so i'm interested in starting a discussion about lumps of weight that could potentially be pulled from the car without noticeable effect. the realm I'm talking is for those that aren't afraid to play car butcher with an angle grinder and assumes you've done all the basics already. few ideas - Read a post from Tekky saying cutting out the spare tyre well and replacing it with a flat piece of ally saves a solid lump of weight - Heard that a whole lot of metal frame can be pulled from inside the hatch. This was reportedly again Tekky. Perhaps for a road car might be better off swiss cheesing this stuff so the trim can be retained - Swiss cheesing metalwork behind boot trim and headlight buckets - Pulling out disused wiring - Cutting off fronts of frame rails; great for a track car but not for me with a road car where safety is a concern Not really keen to go cutting up much from strut tower to strut tower as someone would really have to know what they're doing to make sure nothing was screwed up. more suggestions anyone? Cheers -A
good idea, heard it gets all flobbery on the highway though? 1/4 windows sound like a good idea, but not being able to buy the mouldings off the shelf would make it a bit of a pain.
You may as well do the side quarter windows too. Seems I remember someone ruined the glass lenses of his headlights, so they would be perfect to use, replace the glass with a lexan replica. Carbon fibre replica of the targas, keep them removeable. I expect that you have already removed the rear hatch weight that is supposed to dampen vibration(someone suggested). Swapped out electric seats, emptied the glovebox. *before and after weigh in?
Naaaaa If it gets flobbery at highway speeds it hasn't been installed correctly. It's over 250 times stronger than glass and is bulletproof (obviously directly related to caliber and polycarbonate thickness. We use it on jet fighter canopies. Very good stuff
First thing you need to weigh up the purpose of the car (including legalities) vs the benefit and cost of removal. If it's for motorsport use then legalities are very important as turning up with holes drilled in your hatch will see you sent home with some categories. Also you need to look at where you're removing it from. Any weight removed from the front is good as it improves the overall weight balance of the car. Any weight removed high up improves the centre of gravity. But you probably don't want to be removing weight from low down in the rear, especially on a 2+0. Start with the easy stuff; interior, AC, everything under the dash, sound deadener, power steering (replace with electric). Remove any unused brackets. Look at anything that can be removed in and around the engine bay.
My tip is to stop adding more weight by plating. Smoothing and lead filling. Speed holes and Swiss cheesing just saves a few grams. Not kilos. Like I've said in other posts. Anyone who drives a 2plus2 targa can't be serious about weight saving. Should have started with a tin top. Same goes for stereo systems etc If you are building a street car or show car then the only weight saving to consider is rotating and unsprung mass Things like the difference between a quarter tank and a full tank of fuel would be far more than any unwanted metal u removed or Draining the washer bottle
The lightest zed ive seen is that 10 second escort NA. the whole radiator support and wheel arches have been replaced with tube. around 1100kg
Exactly the trade off against comfort and safety just doesn't work unless you're in that very rare category where you're driving consistently and need that last 100th of a second...
couple of well known ones that can be done......(that you may not have yet) delete rear wiper and wiper motor. replace targa with carbon fiber version? i think they are available for 4 seaters now.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 There's another guide I can't seem to find right now that has more. Will look later.
Spare and toolkit. Lump of dead weight from inside rear hatch near the wiper. 1000 random bolts that don't get returned to their spots after engine pulls.
weight removed from outside the axel confines is worth 2 times or more, weight removed between the axels. Lexan headlight glass replacements are available. Pull every gram of weight you can, back behind the front wheel axels. You really need a 2 seater to do this properly as the fuel tank is ahead of the rear axel. The 2+2 tank is in a stupid place and massively further back. NA sub frame in place of TT sub frame. Alloy one pce drive shaft. Single exhaust. rear tail light garnish replaced with fibreglass version. bar reinforcements removed. antenna shaved. Ultimate weight saving is replace wish bone front suspension with Macherson struts. ( can be done ) Use ones off an R31. Cut double skin away from rear inside of boot side also rear supports for tail lights. Rear hatch frame cut away to a minimum. ( should be able to make that invisible as its under the plastic trim. Spare wheel well cut out and replaced with alloy sheet. Forged light weight wheels. Gramlights ? EGR and emmisions equipment removed. washer bottle and over flow replaced and moved rearwards in a 2+2. keep factory sway bars. Replace pressed metal suspension parts with billet parts. Carbon canister pulled. Hicas piping to the back removed. Sound deadening removed, ABS removed, Hicas pump and solenoid pulled. electric PS pump in the rear. Heater and air con parts removed. Fuse box moved back, auxiliary fan removed, overflow bottle moved rearward. battery in boot. Internal door frame trimmed back.
Moving the radiator overflow back in where the AIVs go would help with that too. 1L of water is 1kg so a healthy OEM radiator would save a couple kg over a big triple core.
has anyone ever done the SLA --> Macpherson strut front suspension conversion on a Z32? i can't imagine that being worthwhile to tear up for the weight saving
If you havent yet seen this thread its an amazing z32 build for saving weight: http://www.aus300zx.com/forum/showthread.php?t=306110
