03 Aug In ‘N’ Out
Today, we’re featuring a bit of the good ol’ “in ‘n’ out,” if you get our drift.
Okay, that’s not technically true, but we are featuring one job where something’s going in, and another job where something’s coming out. Let’s take a look at the latter first, shall we?
Up first is the LS-swapped WRX. Seeing as how we need to implement a fuel cell in the rear of the car for the fueling to work properly with all the new underbody parts, we’ll need to find room for that fuel cell. It needs to be braced in a very specific way, especially if the owner plans on taking it to the track ever. For that reason, instead of being made to fit inside the trunk, it’s going to have the trunk built around it. The first step in all this is cutting out the floor, which we have already done. Now, it’s up to us to smooth out the edges, take the frame of the fuel cell holder and weld it to the WRX’s frame, and start building the new trunk floor around that. Until then, though, we’ve got one very nose-heavy car.
Also, the wheels came off the car recently, so we fulfilled our end of the bargain and took some more shots of the Wilwood 4-pot front calipers and the big disc brakes underneath them. This car will be a bit nose-heavy, so hopefully the braking balance of the Wilwoods up front and the STi brakes out back will keep this car planted evenly during braking.
With the out finished, now it’s time for the in. Recently, a Mercedes C240 came through the service department with some serious motor issues. The filter looked like it hadn’t been changed in several years, and had thrown chunks of metal throughout the oil system. To boot, the front main seal was crooked and almost falling out, contributing to a lot of oil spills on our shop floor (and plenty of brake cleaner to clean it all up afterward). Since a new motor was necessary, we sourced one and got to work swapping them out. This first shot is of the old motor in the car, followed by the new freshness hanging out in the wings, waiting for its time to shine.
With a little bit of effort, we got the cherry picker over to the old motor, hoisted it off the subframe, and set it aside for later disposal and parts removal. We then set about transferring everything over to the new motor, which was then cherry-picked onto the subframe and the transmission was reattached shortly thereafter.
Some more time went by, and blammo, the new motor is resting comfortably in the engine bay. Now comes the time to reattach everything, from the harness connections to the radiator hoses, after which we’ll be test-driving the car extensively to make sure both the motor and the car are working better than ever.
There’s plenty more work in store for the blog, thanks to the seasonal spike in service and the various builds in fabrication. Have an excellent weekend, and if you’re in Chicago, good luck navigating the festival traffic.
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