{"id":1020,"date":"2012-06-30T04:08:07","date_gmt":"2012-06-30T04:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.specr53.com\/blog\/?p=1020"},"modified":"2012-06-30T04:08:07","modified_gmt":"2012-06-30T04:08:07","slug":"things-that-go-wump-in-the-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gcomotorsports.com\/specr53\/garage\/things-that-go-wump-in-the-night\/","title":{"rendered":"Things that go Wump in the Night"},"content":{"rendered":"

Driving home yesterday when it was 110 degrees<\/a>, the guy ahead of me swerved at the last second and served up a chunk of cast iron pipe for me to drive into. It was a broken piece with an end-cap, perhaps eight size inches in diameter and six inches tall. My car is only 4.5 inches off the ground. Concrete center divider to my left, traffic to the right, I could only choose where to hit it, not if: Straddle it and risk puncturing the oil-pan; hit it with the wheel, cut a tire and bend a rim. I went for the most clearance — between the wheel and the center-line of the car.
\n\"bottom
\nMost of the impact was taken by the lower stress brace<\/a>. The darn pipe turned up as it wedged under the car, pitched me about 20 degrees to the left (fortunately I was approaching an intersection by then with an empty turn lane on my left) lifting the right-side of the car off the ground with a big “Whump”. D’oh. Not good. I pulled over expecting to see oil or brake fluid gushing from below. Everything looked good and the car still tracked straight so I headed home.
\n\"sacrifice\"
\nGetting under it today I could survey the damage. The brace sacrificed itself and took most of the impact, but the sub-frame was dented as well. I know the sub-frame on these cars is pretty stout.
\n\"bent\"
\nSo here’s the question: Do I worry about the sub-frame damage if the car is otherwise still in alignment? Replace or just weld a reenforcing panel if otherwise straight? It looks like the sub-frame (Part #31106763721, “Front Axel Support”) runs about $600 (and involves dis-assembly of the entire front end of the car). If I go down that route, anything I should upgrade at the time? I need a new clutch anyway and was already thinking about replacing the control arm bushings with powerflex bushings. Is it easier to replace the front swaybar if everything is out? In for a penny, in for a pound… Any other bushings which I should look at? Or can I just pull the crease and weld on a patch panel to add some strength and not worry too much about it?
\n\"comparison\"
\nUpdate 7\/22\/12: I finally got the replacement lower stress bar from Madness Motorworks (formerly MINI-Madness). The good news is that the mounting holes still line up. That means that the bar deformed under the impact but didn’t deform the sub-frame along the way.
\n\"clean\"
\nNow that I’ve changed the suspension (again) to Bilstein Struts, the ride-height is slightly higher. Hopefully the extra 10 mm in higher ride-height will keep me off of speed-bumps and road debris, but the bar is still the low point in ground clearance. At least for now it’s easy to spot….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Driving home yesterday when it was 110 degrees, the guy ahead of me swerved at the last second and served up a chunk of cast iron pipe for me to drive into. It was a broken piece with an end-cap, perhaps eight size inches in diameter and six inches tall. My car is only 4.5 … <\/p>\n

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