i was just wondering about this while thinking about exhaust. what if i cut out the part where the spare tire goes and weld in a piece of flat sheet metal on top of where the spare tire part in the trunk is. would that mess up the strenth of the body or anything? jw if that was a flex point or whatever. and if it would be affected i am getting a cage anywyas so would that help any w/ that?

 

Yes, it will decrease the structural integrity of the car. You are cutting a huge chunk out of the unibody. Although alot of all out drag guys do this to save weight and they can cause the car is just going in a straight line. I would recommend just doing your exhaust the way you should so everything stays the way it is.

 

yeah i thought it was a big piece, well im running my exhaust straight out the drivers side and thought it would free up some space but o well. do you think it would save weight if it was cut out, then welded flat metal along w/ bracing or would it still make it weak.

 

I guess yea it would save weight if you cross (X) braced it but man dood, just leave. If you wanna save space on the exhaust, just do side exit exhaust.

 

o i was just thinkin about it im just gona do my muffler comin straight out, i was just curious to if it would save a substantial amount of weight even after braced.
im wanna do everything i can to shave my weight down. while keeping interior.

 

i think youd be fine if you just braced that area that you cut out. you are cutting out a large chunk of metal there, but its largely not doing you much good that you couldnt make up for lighter amount of material.

but in terms of making your exhaust go straight back, what are you going to do about the gas tank? are you taking that out as well? youd want to keep hot pipes well clear of the gas tank i would think.