Quote: To those of you who have cut your core supports, ..... those are structural elements in the design of the car.... they tie the two sides of the car together....these cars were made with floppy flexy chassis.... a collision on a weakened chassis could make a repairable hit into one that totals the car....you essentially have nothing preventing the tops of the fenders from collapsing into the middle of the car.
That would have been good info ... yesterday morning, pre-Sawzall.
I'm sure it weakens the structure a little, but in a frontal impact I don't see a missing strip of thin sheetmetal 1/2" wide making the difference whether the car; or driver; survives the event.
In the case of an a-body Barracuda, installing a fiberglass header panel would weaken it much more in the same area.
