They look nice. I have not seen the Cherry Turbo lower brace up close. I do have the Cherry Turbo upper brace. On my car, I use the Volvo lower brace, which does have a sort of W shaped bend in it, combined with two home made bars running to the cross member. I made my bars out of round stock (don't worry, I did not use electrical conduit) with flattened ends.

Depending on the force involved and the angles of the force and the length of the flat stock, it is possible to bow 1/8 inch flat stock. Even 3/16. John is very thorough and knowledgeable and probably assisted in his son's undertaking and determined that the thicknesses used would be fine. Round stock of the appropriate diameter - I think I used 1.25 or 1.5 - would be stronger. There is also a flat bar with short raised edges, that I do not know the name for, that is much heavier and really strong, but would require considerably more effort to work with. The Volvo W brace like I have is less than ideal as it is designed to absorb a lot of flex and resist to to some degree rather than stop it. I should change that.

For paint, there is a new Rustoleum Hammered Finish black paint that is really nice. Perhaps it is a copy of the old Hammerite or perhaps Rustoleum bought that company. Hammerite was pretty good also. As is Wurth and Por15 and Corroless.

I am considering my next round of suspension modifications, having done all the basics. I have been researching a rear shock tower tie bar. Has anyone made one for a 740? I am also considering replacing the strut tower bushings with basically camber plates and a bearing with no bushing. Has anyone done this? And I am considering adjustable spring perches with new smaller diameter springs on Volvo strut housings and adjustable perches and new springs if not coilovers for the rear. Has anyone done these? I know a fellow in CT has been modifying the struts for a few years now, but have yet to communicate directly with someone who has tried them and experimented with spring designs and rates.

Philip