Weight Removal and Roadworthiness

[ben_bass69]

If you remove the metal bits that the back seat attaches to how much strength would the car lose and would it be roadworthy, also if i wanted to add more strength to it, would a bar (probably roll cage tubing) between the shock towers bne enough???

[SimonTuffGuy]

I can't imagine that those small metal pieces add much structual integrity to the car... I wanted to take them out of my car awhile back and then held off on it (not knowing how I'd make it look "nice" back there after that)...

I believe Roger's car from FMS has them removed...

[packrat427]

I personally would not remove them , they are very similar to gussets , like on a tube chassis car , they do have some structural integrity to them .

The help keep the floor solid .

[ben_bass69]

yeah but if i add a bar between the shock towers i'm guessing there would be more strength, not less

[floydiancomplex]

I cut mine out with a sawzall. It is definitely still roadworthy. If it does loose any structural integrity
its certainly not enough you will notice it while driving. A piece of tubing between the shock towers
would easily restore if not double the original rigidity, plus if your gutting the car those two
things sticking out just looks stupid. It looks so much cleaner with those gone.

check it out http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2433730/1

[festivaWES]

Remove them...no ill-effects on road worthyness

[TRUCKtiva]

I did that in trucktiva too, even w/out wes's tube nothing changed.

[ben_bass69]

yeah, i was thinking of gutting it, but still making it look clean too, new side plastics all the way along, try to make it look like it came from the factory like that

[ben_bass69]

another thing, does anybody else have any ideas about weight reduction?

[SimonTuffGuy]

Remove anything that you're not using... I know that Wil complied a list of things to remove (he even used a USPS Scale to get an exact weight on the stuff he pulled out) - Common things, rear seat belts, seats, bolts, etc. Remove the spare tire, jack, interior panels, rear wiper and filler bottle.

Remove the passenger seat if possible/seat belt (depends on your situation really) - remove the front wipers, motor, filler bottle, etc.

At some point, you're going to need some of that stuff. I know that I need my wiper bottle because I drive my Festiva a lot... If you're going for a track only car, you can remove a lot more stuff without hassles - like headlights, corner lights, front and rear bumper supports, etc... I wouldn't do nearly as much in a car that'll see ANY road miles as I would for a track car.

And once you get the car light, you'll need to make sure that you still have traction when you're ready to run... Seems like that is the biggest problem of the Festiva owners.

[ben_bass69]

yeah its still going to be a street car and i was going to leave the passenger seat in, but they aren't very hard to take out if i wanted to anyway, with the rear seatbelts i was going to unbolt them then remove the seatbelt then put the bolt back in the hole

[floydiancomplex]

Things you need inside:

Steering Wheel
Pedals
Shifter
Seat w/belt

everything else can go.