Spare Tire Well Delete? EX-L

[Tehvue]

I want to put a center exhaust on my '17 EX-L, I already have a diffuser that will allow for this. My main issue is the spare tire well being in the way. Is it unreasonable to have a shop cut out my spare tire well, and patch the hole to make this center exhaust fit? I keep an old stock wheel of mine in the trunk as a spare anyways, so I really have no use for this taking up space under my car.

(I dont care about resale value. This car was free. I just need to know if a shop would even be willing to do something like this I guess)


Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

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[dt10g]

I like the cut of your jib sir...

Don't see why someone who works in metal fab/welding would not be willing to do it
as long as you weld in a suitable replacement and give it some appropriate paint, protection, underbody spray etc. In mean if you keep the car long enough, there's a good chance that area might rust out anyway, so what are they going to do then... same thing.

The trunk part hangs out behind the wheels so I don't really think it is structural, and you are adding structure back in anyway... plus if you are concerned about "losing rigidity" or something, you could always chuck in some other products to support that (rear torsion bar, rear sway bar, rear trunk strut bar) etc.

Keep us posted!

PS. Also consider the age of your tires, if your spare is the original... it's getting old now.

 

[Phy]

It's possible to bend pipe and go around, and the pro drager just runs under it.

 

[Tonbo]

I like the cut of your jib sir...

Don't see why someone who works in metal fab/welding would not be willing to do it
as long as you weld in a suitable replacement and give it some appropriate paint, protection, underbody spray etc. In mean if you keep the car long enough, there's a good chance that area might rust out anyway, so what are they going to do then... same thing.

The trunk part hangs out behind the wheels so I don't really think it is structural, and you are adding structure back in anyway... plus if you are concerned about "losing rigidity" or something, you could always chuck in some other products to support that (rear torsion bar, rear sway bar, rear trunk strut bar) etc.

Keep us posted!

PS. Also consider the age of your tires, if your spare is the original... it's getting old now.

It is indeed very structural. It helps with sturdiness, especially when getting in a accident. Also helps with handling and drivability. Doing this can impact the safety of the car in the event of a rear end collision. But then again that ain't ever stopped us before

I want to put a center exhaust on my '17 EX-L, I already have a diffuser that will allow for this. My main issue is the spare tire well being in the way. Is it unreasonable to have a shop cut out my spare tire well, and patch the hole to make this center exhaust fit? I keep an old stock wheel of mine in the trunk as a spare anyways, so I really have no use for this taking up space under my car.

(I dont care about resale value. This car was free. I just need to know if a shop would even be willing to do something like this I guess)


Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Yes a quality custom body shop can do this

If you do this make sure you get a reputable shop that's capable of fabricating a custom plate and using panel bond adhesive with a spot welder, if you use a wire feed then spot weld only, do not weld a bead all the way around... if it's done right you'll increase your rigidity.

You'll be looking at a minimum of $1000 if you cheap out. I'd say the modification if you don't have the tools or capability to do it yourself, will range from 4-8k

 

[arpypat]

You might be better off having a muffler shop build a custom axle-back with a bend around the wheel well.

You could buy a catback for an Si, but not sure how different the wheel wells are in those models vs the non-Si model. I know Si's don't come with spares in the US, but I think Canadian models do.

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