Ubuntu "Lite" (Or dare I say.. 'Lubuntu'.. :)

[Chanchao]

Sorry for the toe-cramp inducing 'Lubuntu' there but it spices up a
rather mundane question:

The case at hand:

A pair of older NEC Celeron computers with 64 MB Ram.. 12 Gb disk...
Currently running Windows Millennium..  The current and intended use is
basic web browsing.. They're used to give customers free internet access
in a small, cheap & cheerful coffee & cake shop in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Kind of like Starbucks but with prices about half of Starbuck's, coffee
grown locally in the hills around the city.. 

The computers were bought second-had for seriously little money, US$ 75
each, including nice LCD screens even. They came with Windows
Millennium, though no licenses.  Along with the basic issue of the
current setup being illegal, just 2 days of use already resulted in a
laundry list of spyware and at least one virus.  So.. sounds like a
perfect case for Ubuntu to come to the rescue. 

But... Have a feeling that a default install of Ubuntu would run at the
speed of highway-construction.. 

Is there (and if so what is) a good way of uninstalling all Ubuntu
services that aren't absolutely necessary in order to gain some
available memory and therefore speed?  Perhaps even ditch Gnome in
favour of something leaner?  All they have to do is run Firefox.

Cheers,
Chanchao