First, just want to say thanks to Paul Volk on here for the crossmember.
Just a backround on why I opted to get this piece. I do not do any sort of autocrossing or any racing that involves turning extremely hard. Pretty much all my racing is in a straight line. The stock crossmembers were bulky, and my exhaust always vibrated on them which was starting to get on my nerves. And also it is starting to get kind of tight down there, so this would open things up a bit and make doing some work under there a little easier.
So, I decided to pick up this piece that Paul had for sale. Here's a crappy picture of it when I received it in the mail.
I decided that I wanted to give it a coat of something just to protect the metal against the elements. I grabbed some spare rattle can primer and black spray paint from my cabinet and gave it a quick couple coats of paint. Nothing professional here as it's underneath the car and fairly unseen anyway. So spray paint it was!
She's now ready to go on!
The install is pretty simple and straight forward, but I took some pics of the install anyway.
There are 3 beams that have to come off. First remove the 2 front to back ones. You'll need a 17mm and a 14mm wrench for the bolts:
Next you want to support the engine somehow so that it doesn't drop when you remove the 3rd beam which is attached to the front motor mount. Here's my professional grade motor holder upper :
Next, remove the 2 17mm bolts that hold that crossmember to the chassis. Keep in mind when you do this, the motor may drop slightly, which is why we put some sort of support under it in the step above:
Next you will remove the 14mm nut & bolt from the front motor mount:
You've now removed the 3 stock beams. Here you can see, out with the old (on the right) and in with the (new on the left)!!! Should save a little bit of weight!
Install of the new beam is pretty much the opposite as the removal of that last crossmember you just took off. I simply held it up, used a mallet to knock the new solid front motor mount up into the bracket, and then stick the bolt through the front motor mount just to hold the new crossmember in place:
Next, install the two 17mm nuts on the ends. Then install the nut on the front motor mount bolt and tighten everything up, torqued to spec (with an impact gun if you're like me )
And you're done. Here's some pics of the clearance I have under there now. Downpipe is nowhere near the crossmember, and everything is just much more open now, which should make working on things a whole lot easier. Pretty much exactly what I was hoping for.
(pay no attention to the O2 sensor, I run constant open loop and it's just plugging the hole)
Just a backround on why I opted to get this piece. I do not do any sort of autocrossing or any racing that involves turning extremely hard. Pretty much all my racing is in a straight line. The stock crossmembers were bulky, and my exhaust always vibrated on them which was starting to get on my nerves. And also it is starting to get kind of tight down there, so this would open things up a bit and make doing some work under there a little easier.
So, I decided to pick up this piece that Paul had for sale. Here's a crappy picture of it when I received it in the mail.
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I decided that I wanted to give it a coat of something just to protect the metal against the elements. I grabbed some spare rattle can primer and black spray paint from my cabinet and gave it a quick couple coats of paint. Nothing professional here as it's underneath the car and fairly unseen anyway. So spray paint it was!
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
She's now ready to go on!
The install is pretty simple and straight forward, but I took some pics of the install anyway.
There are 3 beams that have to come off. First remove the 2 front to back ones. You'll need a 17mm and a 14mm wrench for the bolts:
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Next you want to support the engine somehow so that it doesn't drop when you remove the 3rd beam which is attached to the front motor mount. Here's my professional grade motor holder upper :
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Next, remove the 2 17mm bolts that hold that crossmember to the chassis. Keep in mind when you do this, the motor may drop slightly, which is why we put some sort of support under it in the step above:
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Next you will remove the 14mm nut & bolt from the front motor mount:
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You've now removed the 3 stock beams. Here you can see, out with the old (on the right) and in with the (new on the left)!!! Should save a little bit of weight!
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Install of the new beam is pretty much the opposite as the removal of that last crossmember you just took off. I simply held it up, used a mallet to knock the new solid front motor mount up into the bracket, and then stick the bolt through the front motor mount just to hold the new crossmember in place:
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Next, install the two 17mm nuts on the ends. Then install the nut on the front motor mount bolt and tighten everything up, torqued to spec (with an impact gun if you're like me )
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
And you're done. Here's some pics of the clearance I have under there now. Downpipe is nowhere near the crossmember, and everything is just much more open now, which should make working on things a whole lot easier. Pretty much exactly what I was hoping for.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
(pay no attention to the O2 sensor, I run constant open loop and it's just plugging the hole)
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.