Front suspension fix

So it's almost a week since I figured out the front suspension measurements were wrong and I have shocks that are too short. I've been doing various calculations and drawings, and I have the following;

The short shock is 305 extended, 249 compressed which means 56mm of shock travel.

The long shock is 330 extended, 267 compressed which means 63mm of shock travel. 

The difference in travel isn't much, so I'm ok to use the short shock on the front. It does mean that I'll have to make a longer bracket but that was a given either way.

If I use the short shock, then the car needs to be on it's own weight with the shock length being halfway between compressed and extended. That means 280mm roughly from eye to eye. This works well with the spring seat, the heavier springs are 160mm long when compressed under the cars weight, and the spring seat is about halfway up the thread.

Comparing with the current setup, the longer shock is at full extension to give me suitable clearance off the body, and that measures 330mm. So the bracket needs to reduce the shock distance from 330mm down to 280mm, 50mm. If I use the 5mm plate steel to make up brackets, that gets me to the right place. 

But I need to brace it. The brackets will be made so they stay in line with the bracket, but if I just use brackets they're not triangulated. It would be a lot of force if the brackets stopped being in line and started to deflect. 

As for the bracket, it's 32mm wide. If I used 40mm box section with a 4mm wall thickness, I could simply remove some material and the bracket would make itself. It's not expensive, but it won't arrive in time for this weekend. 

So, looking at where the bracket is now;

If I make four plates, about 70mm long, as wide as the diagonal. (35mm), I can drill a hole in one end for the shock, then tack them in place at the required angle. Once they're in position I can figure out how to brace them. My first thought was to brace them against each other across the car, but then the engine won't come in and out!! But at least I have an idea of where the brackets will end up. More importantly, I can use the short shocks with strong springs.

Of course, I'm lining this all up with the bodywork as is, and when the shock is better positioned there will actually be compression available which will hit the bodywork. But as I'm putting on arches anyway I can simply trim the body to match.

Well, that was a lot of typing for not actually much information! But at least I can start cutting the steel.

(Edit) I'm wondering whether a bracket on the frame is a good idea, or whether I should update the lower wishbone. It will be additional unsprung weight, but I'm not going to for something mega lightweight here. Putting the brackets on the lower wishbone would be a lot less work, a lot easier to weld. The surface is flat, sure I'd have to repaint them but that's hardly a major issue. As long as I can find the tin of gold paint! I'll box in the two triangular pieces to reinforce it, then weld the whole thing to the wishbone.