Shaving down the k-member

Today Mike and I decided to remove the engine cross member (k-member) and advance it to meet the car’s needs. Since we are using an electric motor and have to fabricate our own motor mount anyway, we decided to remove the old internal combustion engine motor mounts to lighten up the car and improve the engine compartment’s looks. After dropping the k-member from beneath the car, we used a grinder with a cutting wheel to remove the old engine mounts followed by a grinder with a grinding wheel to round off the sharp corners and edges. This made the k-member more appealing to the eye and also shed about nine pounds of dead-weight. Our next objective was to remove all of the road scum and dead paint so that we could give the k-member a fresh coat of black. Mike brought in a pressure washer which made the grime removal easier.

The factory motor mounts came where they are adjustable, but instead of just unbolting the motor mounts alone and taking them off, Mike and I decided just to eliminate the whole mounting bracket. This required cutting the weld with a cutting wheel.

Cutting off the right side.

One down, one to go.

Clean cut

Now the left side.

Notice all of the road grime that was caught in the pocket behind the mount.

Before smoothing the edges.

Getting a clean edge.

Just a pic of midway completion of grinding.

This is a picture of another grime catching spot before we cleaned it up.

Probably 10 lbs. of oily dirt that was scraped away from the k-member surface.

Pretty gross isn't it?

Completed Grinding.

Finished right side.

Finished left side.

Front pic.

Hanging around!

Getting ready to shoot on a coat of primer.

Not finished, but still looking better.

Finished coat of primer.

After the first coat of gloss black.

After the second coat.

Re-installing the freshly painted, lightened k-member.

Re-checking the bolts.