# OEM plus mk3 monster notch reinforcement



## Afazz (Feb 10, 2002)

A few years ago I notched my frame, I used a piece of 3" diameter 1/8" wall pipe and plated the outside with 1/8" steel. I now have the motor out and I'm shaving the bay, I decided to reinforce the inner side too and figured I would take some pics. 

I'm keeping a lot of the hard factory edges in my bay, so I wanted to weld in a plate that looked like it could be OEM and will fit in with the rest of the bay. I didn't want either a smoothed weld or an exposed weld, so I formed a plate and plug welded it to the frame rail. 

Here is the outside plate of the notch, welded all around and buried in seam sealer and undercoat 









Here is the shape I wanted for the inner notch reinforcement plate. 









I cut out a template 









Toward the firewall side, there is a second layer welded on to the OEM rail. I wanted to make clearance for this, so I marked it in my template. 









I cut out these three pieces - one is the reinforcement, the other two are just forms to form the plate. 









I temporarily tacked one form to the front of the plate 









The other form was tacked to the back of the plate 









After some hammering; clearance! 


















I formed the plate to match the contour of the frame rail using a panel forming sand bag and a selection of hammers 









curved 









I drilled a bunch of holes where the notch will be plug welded to the rail, since I'm not going to weld the top edges 









I bolted up the bumper rebar and front crossmember so things don't flex under the heat of the welding. It should be fine, but just in case. 









The back of the plate and the rail are coated with weld through primer to prevent corrosion between the plates. The edges will be seam sealed, but this will add some protection. 









clamped and plug welded 


















I welded the entire bottom edge. This won't be very visible, the exposed welds are worth the added strength. 









A little bit more metal finishing and maybe a coat of mud and it will be ready for paint!


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## bagged_hag (Oct 30, 2005)

Very very nice work! I will be looking forward to seeing what this looks like with a shaved bay!


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## martin13 (Apr 20, 2010)

bagged_hag said:


> Very very nice work! I will be looking forward to seeing what this looks like with a shaved bay!


 you probably wont even see this if its a vr6 going in there. i have to notch my mk4 soon and this is a great idea. thanks :beer:


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## joeslow (Sep 22, 2007)

Afazz always grade A work :thumbup:


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## bagged_hag (Oct 30, 2005)

martin13 said:


> you probably wont even see this if its a vr6 going in there. i have to notch my mk4 soon and this is a great idea. thanks :beer:


 I know that his car isn't a VR6 so his incredible as always work will still be seen :thumbup:


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## martin13 (Apr 20, 2010)

bagged_hag said:


> I know that his car isn't a VR6 so his incredible as always work will still be seen :thumbup:


 oh well thats good then haha


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## .sanya. (Aug 15, 2004)

thats a fancy ratchet you got there


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## that_guy_bry (Jan 15, 2006)

Thats a beautiful notch Afazz !

I would feel 100% better about a notch looking that good ,that clean and knowing it will last !

Do you make house calls ?


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## reynolds9000 (Oct 16, 2003)

...and the saga continues.


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## nap83 (Jun 24, 2007)

stellar work as always sir. :beer:


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## 16v_HOR (Jul 21, 2005)

Just read through your build thread the other night, amazing work! I always wondered what the setup was in that car, crazy **** indeed


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## Afazz (Feb 10, 2002)

that_guy_bry said:


> Thats a beautiful notch Afazz !
> 
> I would feel 100% better about a notch looking that good ,that clean and knowing it will last !
> 
> Do you make house calls ?


Notches are sketchy in general, this is the only way I feel good about it! I have 6 notches in my car, 3 of them are reinforced like this and the other 3 are really tiny. I typically don't do this kind of work for others, I can't handle the liability of cutting into peoples frames! I consult for free if you have any questions 



reynolds9000 said:


> ...and the saga continues.


I took November '09 off, but haven't slowed down since. Hopefully it will be ready for H2O '11, but no promises. I still have a lot of work left!


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## $helby (Jun 30, 2005)

my brother did this to my old gti,










the two other cars he's notched for me didn't get any reinforcement. i wanted to do it on the newest car but we didn't have time.


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## Retromini (Nov 7, 2004)

Excellent and thorough work as always Afazz:beer::thumbup: I'm excited to see this thing progressing


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## nap83 (Jun 24, 2007)

Afazz said:


> I took November '09 off, but haven't slowed down since. Hopefully it will be ready for H2O '11, but no promises. I still have a lot of work left!


so that you could be light years ahead of the game? not fair. :beer:


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## Travy (Jan 13, 2004)

Always impressed by your work Anthony


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