A subframe I had delivered by Robin of Barnett Performance and Development. Apparently his clips come with more goodies than mine did, and he had this left over. I mainly needed it because I finally came to the decision to ditch the HICAS subframe in place of a non-HICAS one. I am also using this as an opportunity to install some SPL pro aluminum subframe bushings. These completely replace the stock rubber pieces, and thus the rubber needs to be removed.
This is a 2" extension I bought from Advance Auto Parts a while back. Appearantly it isn't too "impact-friendly!" :smirk:
RUCA's, toe arms, and "traction rods" off the RPS13 subframe I bought.
The same parts after beadblasting.
Here I am using a SawzAll to remove the metal sleeves that are part of the subframe bushings. The idea here is that it would make burning them out easier if the metal was gone and some of the rubber removed with it.
This is the metal sleeve after it was removed.
Here I am using an Oxy-Acetylene torch to burn the rubber out. Sssshhhh...don't tell the California Air Resources Board!
"Fiiiirrrrre! Fiiirrre! Fire! Hey Butthead: burning stuff is cool. Eh heh heh heh...cool."
After burning the majority of the bushing out, all that's left is some (relatively) brittle rubber. This is easily removed with a Brillo pad. Make sure to wear gloves, as this is some messy chit.
Cleaning with an air-powered buffing wheel. This made short work of getting the remainder of the rubber out and smoothing out the inner diameter.
This is where the old rubber subframe bushing used to be. The SPL aluminum bushings are eager to move into their new home. But the burning screwed up the finish on the subframe, and it will soon be treated to a primer and paint jorb. Since I have no $$ left over from buying all the bling-bling parts, I will probably go with a rattlecan jorb...
