Hello, I've been considering a 4 door sidekick project, my main aim would be to make it as light as possible, I'm wondering how much weight you guys have been able to take off yours? I was also wondering if anybody has seen a 4 door sidekick with the rear section cut off and a pickup bed installed in its place, or how possible that is, I'm pretty handy with a welder.
Thanks

It is a body on frame, so you should be able to put a flat bed on the back.  I have seen 2 doors cut up with no back end, but not the four doors.

never though about making it light lol i added it weight.

this is what i did to my vw.

stripped all of the carpet, sound insulation, back seats, heater core, door panels, side panels, cut out the door reinforcement bar and part of the door then used a lighter steel to reinforce it again, cut the hatch up so it was like a hatch skin and added some reinforcement, put lexan windows in the hatch and side glass, cut the bumpers reinforcement up so its just a bumpers shell pretty much. cut the reinforcement on the hood, got lighter wheels, removed all wiring and rewired what was necessary, carbon fiber race seats. 

I think to get it as "light as possible" you'd just have to make a tube frame for it, losing the stock frame and body and make it anyway you want even with a mini truckbed in the back.(it would be a cool looking ride)

If you want body panels save some of the stock body stuff or just fab up whatever you want from aluminum sheeting.
They sell aluminum sheeting for trailers that comes in a variety of colors also.

Or maybe just lose the stock body and build a tube cage on top of the stock frame.

If you want to keep it mostly stock then you'll just have to look over everything and shave the weight where ever you can like SNJSamurai  did to his VW.

Has anybody had any experience building a frame from scratch, or a body, and then getting it registered for the road in Ontario, Canada? I know it's possible, at least for the body half of it, but I'm wondering how many hoops you have to jump through. How much weight do you guys reckon you can cut off a stock sidekick just taking out all the extra crap/reinforcment?

well i know in Florida

when u build a custom bike frame and u go to get a title for it you have to show all the paper work of the parts you bought and you have to get your welds inspected.

i could see them make sure you have certified welds and such

Alright, so maybe I can pull some rough estimates out of you guys. What do you think a 4 door sidekick would weigh without the body? that is, just frame, engine, drivetrain, etc. and how much lighter do you think you could get it by building a new frame?

I dont have the numbers your after I wish I did but I was thinking maybe you could just buy a fully welded sandrail frame and mod it to hold you sidekick drivetrain.
Well even at it being fully welded you still have a few tabs and mounts here and there to weld on.

A sandrail frame doesnt really cost to much.

That would be about the lighest and fastest way to get one built that I could think of.

You are only looking at around 8-900 # for the rolling chassis with drivetrain. If you are wanting to build it ultra light with still keeping it street legal, maybe you should just look at taking a Samurai and using that engine and diff gear sets on it. That way you would be around 2500# or so. Lighter than a 4 door.

Take a lot at this for some ideas (UK Vitara = 1st gen Track/Kick):

http://www.ncfblitz.co.uk/page8.html

ah yes, i came across that blitz body in my searches, sure is cool but i dont want to know what it would cost to ship to canada. By the sounds of things the stock body is the heavy part, should be pretty easy to fix that..
Now, once i get the thing weighing as little as possible, It seems the VW 1.6 diesel is the way to go as far as fuel efficiency goes, but I'm wondering if there are any other options available, maybe something a little bit smaller/lighter. I'm basically looking to build up the most fuel efficient utilitarian 4x4 i can, seems the sidekick is the best base available to me, due to its low cost and lightweight build.

I think you will be very happy with that VW engine, especially one of the newer ones from the Jettas.  I have been looking to go that route once I move out of Ca.