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All stock engine bay atm Stripped the interior of all but fireblock and around the shifter due to heat Drivers power window got messed up replacing with a manual crank. Servo for the upcoming door handle shave Old shift boot got melted Short shift installed
Neat indeed! Aside from the extra reinforcement pieces, some of the sheetmetal is thicker as well. One part I recall being thicker is the radiator support on the vert, compared to the coupe (regardless if N/A or Turbo).
I always thought it'd be interesting to see if a coupe chassis could be strengthened by transferring some of these parts from a convertible, similar to how Amuse did some of their cars like the S2000, 350z, RSX, to name a few.
Neat indeed! Aside from the extra reinforcement pieces, some of the sheetmetal is thicker as well. One part I recall being thicker is the radiator support on the vert, compared to the coupe (regardless if N/A or Turbo).
I always thought it'd be interesting to see if a coupe chassis could be strengthened by transferring some of these parts from a convertible, similar to how Amuse did some of their cars like the S2000, 350z, RSX, to name a few.
The subframes are swappable, and the vert frame does include a strengthening brace across the back. Commercially available braces do the same thing (although I'm skeptical of any bolt-on brace being effective), or you could simply weld a bar across.
Then there are reinforcements running from the frame rails out towards the side of the car underneath, and also a similar one under the seat mounts. Then I believe there is some behind the seats, although I haven't really looked there.
I've been diving down this rabbit-hole lately. While using some of the vert parts may be effective, the weakest areas on the FC IMO are the hatch area (obviously), and the front strut top area. This is just my observation from the way it feels, and nothing scientific. A weld-in triangulating brace on the front struts tying them to the firewall and to each other would work, but then you can't remove the engine easily from above. And it's a pretty involved procedure. Then the hatch area really requires a half-cage or at least an x-bar or something, which has the same problems. However, these solutions aren't very practical for those of us who like using our cars for street/daily duty.
The reinforcements under the seat may have some effect on the front-back floppiness of the FC though. I can jack up the rear of the car and the front tire is still touching the ground. If I do the same with my mum's Miata or my Celica, the front wheel comes right up. Not sure if this is a real world problem vis-a-vis handling though.
Unfortunately the vert reinforcements probably won't do much to address the shortcomings of the FC chassis. Just my $0.02 though, I'm no expert.
Sorry to hijack the thread a bit, but I've been doing lots of thinking on this topic lately. The body flex on an FC is quite noticeable if you drive it back-to-back with a newer car, so I've been thinking of ways to minimize it.
EDIT: The "under the seats" part I was thinking of is actually that strengthening rib behind the seat.
08-15-22, 02:23 PM
