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Thread: Homemade rear strut tower brace

  1. #1
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    Homemade rear strut tower brace

    I made up a rear strut tower brace last week. I made the end plates by cutting with a die grinder, then shaping with my grinder.

    Here's the drawing in .jpg format. I cut the end plates out of 1/8" mild steel flat stock. I ended up cutting the end plates in half and only using the 2 inside holes, they're much easier to make that way. The tube is 1" OD x 1/8" wall mild steel tube. I bolted my end plates in and measured with a tape measure to give about 1 1/2" overlap between the tube and plates which ended up being about 34" (if I recall correctly, I didn't record the length of the tube). I then cut the tube to length, flattened the ends in a vice and marked the tube location on the end pieces. Then I took them out of the car and tacked it together, then back in for a test fit, then back out for the full weld and painting. Alternatively, you can drill the holes shown in the drawing and bolt it together. If anyone wants the CAD file just email.



    finished product:




    Last edited by jrcook320; 12-08-2009 at 05:45 PM.

    '81 320i turbo | t25, 931 CIS, 240hp, 13.92@100mph | 2.2L m10 Turbo Build | My E21 Videos |

  2. #2
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    Thumbs up

    I-N-T-E-R-E-S-T-E-D! looks great! victor_ryanheart@hotmail.com
    thanks! -Josh

  3. #3
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    very nice Jr. I too got something just like that. Good job!!

    E21 LEGION


    Crypto success: http://brief.watchersfrontline.com/SHV

  4. #4
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    Greetings jrcook320, send me please on Guass@mail.ru, the Drawing. Thanks.

  5. #5
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    man I love to see stuff like that its really inspiring, it always feels good when sombody asks you where you got somthing and you say "I made it" its like saying
    "yea I'm alot cooler than everybody else buying parts for their cars"

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by promp3 View Post
    man I love to see stuff like that its really inspiring, it always feels good when sombody asks you where you got somthing and you say "I made it" its like saying
    "yea I'm alot cooler than everybody else buying parts for their cars"
    yup, it's cool... but it's not a competition... well, at least not for me... i'm fine with the size of my... foot.

    ANYWAY, that's way cool Josh! Everything you come up with seems top notch.

  7. #7
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    That looks great. Notice any difference when you had installed it?

  8. #8
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    your rear strut bar

    Hi JR

    Can you email me the drawings and specs of the strut bar that you made for the back? my addy apricot@fongskingdom.com

    tks

  9. #9
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    Specs here please!

    mknoot @ comcast.net

  10. #10
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    I'd like to have them too. zaraak at mad dot scientist dot com

  11. #11
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    Edit:
    content moved to first post.

    Ok, here's the drawing in .jpg format. I cut the end plates out of 1/8" mild steel flat stock. I ended up cutting the end plates in half and only using the 2 inside holes, they're much easier to make that way. The tube is 1" OD x 1/8" wall mild steel tube. I bolted my end plates in and measured with a tape measure to give about 1 1/2" overlap between the tube and plates which ended up being about 34" (if I recall correctly, I didn't record the length of the tube). I then cut the tube to length, flattened the ends in a vice and marked the tube location on the end pieces. Then I took them out of the car and tacked it together, then back in for a test fit, then back out for the full weld and painting. Alternatively, you can drill the holes shown in the drawing and bolt it together. If anyone wants the CAD file just email.

    Last edited by jrcook320; 12-08-2009 at 05:45 PM.

    '81 320i turbo | t25, 931 CIS, 240hp, 13.92@100mph | 2.2L m10 Turbo Build | My E21 Videos |

  12. #12
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    ewwwww - are those dims in millimeters?


  13. #13
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    yeah, get your calculator out. I cheated when I made mine anyway. I printed it off to scale, cut one out and traced it on my plate.

    '81 320i turbo | t25, 931 CIS, 240hp, 13.92@100mph | 2.2L m10 Turbo Build | My E21 Videos |

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by jrcook320 View Post
    yeah, get your calculator out. I cheated when I made mine anyway. I printed it off to scale, cut one out and traced it on my plate.
    I print to scale and trace with the mill all the time at work. It's cheating but it works when people aren't concerned with thousandths of an inch. oh wait errr... millimeters sorry. I literally glue the paper to the piece I'm machining with rubber cement and trace it out with a 1/16 4 flute end mill. Works pretty well. 25.4 will be forever burned into my brain.


  15. #15
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    lol, I like the "typ. ø"















    nerd

  16. #16
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    haha, yeah, 9.00 is pretty fine tolerance for "typical". I could have said ø 9.00 (10 places). Whatever floats your boat.

















    and yes, I'm a nerd.

    '81 320i turbo | t25, 931 CIS, 240hp, 13.92@100mph | 2.2L m10 Turbo Build | My E21 Videos |

  17. #17
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    The sig figs anywhere on that drawing are a little... excessive.


  18. #18
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    sig figs? eh... I'll let you redraw it for me in inches with the proper tolerances. I just dimensioned it quickly enough for it to be reproducable.

    '81 320i turbo | t25, 931 CIS, 240hp, 13.92@100mph | 2.2L m10 Turbo Build | My E21 Videos |

  19. #19
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    significant figures. When tolerances aren't explicit (put down as notes or a part of the dimension) then the implied tolerance is plus or minus 1 sig fig. In your case it is .01mm plus or minus.

    My boss would just bleed all over my drawing and send back to me.

    We're just giving you a hard time. Like the grammar nazi's CJ and I are print nazi's I guess.


  20. #20
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    Everyone needs a print Nazi to keep them in line, thanks. yeah, those tolerances are excessively tight for what it is, it could be +- 1mm, not .01mm.

    I'll admit my sweet drafting skills are rusty, I was a production supervisor for the last year and a half and a front office lady for a over year before that, haven't done much CAD or engineering work since I started as an "engineer" at Federal Mogul.

    '81 320i turbo | t25, 931 CIS, 240hp, 13.92@100mph | 2.2L m10 Turbo Build | My E21 Videos |

  21. #21
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    I just applied for two jobs at Federal Mogul.


  22. #22
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    Are you serious? What facility? I'm not sure this company is big enough for the both of us. You do know Fed Mo still bankrupt, right?

    '81 320i turbo | t25, 931 CIS, 240hp, 13.92@100mph | 2.2L m10 Turbo Build | My E21 Videos |

  23. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by jrcook320 View Post
    Are you serious? What facility? I'm not sure this company is big enough for the both of us. You do know Fed Mo still bankrupt, right?
    Virginia. Just because I apply doesn't mean I'll take the job. The minute you stop looking for a job is the minute the perfect job passes you by. I apply for probably 5 to 6 jobs a month. Have my resume posted at probably 25 companies. It's important to keep yourself visible.


  24. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheNeek View Post
    Virginia. Just because I apply doesn't mean I'll take the job. The minute you stop looking for a job is the minute the perfect job passes you by. I apply for probably 5 to 6 jobs a month. Have my resume posted at probably 25 companies. It's important to keep yourself visible.
    Exactly, the problem with that for me is the headhunters call me at work. We have a guy here whose sole purpose is headhunting, so they cant say anything to me.I have an oppertunity to go to Dubai that I am actually concidering...

  25. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by blitzed310 View Post
    I have an oppertunity to go to Dubai that I am actually concidering...
    CJ, you should consider that Dubai thing too.

    JR - Nice strut tower brace thingie BTW. Now continue with the work related hi-jinx. Fed Mog has a few manufacturing process engineering jobs (what I do now) and a few designer / drafter jobs (what I love). No ME stuff though (what I went to school for). Who knows if they'll call.


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