Lightweight reduction?! Carbon Fiber dash
#1
Damnit, steel doors hurt!
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Lightweight reduction?! Carbon Fiber dash
Ok some people call me crazy for doing this to my cars but I like my cars to be light.
So far some of the things I have done to my 88 GXL is to remove the front and rear bumper beams, some of the interior, most the **** in trunk area.
But the things I have yet to get to, but will be starting tomorow is a Plexiglass rear window and removing most of the rest of the interior.
One thing I do plan to do is to remove the stock dasha dn pretty much everthing else in the interior that is not needed for me, mainly everthing that isn't needed for the motor to run and the car to stay together.
I have been on a lookout for a dash to put in the car to replace the stock one but only thing i could find is a universal dash that is sold on that speedperformance webpage or whatever it is called. But its a fiberglass dash and I'm not sure of the weight difference between it and the stock dash.
What i really want to do is to make a carbon fiber version of the stock dash. Since i like the shape of it anyways. I have a complete parts car that sits here at the house with the full interior and plan to pull the dash out of it tomorow and start working on the dash.
Basically I want to take the whole dash and make it a one piece carbon fiber one, I plan to make the gauge surround, shifter surround and the other parts to it molded into it. Also I want to make it so that I can remove the whole dash within aboout 10 mins.
I want this dash to weigh relativily light. I'm not sure of the weight of the stock dash but from the looks of it it doesn't look to light to me.
So basically I was wondering if I was to make these would anyone else be interested in them?
So far some of the things I have done to my 88 GXL is to remove the front and rear bumper beams, some of the interior, most the **** in trunk area.
But the things I have yet to get to, but will be starting tomorow is a Plexiglass rear window and removing most of the rest of the interior.
One thing I do plan to do is to remove the stock dasha dn pretty much everthing else in the interior that is not needed for me, mainly everthing that isn't needed for the motor to run and the car to stay together.
I have been on a lookout for a dash to put in the car to replace the stock one but only thing i could find is a universal dash that is sold on that speedperformance webpage or whatever it is called. But its a fiberglass dash and I'm not sure of the weight difference between it and the stock dash.
What i really want to do is to make a carbon fiber version of the stock dash. Since i like the shape of it anyways. I have a complete parts car that sits here at the house with the full interior and plan to pull the dash out of it tomorow and start working on the dash.
Basically I want to take the whole dash and make it a one piece carbon fiber one, I plan to make the gauge surround, shifter surround and the other parts to it molded into it. Also I want to make it so that I can remove the whole dash within aboout 10 mins.
I want this dash to weigh relativily light. I'm not sure of the weight of the stock dash but from the looks of it it doesn't look to light to me.
So basically I was wondering if I was to make these would anyone else be interested in them?
#2
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Originally Posted by ImprezedRS
Ok some people call me crazy for doing this to my cars but I like my cars to be light.
So far some of the things I have done to my 88 GXL is to remove the front and rear bumper beams, some of the interior, most the **** in trunk area.
But the things I have yet to get to, but will be starting tomorow is a Plexiglass rear window and removing most of the rest of the interior.
So far some of the things I have done to my 88 GXL is to remove the front and rear bumper beams, some of the interior, most the **** in trunk area.
But the things I have yet to get to, but will be starting tomorow is a Plexiglass rear window and removing most of the rest of the interior.
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#9
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Originally Posted by SirCygnus
put an aluminum pole in there. light as hell.
#14
The mystery of the prize.
Originally Posted by felixwankel88
so if u removed the bumper bars then it wont make much diffrence if u crash
if you have a stupid little parking lot mishap, the bumpers will take up the damage. if you get rid of them, the damage goes straight to the unibody (it can make a small accident cheaper/easier to recover from).
#17
Rotary Freak
so it would have everything the old dash had a direct replica made in cf depending on the cost and quality i might be in on one after i get some engine mods done first
#19
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replacing steel with aluminum=good
replacing steel with CF, fiberglass, or plastic=verry good
replacing aluminum with cf, fiberglass or plastic=questionable, but ok for the hardcore.
replacing cf, fiberglass, or plastic with eachother=silly and a waste of time & money.
the dash is made of fibrglass and plastic; THESE MATERIALS ARE ALREADY LIGHTWEIGHT!!
for the money you'de spend on THAT much CF (the crap aint cheap), just the raw matterial, not to mention the time investment and all the other expenses, you could turbo your motor or do a TII swap or come by 50-100hp in more than a few ways, which will improve your power/wight ratio dramatically more than the MAYBE 10lbs a CF dash would save you.
likie those CF speaker surrounds people were talking a little while ago WTF is that about? a 2 oz. weight savings over the 3 oz stock peices????
