I took out the backseat in my prelude and underneath were 2 heavy black metal plates that I also removed (They were bolted to the metal beneath the seat and to the side of the car)

Will removing these possibly affect handling?? The fact that they were so heavy seems to mean that they were there to keep the car stiff like a strut bar kinda um... even though they were underneath the back seat...

Should I put them back on?