Building custom cars in my backyard

I now have my spherical MR2 strut mounts in. I am starting to build the top structure to hold these bearings in place. I cut out 2 pieces of 3/16" steel plate from the foam template I made. I now have to grind them down and make them look good and then through bolt them [...]

Now with the MR2 steering knuckle modifications complete, I can reinstall them. I have removed the wood boxes from around the tires so I can test the movement of the steering. With this initial fitting I have discovered that spherical bearing strut mounts will be required. I explain that pieces of wood are supporting the [...]

I am now ready to finish the front MR2 steering knuckle modifications. I know I say I am adding a 1/8" piece of steel tubing but it is actually 1/4" thick. These half pieces of tubing will be used to prevent the reworked mounts from crushing due to the strut bolt. After everything is welded [...]

The newly modified MR2 front steering knuckles are now ready for trial strut fitment. I have ground down the welds so the struts can be mounted as well as have some adjustability. I still need to add some steel to the center of each strut mount to avoid crushing the assembly with the strut bolt.

Now that I have the steering knuckle tabs built, I need to weld them in place. I calmped the tabs to the MR2 front knuckles and wrapped everything up in my welding blanket. I then welded everything together. I will have to gring down the welds where they line up with the strut mounts.

With the 1st Toyota MR2 3SGTE engine cage member in place, I need to position the 2nd. These two members are the same size and need to be exactly parallel to each other as well as square to the VW bug frame plates. After determining the location of the 2nd member, I cut a couple [...]

I am using the same 1.5x1.5 inch square tubing for the VW bug's rear engine cage. This process took awhile to get the first member cut to fit and aligned. I used one of my long bar clamps to bind the rear engine plate frames together to hold the piece in place for welding.

With the basics of the VW bug front fire-wall complete, I can now focus on the rear engine cage bracing. The rear engine cage will be similar to the front fire-wall but it will be built to fit it's location. This cage needs to be really strong to contain the MR2 3SGTE stroker motor.

Using the foam template I created the steel pieces to fit between the upper and lower fire-wall members. I then clamped them in place and welded them on. I completed the welding on the front side of each joint because I will be fitting a fire-wall plate on top of these joints.

To add frame support and triangulation, I will incorporate two angle pieces into the VW bug's fire-wall. I have set the fuel cell in place to try and determine where these supports should be located.