Building custom cars in my backyard

I will use whats left of the VW bug's rear support box to create a engine and tranny stand so I can remove the frame. I need to flip the frame over to be able to finish all the welding so I will have to remove everything.

The VW bug's MR2 steering rack is now tacked in place. The unit works great and the u-joint on the steering shaft clears the frame fine. I rolls and it steers, what more can you want?

I cut a steel plate the same size as my foam template and then determined where the MR2 steering rack should be located. I then cut a hole in the steel plate for the MR2 power steering pump. I went ahead and mounted the pump to the plate. I will now align everything and create [...]

I can now cut out the front VW bug strut link with my cut-off wheel. The video stops for some reason during the first cut, but I finally get it all cut out. I have to expand the tubing a bit on the ends so that the MR2 spherical strut mounts will fit. But a [...]

With my MR2 front strut link template created, I can trace the profile to the steel tubing. The template is made from 1/4" foam board and the link itself is 1.5"x1.5" steel tubing. I will now cut the steel tubing a bit longer and slowly grind it down to fit.

Now that I have everything lined up and all my measurements, I need to construct the VW bug's top strut link from 1.5"x1.5" steel tubing. I slowly cut a 1x2 board down to the correct length and clamped it to the MR2 strut mounts off setting it a bit so I can place the foam [...]

Now that I have both of the front MR2 strut mounts finished, I put a small bend in the tabs to align them straight across. I then cut a board to fit across both mounts and clamped them to the tabs. With the foam template in place under the board it appears that everything [...]

I have finished building the front MR2 strut mounting brackets. I had to cut the mounting bolts down a bit for better clearance but I can now test fit them under the VW bug fenders before I build the strut link member.

I now have the grade 8 bolts welded through the MR2 spherical strut top mounts. I had to clean them up by grinding down the bolt heads a little so the bearing would slip neatly through. I will be cutting the bolts down once the entire assemblies are bolted together.

After some time with the bench grinder, I finished cleaning up the front VW bug/MR2 strut mount tops. I now have to fit them to the spherical bearing mounts. I plan on welding some grade 8 bolts through the holes and then put nuts on the other side. I have to design these so I [...]