracing is well worth the little bit of extra time it takes to add.

Over on the LS1-swapped blobeye WRX, we finished off the exhaust tips over the last couple days. Last time we looked at it, the nicely polished tips were tacked to the piping coming off the pass-through resonators. Once the positioning was finalized, we removed every part of the tip assembly and took it over to the welding table for some backpurged TIG action. From there, we checked fitment with the tips one last time before welding the tips themselves to the rest of the piping.

With two more quick welds, the exhaust for Alex’s WRX is 100% complete! And it looks just as classy as we expected it to. The polished tips are really the icing on the cake.

In another corner of the shop, the Raging Bull Marketing CLK63 AMG Black Series is hiding from the Chicago weather. It’s classy just sitting still, so we figured we’d include a random snap of it. It’s never a boring car to look at.

Finally, we’ll be leaving the FMU HQ a bit early today to add a bit of class to our outfits. You see, we’re participating in the Chicago Auto Show’s First Look for Charity, which is a black-tie event where nicely dressed folks can enjoy some quality food and take a look at what the CAS has to offer without the massive crowds that usually swamp McCormick Place for the week it’s open to the public. It also benefits a significant number of charities, so we’re very excited to participate in this event. If you’re at the show later today, find us and say hello!

Have an excellent weekend, and if you’re in the path of that massive snowstorm hitting the eastern seaboard this weekend, stay safe and warm! We’ll see you back here on Monday!