Once the rear suspension was complete, the front suspension was assembled in a similar fashion with the fabrication of control arms, preparing the front uprights, welding on brackets, and fastening all the parts.
Both the upper and lower front control arms are fabricated from 1-inch tubes and were made in the same way as the upper and lower rear control arms. Tubes were placed on printed out layout sheets and then welded once the tubes had been cut to the correct length. Tube-end weld nuts were welded on and rod-ends were screwed on. Mounting brackets were bolted on to the ends of the both the control arms.
Unlike the rear lower control arm, both the front lower and front upper control arm use high-angle spherical rod ends to connect to the spindles rather than urethane bushings. The front uprights, like the rears, were pulled from an NA Miata. Again, they were disassembled, sandblasted, and cleaned. Since the rod ends used 1/2″ bolts, rather than the tapers originally in a Miata, the uprights required slight adjustment. The tapered holes were bored out oversize and bushings were press fit in, leaving 1/2″ holes for the control arm attachments and steering rod end. The picture below shows the boring of a tapered hole.
After all three holes had bushings inserted and the excess trimmed down, the two uprights were masked and painted.
The front uprights were then prepared to be attached to the control arms in a similar fashion. With the brackets bolted to the rod-ends, they were tacked to the frame. After tacking the brackets for the rocker arms and dampers, the pushrods were bolted on, confirming that the components fit correctly.
All components were removed and the welds finished. After reconfirming fit, the sway bar brackets were welded to the frame and to the lower control arms. The sway bar (an aftermarket Miata rear) was then bolted on. Below is a finished picture of the front suspension.
PH-571 