Hey 8club. I've been making plans for my car including cleaning and tidying up looks outside and inside, and one thing that has been REALLY bothering me is this stamped sheetmetal bar that runs behind the radiator. Every time that I look at my engine bay its the first thing I see and its hideous.

Looking at the chassis, this component is too thin from what I can gather to provide really any sort of structural bracing or support. I have a MAZDASPEED intake and battery has been located to trunk. Aftermarket oil cooler lines dont even bolt to this bar so that just leaves the ground wires and one coolant brace. The coolant hose I can re-secure to the chassis right next to where it already sits, and I can easily relocate the wires grounded there to the chassis as well and possibly get a better ground on the chassis than on this bar that is only spot welded on.

I want to cut this component out and take advantage not just of the extra space but also a more clean and simplified engine bay with unsightly things tucked away.



This picture is from my previous Rx8 as I didnt have a good picture of my current Rx8's engine bay (which is setup exactly the same, only difference is I have made a custom washer bottle and oil catch can setup in the factory washer bottle location)

 

it has multiple mounting points for several factory parts, batt box, intake tray, coolant line clip etc and also has grounds. idk if you could remove it from a structural point but all thos systems can be moved

 

Mines been gone for 8 years... haven't had any issues so far 😎

 

+1, had to remove mine for a charge pipe to fit off my turbo. I made my own cross member to hold up my ECU box and coils. No issues

 

got any pictures i'm interested in seeing what it looks like

 

I just used a piece of scrap steel with a bolt on each end to hold it to the frame rails. I welded and L piece to it to mount my coils.

Moving it 6-7 inches towards the radiator allowed the turbo discharge to angle downwards without being blocked....

 

As soon as it warms up and stops f'n raining, my 8 has a date with an angle grinder Will post pictures guys. Should I make a DIY thread for it?