During these months of apparent absence, I worked quite a lot. The job I am the most proud of is the buil of the entire front end for the Mistubishi Evo 4, 5 and 6 that includes the chromoly tubular subframe, the front control arms, still made out of chromoly tubing, where the heim joint(or rose joint, or uniball, whatever you wanna call them) took place of the OEM rubber bushings. Then I added the ubiquitous chromoly tubular North South bar,that’s become my best seller. The combination of the North South bar and the subframe reduce the weight by almost 17 Kg(11,7 for the subframe, and 5 for the bar). The front control arms have no play like the OEM ones, and give you the freedom of adjusting the camber angle and the caster angle freely and quickly. Moreover they’re much stronger that the cast aluminum OEM ones therefore much better suited to the high loads and stresses of racing and trackday use. The increased rigidity, and the ability of keeping a perfectly stable car alignment angles, plus the possibility of adjusting them perfectly, simply transform the roadholding behaviour of the car, making it really precise, or, as the owner has described it in his really thick german accent, “brutal!”.
The attentio to details during the whole process is always high. Obviously I fully TIG welded every part to ensure safety and reliability of the joints, given that these are stuctural components, but paying attention to the aesthetic appearance too.
These parts are quite intricate both in the fabrication process of the tubes and sheet metal, and in the welding part of the job. I have to confess you, this is the kind of work I like the most, because it’s challenging and you have to pay extreme attention because of the obvious safety concerns. In order to ensure the correct fitment, functionality, and safety of the parts, I had to build some rather compex jigs. This additional work though, will give me the advantage of being able to replicate those products without issues.
Mainly while making the control arms, some quite a bit of machining work became necessary. The pins were made of AISI 4340 steel, an the bushing exposed to elements are made out of AISI 304 Stainless steel to resist corrosion, given that don’t much stress during use, being basically spacers.
To me, that I’m a welding and fabrication geek (the name Tigmaniac says something), seems nearly wrong to cover this kind of work with the powder coating process first
And the rest of the car at last. It’s a tough life, the one of suspension and chassis builders. We are deemed to not being able to showcase our work without a car hoist around.
After assembly, a wheel alignment was absolutely necessary.
The car owner was so happy of the work I did, that he even let me put a rather hefty advert on both sides of his car.