cf has a place in making a leightwieght car, but its only worth it if used to replace SIGNIFICANTLY hevier items, like steel hoods or driveshafts.
replacing steel with CF, fiberglass, or plastic=verry good
replacing aluminum with cf, fiberglass or plastic=questionable, but ok for the hardcore.
replacing cf, fiberglass, or plastic with eachother=silly and a waste of time & money.
the dash is made of fibrglass and plastic; THESE MATERIALS ARE ALREADY LIGHTWEIGHT!!
for the money you'de spend on THAT much CF (the crap aint cheap), just the raw matterial, not to mention the time investment and all the other expenses, you could turbo your motor or do a TII swap or come by 50-100hp in more than a few ways, which will improve your power/wight ratio dramatically more than the MAYBE 10lbs a CF dash would save you.
likie those CF speaker surrounds people were talking a little while ago WTF is that about? a 2 oz. weight savings over the 3 oz stock peices????
cf has a place in making a leightwieght car, but its only worth it if used to replace SIGNIFICANTLY hevier items, like steel hoods or driveshafts.
Last edited by andrew lohaus; 09-05-04 at 01:42 AM.
#20
Bimmer *****
Originally Posted by andrew lohaus
replacing steel with aluminum=good
replacing steel with CF, fiberglass, or plastic=verry good
replacing aluminum with cf, fiberglass or plastic=questionable, but ok for the hardcore.
replacing cf, fiberglass, or plastic with eachother=silly and a waste of time & money.
the dash if made of fibrglass and plastic; THESE MATERIALS ARE ALREADY LIGHTWEIGHT!!
for the money you'de spend on THAT much CF (the crap aint cheap), just the raw matterial, not to mention the time investment and all the other expenses, you could turbo your motor or do a TII swap or come by 50-100hp in more than a few ways, which will improve your power/wight ratio dramatically more than the MAYBE 10lbs a CF dash would save you.
replacing steel with CF, fiberglass, or plastic=verry good
replacing aluminum with cf, fiberglass or plastic=questionable, but ok for the hardcore.
replacing cf, fiberglass, or plastic with eachother=silly and a waste of time & money.
the dash if made of fibrglass and plastic; THESE MATERIALS ARE ALREADY LIGHTWEIGHT!!
for the money you'de spend on THAT much CF (the crap aint cheap), just the raw matterial, not to mention the time investment and all the other expenses, you could turbo your motor or do a TII swap or come by 50-100hp in more than a few ways, which will improve your power/wight ratio dramatically more than the MAYBE 10lbs a CF dash would save you.
#21
Rotary Freak
yea i agree with most of yous saying it would cost to much waste of time just for 10lbs lighter but for some people they might just like it for the style of it but if its to much money people will loose interest real fast
#22
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Originally Posted by MaYnard5000
I think I remember weighing the dash when it was out and it was 20lbs.
And yes the stock dash is like 20 lbs, pretty light already.
#23
Originally Posted by felixwankel88
so if u removed the bumper bars then it wont make much diffrence if u crash
#24
I'll blow it up real good
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Just a thought, I'm not sure what year your car is, but the series 5 dashes are about 15-20 lbs. (guestimating) heavier than the series 4 dashes. I have one of each from old parts cars. There is no exterior difference between the two but the series 5 has much more plastic and metal bracing etc. under the 'skin' for some reason.
You could switch to the lighter if you wanted. Sure is a ton of work just for a few pounds though.
I'd be interested in a cf dash if you ever got one together.
You could switch to the lighter if you wanted. Sure is a ton of work just for a few pounds though.
I'd be interested in a cf dash if you ever got one together.
#25
The mystery of the prize.
those of you saying the s4 dash is light, check again. It may be lighter than S5, I cannot measure that myself, but it surely is not light.
I weighed the dash out of my 87 gxl and it was 40 lbs, with the gauge cluster and HVAC controls installed, the stock speakers and amp configuration also. no stereo/head unit.
You can get the weight down by pulling out the speakers and amp, but it's still relatively hefty. Even the steel frame it is built around is not that heavy. The bulk of the weight is in the dash itself. If you were removing all the HVAC stuff it would make sense to make a new dash that has only gauges and a switch panel for all the remaining accessories, you could do it in 10lbs or less if you keep it simple and use light materials.
I weighed the dash out of my 87 gxl and it was 40 lbs, with the gauge cluster and HVAC controls installed, the stock speakers and amp configuration also. no stereo/head unit.
You can get the weight down by pulling out the speakers and amp, but it's still relatively hefty. Even the steel frame it is built around is not that heavy. The bulk of the weight is in the dash itself. If you were removing all the HVAC stuff it would make sense to make a new dash that has only gauges and a switch panel for all the remaining accessories, you could do it in 10lbs or less if you keep it simple and use light materials.