With the VW bug’s main front suspension members in place, it is now time to refocus on the rear. I have to develop a means to bolt down and remove the MR2 rear struts. I drilled out a large hex head socket to be able to insert a screw driver to keep the strut from turning while tightening the nut. Once I finish mounting the rear strut cross-link to the frame I can get a rolling chassis.
The VW bug’s front suspension members have now been tack welded into place and everything is aligned perfectly. I will need to finish welding everything before I can put the springs back on. Once the rear suspension has been located I can work towards a rolling chassis.
After determining how I was going to suppot the VW bug’s front suspension framing, I constructed a foam mock-up of my 1×1 inch steel tubing. I then traced my markings onto the steel tubing and cut them out. I again cut them a bit long and slowly ground them down to fit. They fit nicely and I will soon tack them in place. I first need to weld all the joints that will be behind these new members.
With the VW bug’s front strut link and lower support tack welded in place, I must further support the assembly with additional bracing for triangulation. I believe I will use some 1×1 inch steel tubing and connect the front nose of the frame with the top outside portions of the strut link member.
Both of the lower VW bug strut link support members are in place and ready for welding. I spend a lot of time lining everything up to get all the members in the perfect positions. All I have to do now is weld it.
The front VW bug lower strut support members have now been cut to size from my foam templates. The main frame rails rake down a bit from the rear to the front so the strut supports need to be ground down on the back side to be perfectly vertical. Once they are the right size I will weld them in.
I cut the outside pieces off of my foam template to see how they fit under the VW bug strut link. I put both pieces on one side and it appears that they fit very well. Once the tubing is cut, I will have to grind the back side down a bit to get a snug fit.
With my new foam board template created, It appears that everything will line up correctly. I drew a center line down the center of the foam board and used half of each measurement to get everything exactly symmetrical. I can use the outside pieces of the template to cut out the steel tubing.
I cut the top out of the VW bug front link channel member to fit over the strut link itself. After cleaning it up a bit I clamped it to the strut link. I can now through drill it so I can bolt the two together with some grade 8 hardware. Once this is done I can refit it to the MR2 struts.
The VW bug front strut link channel is a little closer to being complete. After cutting it to lenght I carefully measured where my bolt holes should be and drilled pilot holes. I will now cut out the top of the channel and test fit it to the strut link.