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.
Full strut compression and some front end work.
With the steel plates drilled and cut to fit on the MR2 front steering knuckles, I need to trim them up and make them fit and look better. I bolted all 4 of them together and grinded them smooth and clean.
I can now stat the modifications on the MR2 front steering knuckles. The VW bug fenders are directly above the front tires and the struts need to be tilted in just a bit to get the strut mounts to fit under the VW bug hood. I have trimmed down the knuckle mounts to be able to use two 1/4″ steel plates on either side and a hardened slug in place of the original mounting bolt. I will weld this all together.
Now that I have the VW bug front strut link figured out, I will need to modify the MR2 front steering knuckles to accommodate for the greater strut angles. I have marked the steering knuckle as it sits right now. I will now remove them and start my modifications.
The foam board template is in place under the VW bug front strut link, I need to make sure that all the MR2 hardware will clear and I don’t have any major surprises later. The location I have here seems good so I will create another foam board template to get the exact size and shape of the lower frame support.
After cutting and tack welding my VW bug front strut link, I determied where the MR2 strut bolt holes will be and drilled them out. I went ahead and tacked the strut compression tops to the crosslink to try and figure out the exact location of the link. I will be using the foam board template to get the shape and size of the frame connector tubing.
After determining the VW bug’s front strut mount angles, I need to transfer the markings to my 1.5×1.5″ steel tubing and cut them out. Again I am using a cut-off wheel in my angle grinder. After cutting out the angles I will need to bend the tabs over and weld them on.
I now have the MR2 front struts under compression as well as the rear. I cut and fit another piece of the uni-strut to span the distance between the front strut tops and then used all thread rods to compress the assembly. The VW bug’s entire frame is now up off the platform and is being supported only by the struts.