Project SC300 Road Racer: Part 30 – Sometimes You Finish Where You Should’ve Started
brake caliper hanging from car with a really thick zip tie, naked hub slightly out of focus also visible
The smarter option is to remove the brake caliper from the hub and leave it attached to the car when the subframe is removed.

This means that, after everything is reinstalled, you don’t have a messy brake bleeding job to do.

This is the wisdom that experience brings. Thanks, Bart!

 

man using small impact wrench to unbolt driveshaft from differential
With the brakes off, the next step is to disconnect the driveshaft from the differential.

 

close up of abs sensor hanging from wire in front of control arms
Don’t forget to disconnect the ABS sensors from the hubs. They are also connected to the chassis and will not go with the subframe.

It is easier to remove the sensor from the hub because the other end is actually inside the trunk, and there’s a bunch of other work involved to remove the sensor from the car.

 

transmission jack raised against differential and subframe with green ratchet strap going around everything
Here’s the primary reason why I took the car to a shop — a transmission jack.

Don’t be fooled, as a transmission jack is useful for more than just jacking a transmission. In this case, we will use the transmission jack to lower the entire subframe out of the car quickly and carefully as a unit.

Bart is extra careful (paranoid?), and he used a ratchet strap around the subframe to help secure it to the transmission jack. It’s just a little extra step that can help avert disaster if something goes wrong.

 

screw jack extended to support front subframe of vehicle while it is on lift
Another precaution is to place a screw jack under the front subframe.

The rear subframe weighs a few hundred pounds with all the arms and differential and components attached. The car was balanced on the lift when it went up. When you suddenly remove a few hundred pounds from the rear end of the car, the weight balance shifts towards the front, and the car could fall off the lift. The screw jack takes any weight transfer and prevents that from happening. Yet another bit of wisdom from Bart.

2 comments

  1. At this point, I’m more interested in hearing about you getting your money’s worth out of this thing than more upgrades. That’s not to say the work recently posted isn’t first class, but if it can’t run the times it’s for naught. I’m genuinely curious how fast this thing is as is.

    1. You and me both — curious how it’ll do. I got some lap times at Grid Life Road Atlanta last season and they were alright. Off the pace for NASA ST2 times but respectable considering I still didn’t even have a baseline for the car. Heck, I’m still figuring out starting tire pressure.

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