ok, made the cuts. Went about 2" from the bottom as intended (if anyone cares, the strut tubes are about 9 gauge steel (~4mm thick).

Then had to put a hole in the bottom of the OEM tube so I'll have access to the lower shock insert bolt. After a pilot, I drilled it out large enough to accept my 17mm socket so I can tighten the locknut well after it's threaded in.

Also you can see that one of these knuckles is from a non-ABS car and the other was from an ABS car. I'll seal up the ABS opening on the one, since I don't have it.

Decided to tack it up, but the first thing was to rig up a jig of sorts to make sure the tubes were vertical off of the remaining stubs. For this I used some C-channel and some heavy-duty hose clamps, like so...


Once tightened, I checked things with a feeler gauge to make sure all of them were making the same contact on the lower stub and had the same (very small) gap at the bottom of the new tube, because the new tube is just a tiny bit narrower than the stub.

So once I got everything where I wanted it, after re-measuring several times and re-checking the lines several times, I tacked them up. I intend to have the full weld done by someone with more welding skill than I have, so this is as far as I go on this on my own. The plan will also be to use a second (2" ID) tube to slide over the weld joint as a reinforcement.

--
While I was sitting around, I cleaned and painted some dust shields with some bright green engine paint I had around. I have no idea why I have this color, nor any memory of buying it, but now that I see it, I may paint the whole knuckle/lower tube in it since it's kind of fun.


Then had to put a hole in the bottom of the OEM tube so I'll have access to the lower shock insert bolt. After a pilot, I drilled it out large enough to accept my 17mm socket so I can tighten the locknut well after it's threaded in.

Also you can see that one of these knuckles is from a non-ABS car and the other was from an ABS car. I'll seal up the ABS opening on the one, since I don't have it.

Decided to tack it up, but the first thing was to rig up a jig of sorts to make sure the tubes were vertical off of the remaining stubs. For this I used some C-channel and some heavy-duty hose clamps, like so...


Once tightened, I checked things with a feeler gauge to make sure all of them were making the same contact on the lower stub and had the same (very small) gap at the bottom of the new tube, because the new tube is just a tiny bit narrower than the stub.

So once I got everything where I wanted it, after re-measuring several times and re-checking the lines several times, I tacked them up. I intend to have the full weld done by someone with more welding skill than I have, so this is as far as I go on this on my own. The plan will also be to use a second (2" ID) tube to slide over the weld joint as a reinforcement.

--
While I was sitting around, I cleaned and painted some dust shields with some bright green engine paint I had around. I have no idea why I have this color, nor any memory of buying it, but now that I see it, I may paint the whole knuckle/lower tube in it since it's kind of fun.

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