Originally Posted by
Smiler
Would a rear strut brace be enough to bring the 3-door shell up to the saphires standards as far as rigidity is concerned?
Bit of an off-shoot, but how would an XR4i shell with it's extra rear pillars compare to the Cosworth 3-door shell?
a strut brace only ties the strut tops together, but if these can flex then it's not doing uch in any case
the saph shell has the 2 sides stuck together with the rear screen, roof, parcel shelf and even the opening in the rear seats is smaller, plus it's got a much bigger bit of metal along the rear of the doors to help tie everything together
you would need to basicly weld in a saph rear end to the internals of the 3 door to get the same sort of rigidity, don't forget that the boot lid isn't structural on the 3 door either
the 4i shell is the same bar the extra bits of glass and strips, and they aren't really structural either as they don't tie anything together