I have 18" rims, and as we all know we have a stock POS 16" spare, that if it's actually inflated, and holds air with 10 year old rubber would work, had we kept the tires to 16"

Now before you flame, or whatever, I didn't purchase the wheels, I bought them with the car, and was one of the selling features.

Okay on to my dilemma, and why this is in the Interior / Exterior / Audio forum...

I'm about to put in a sweet Infinity system, incl. 400+ watt amp. and need to put it somewhere. I'm not terribly thrilled to put it into a storage compantment, and I don't want to drill into the cabin divider, so my last option was the tire well. So I'll take out the tire, put in a can of fix a flat

Here's my concern, to put the amp in I might have to remove the "dome" in the well, to be able to fit the amp, etc... and I'd need to weld it out. Having wrecked a FD, and having the frame structually sound in case of roll over / impact is very important to me, not to mention the forces on a car that is occasionally road course (track) raced.

BTW I'm welding a flat pice of steel in it's place, and painting over this.

What are the implications structually around that area. And has someone done this successfully, and gotten into a fender bender / accident where this either was devistating to the way the car held up or trivial in the collision, or somewhere in-between....

-DC

 

Sorry, i can't offer advice on the structural aspect, but i believe fix a flat is only good for rims up to 16" in diameter. Not sure how safe it would be on a bigger setup

 

i removed that area with a cut off wheel, i will say one thing, BE CAREFUL, the tank is molded to fit the contour of that area perfectly, so it is almost impossible (i got very lucky) to cut the area away w/out dropping the gas tank

be careful.....

 

sorry, but it's just funny to me you won't drill a whole in your plastic or mess up a bin...but you'll cut a chunk of your frame off. It's not worth it...Like it was said above...the gas tank is right where you'd be cutting.

 

Fix a Flat comes with the RX-8 if you don't get a spare tire. They're stock 18"s.

 

i have done this.....be very careful of the gas tank, otherwise there is nothing else you have to worry about

 

If I'm going to go ahead with this I'm going to have it done by a body shop since I want them to weld cover, re-paint and re-undercoat the area... so if I smell gas, I'll know they F'd up....

I don't want to do this myself...

And as not to drill etc.. Bin might be too small, and if I drill into the divider I don't mind, I'd just need a quick disconnect plug installed in case I have to remove the cover, to put in a suitcase or something irregular.... and I can't use the spare anyhow with 18" tires....

-DC

 

Hey D, I was checking it out the other day, and the raised pyramid thing where the spare tire bracket screws into is just spot welded. Pry, grind or do whatever you have to do to get it off and you will have a lot more room. You will still have a little hump from the gas tank, but that amp will fit in there no problem. Let me know, I can help you build something to mount your amp.

 

DCrosby: Why don't you just just buy another divider and the screw the amp into the back of it? They don't go for a whole lot, and you don't have to hassle with going to a body shop.

 

The dimensions of the amp are a bit bigger than the back panel, I went and tried to put in in the storage bin, the back of the divider, and the wheel well, and the wheel well is the only place it would fit easily... it's an Infinity Reference Series 650 watt or something...

Like Fuman said, there is just a small metal piece that is spot welded ontop of the hump, and even with it still in place it's almost flush, but with it gone, it would fit perfectly....

And I'm not very happy about removing the spare either, especially since I do like to do runs in the desert etc... and waiting for a tow truck out there would suck "A LOT" ! As opposed to doing 25 mph on 3 18" wheels and a 16" spare....

Dimensions: 16-3/8"W x 2-11/16"H x 12-1/8"D