On my W31 clone car the lower control arms have been boxed with what looks like 3 inch square plates welded to them. They kind of overlap each other and span the lenght of the arm. Does anyone know if this is the way the factory did it? Did the factory do it at all?

 

The factory used a plate fabricated from a single strip of sheet metal that had two "U" shaped bends in it, one at each of the sway bar bolt holes. These act as spacers to prevent the arm from being crushed by the bolts. The plates were welded to the control arms with a series of welds each about 1" long.

 

Thanks Joe, they look the same as mine so I know now they aren't fake. Like the rest of the car.

 

You can find the the factory type insert at OPG they just weld in...
http://www.opgi.com/product.asp?topc...195&yearrange=

 

Of course OPG has no pic. Sheesh. Man we're all up early. What the hay.