Strut tower bars are cool accessories to any performance vehicle, but they're also functional. They can minimize chassis flex between the struts, which helps in hard corners. Making one isn't particularly difficult. If you're handy with a welder and not afraid to work with steel, it's a great weekend project.
Make a template on the upper strut towers of your vehicle using the cardboard. You want it to be round in shape, and have enough room to weld some tabs onto it for the cross bar. It also has to attach to every bolt on the strut tower. This is the base for your brace, so make it strong.
Transfer the template you made onto the 3/16-inch plate steel. Cut it out using a band saw or plasma cutter.
Drill the holes for the strut tower bolts using a drill press. Bolt the new steel pieces onto the tower.
Measure the distance between the strut towers. Make a rough cut of the round tubing so that it is oversized. You want it to be between the towers, and maybe into them a little bit. Make sure the bar doesn't hit anything on the engine and won't interfere with hood clearance.
Mark the strut tower plates so that you can weld tabs onto them to mount the bar. Make sure they're in the same location on both pieces so that it looks symmetrical. Measure vertically as well, and make sure there's clearance there.
Cut four tabs to mount the tower out of the plate steel. Drill holes in them to hold a bolt that is the same diameter as the opening on the heims joint.
Tack weld the tabs in place on the towers. Don't bead weld them--you want to temporarily place them in case you need to move them later. Make sure the distance between each tab on each individual tower is wide enough to hold the heims joint. It may help to bolt the heims between the two tabs before tacking them in place.
Tap one end of your round tubing with the same thread and diameter as the heims joint. Thread a heims joint and a lock bolt so that the heims is threaded in halfway.
Bolt the bar with the heims onto one side of the tower and place across the towers.
Measure the distance from the center of the heims joint to the end of the steel tubing closest to the bolt. Take that measurement and transfer it to the other side, using the same points of reference. This will ensure that the bar looks symmetrical.
Cut and tap the other side of the bar, then follow the same procedure with the heims joint. You should end up with a round bar with a heims joint on either end.
Bolt the bar into the towers. Make sure that it looks symmetrical and functions the way you want it. Then finish weld the strut tower tabs.
