mine has heavy plates factory riveted from the frame rail ends to the rockers for reinforcements. i never understood how RIVETED plates could reinforce a v8 convertible unibody car very effectively, but im not an automotive engineer, so i decided not to remove them so i could use regular hardtop connectors, although that seems to me like it would be stronger. the car does flex a bit and is sqeuaky like a convertible unibody, and i want to fix this, particularly as i keep adding things to increase power.