So i've stripped my interior now and im left with the dash and im not sure what in there is worth taking out to make a real savings in weight. Aside from the dash anyone else got some ideas on where i can drop weight?

 

I assume you've stripped out the sound deadening material. If this is going to be a race car you could replace the glass with lexan and replace the seats with fiberglass or carbon buckets. The stockers are around 50lbs vs a 15-20 pound race seat. Toss the passenger seat for drag racing. You don't need ride-alongs.

 

Yeah im doing the seats for sure but im not sure about the lexan, ive heard its pretty expensive. Is it much work taking out all the AC stuff from in the dash?

 

just start trimming metal till youre happy with the weight haha

 

ac components should be fairly accessible once the glovebox is removed... assuming that it is removeable like it was in the fc.

 

Jump on the scale , if you have room to lose , jump on the treadmill. This could be your best bet for removing weight from your ride .

kidding of course, but I did know a guy who was 300 lbs and was trying to do what you are doing

 

I always find it amusing watching these really big guys stuff themselves into tiny little sports cars. It'll go faster if it's not at it's gross weight with just a driver.

 

hahahaha, thats why they swap out the rotary for a v8, to be able to push their bulky mass down the street.

 

not sure if its an ac or heat component but there's a mechanism right of the center of the dash that you have to remove the whole dash in order to get to

 

Don't remove the heater core/blower motor unless you'll never see frost/condensation. Plus it's good to have if you're getting close to over heat.

Get some dry ice, use a leather glove and a hammer and take out the sound deadening. It's 20-30 pounds.

 

Where would you get dry ice? I cant think of anywhere to go for that haha, so from searching around the forum I guess theres not to much to take off of these cars to get them even lighter really aside from replacing body parts with lighter weight materials, i guess i gotta start saving!

 

Glad to know we keep you amused. (6'7" 295lbs and dropping) You should watch me drive a Miata



I was 320 when I bought my car back in 2009 and while it's been down for a year, I decided losing 60lbs would make it a bit easier to fit a bucket into the car and lighten up the car a little more...among you know...obvious health and fitness benefits.

Though I stripped my car completely because it was half stripped when I bought it and wasn't going to be worth the money or time to try and put more stuff back into it, car was already borderline full retard...just finished the job. But it's also not my daily driver anymore.

If you want to, strip behind the dash, I imagine when I did mine we pulled 30-40lbs worth of HVAC and Ducting from behind the dash...it weighs all of about 12lbs now. I will say this though, take ALL the ducting out EXCEPT the very outside vents you can separate them from the rest and keep the flapper doors that allow fresh air into the car so even without a blower motor once the car is moving you can keep air flowing in the car.

We went from that at 25lbs:


To that at 8lbs (gauge cluster and glove box are going back in):

 

so even if i remove my blower motor my windows wont fog up if i dont remove the outside vents only?

 

Your windshield will still likely fog up but you have the choice to either wipe off the windshield in the morning and roll with the windows down or just keep everything for the sake of having the heater and blower motor.

I kept the fresh air vents soley because I ALWAYS drive with the windows down unless it's raining, in the event that it rains it's still nice to have some kind of air moving inside the car with the windows up, this allows that to happen.

 

i like the way you think sir i believe i will follow your example

 

I've tried searching but cant find the answer, when you remove the rats nest, how much weight does that drop?

 

Well the rats nest includes the air pump, the ACV, as well as the mess of solenoids and vacuum hoses on the top of the engine. Maybe 10-15 lbs, but that's a guess based on the fact that the air pump is fairly heavy. The rest isn't at all. It's main benefit is a less cluttered look on top of the engine.