Before I send my frame off to get sandblasted and powder coated, I am going to try to do two frame mods. My primary concern is structural rigidity being compromised as a result of these. I emailed Factory Five about it, and they understandably told me they couldn't endorse any change to the frame. I figured I would ask though
The first is an undercar exhaust that Mark Dougherty did in Virginia. This can be seen HERE. The primary concern is cutting the hole in the horizontal 4" tubing and welding a perpendicular 4" tub to it. I will do some SolidWorks modeling this week when I have some time to see if I can do my own analysis, but Mark thinks it will work just fine.
The second is moving the cockpit top side bars to the middle of the car, as shown in the crude picture below. I may have borrowed the picture from SeattleDad (thanks!). Since I already took my body off, hopefully I can get a measurement from someone on what the clearance is from the top of both the roll bar and windshield bar to their roof.
Coupestuff239_zps4286b423.jpg
Do ya'll think these are reasonable, or should I modify my plan? Thanks