Shorter is better.

Most say longer is better, i disagree. So much that i decided to shorten my strut housings. I started by removing two inches (measured 3 3/8" from the top, and 12.5" from the bottom) and then welded the two sections together.

Notice the difference between the shortened strut versus stock.Before welding the two together, i put a nice chamfer on the sections to get a solid weld that didnt protrude too much as to interfere with the coilover sleeves.

By shortening the housings, i can regain lost suspension travel as a result of lowering the car. I will be using Bilstein sport inserts intended for a VW rabbit(shorter insert). Next step is to weld on the coilover perches then paint.

A first ride(years to come) will be awarded to the person who is able to guess what I made this for. Note its about three feet long and its not for a "shark" themed bmw.

Bloody murder

I guess when you take an interior to bare metal, let it sit for a year, it begins to look like a crime scene.

So i got it all cleaned up, again, and neutralized the rust. POR15 and its done for now.

Never again.

I will never again take a cars underside to metal. Finally finished stripping, and got the POR15 on there. Patched all the holes in the floor as well. Lookin good.

Rear sub

Got the welding done on the rear subframe. It now has adjustable camber and toe. I still need to grind out the slots and paint it. Good progress.

Before.

After.

Smoke, bling, and minor progress.

How many grinders will it take to finish this project?

3 so far. First one suffered from internal injury, the next went up in a ball of smoke, we'll see how number three holds up.

I first set this up as sort of a joke. Now i keep imagining how cool it would look with the flares on there. 18" twists.I finally finished something, 3.90:1 limited slip differential. All new seals, por-15, and hardware. I hope i didnt do all of this just to find out the diff is junk.

Now the car is back on its side. Once I por15 the underside(hopefully this weekend), It will come back down and Ill re-paint the interior. Then time to fab up the rear flare mounts. Fun stuff ahead.