stevensimon

iTrader: (11)

i want to lighten the load a little bit. i want to help out this poor 12a. i dont want a stripped interior but if there are things i can take out of it while making it look stock, ill do it. was thinking of taking the floor tar out when i get my carpet. tearing some metal out when i redo the door panels. im going to trim some metal supports off the hood and am dumping the air pump and the emissions have already bitten the dust. thinking of replacing the stock wheels with those light weight AL ones. i forget what they are but they run for like 600 a set. the exhaust probably dumped a few pounds, going from a huge muffler and 3 cats to a single small cat and a slimmer muffler. any way to lighten up the suspension? all that cast is heavy ish. anyways... any more ideas would be cool. im going to go get it scaled tomorrow and start her diet over the next month.

inuissus_cendi

remove AC (if you have it and if you can bear the heat in Salt Lake)
you could remove the entire storage bin unit behind the front seats and just re-do the carpet a bit.
remove the spare and carry some tire sealant
plexi hatch glass (from ISC Racing. haven't actually seen how it looks but the weight savings are good)
remove all the unnecessary crap from under the hood (hot start assist, cold start assist, cruise, etc.)
good luck, I would love to see this done well.

Manntis

The storage bin unit doesn't weigh much at all, and removal would take away from his "full interior" theme.

stevensimon

iTrader: (11)

yeah i think i will keep the bins but it doesnt have to be exactly all stock, just enough to fool the unassuming passer-by. so things can be changed/deleted or whatever. ill let you guys know how it goes. any place you fellas know of that sells door seals for a decent price? or how to recover the zink look on hardware and brackets?

MontanaKid

http://www.1aauto.com/1A/Weatherstri...SD00167/390121

innertwist

iTrader: (3)

+
aluminum hood
If you have power steering, replace it with a manual box
If you have the hatch wiper, swap the hatch for one without it
Replace the power antenne with a manual one, or better yet draw conductive lines in the windshield with silver laquer for an antenne.
I don't know since I don't own an FB, but it should be possible to remove the steel bumper beneath the bumper cover.
suspension, you could fab up some aluminum control arms. The trailing arms and watt's links should be fairly easy to fabricate. Plus you could add heim joints while you're at it.
Lose the rear sway bar 8-) (I don't really recommend this)
Some places produce Ti alloy springs. $$$ The weight loss for the price isn't exciting, but lost unsprung weight is good. So far I've only seen them produced for FCs, which could work for the front but doesn't do anything for the rear.

kuhlrx7

I do not think it can be done unless your car is a 81-82 base. there are a lot of things you can do, but to have it still apear stock not likly to get under 2100. good luck though

81gsl12a

iTrader: (1)

i dont know of any1 that makes an aluminum hood.. you could fab 1 up but you can get an FG hood or a CF hood or cut the bracing out of the stock hood

the bumpers are made out of aluminum...

85rotarypower

Its quite hard to get a 1st gen under even 2200lb with a full interior. The best option for a starting point is a 79-80 as they are the lightest from the factory, then go to town just removing all the unneeded stuff. To this date I have only heard of a couple 1st gens under 2100lb being road worthy and not track only cars. The problem is that these cars are just built so solid and they are as light as possible without sacrificing creature comforts from the factory. Without removing the interior and some other parts its not easy to get em very light.

Manntis

stock hoods are fairly light - the weight saved going aluminum is not near worth the expense. CF is, but mainly for the looks

And yup, the bumper bars are lightweight aluminum. The mounting shocks are heavier.

innertwist

iTrader: (3)

alright, aluminum bumper and mounts :-P The SA's have steel bumpers... (why does everything say they're lighter again??? Maybe if you're comparing a 4 speed or to a gsl model...) Either way, with it gone it'll still look stock

Oh yea, it's fiberglass hoods that they have available aftermarket, not aluminum, sorry. Makes more sense than aluminum as far as weight loss anyway. I can think of one site off-hand that I saw them available, demonspeed.com. I've never ordered from them, haven't heard anything good about them, and right now their site appears to be down.

Couple more ideas along the stock look, some even more radical:
bypass and remove the heator core, A/C core, blower motor, and all vent ducts while you're at it.
replacing the sunroof with plexi wouldn't be too noticable. Quarter windows too.
fabriate fiberglass fenders

85rotarypower is right, even with everything mentioned so far you're still not going to be under 2000lbs. You would need to go to the extreme (as if all this weren't enough), ie. converting the frame to tubular aluminum.

stevensimon

iTrader: (11)

... with a record of 0 and 287 but under new management this season.in the red trunks with black stripe we have mr linkey the destroyer weighing in at two thousand four hundered and twenty two pooouuuunds.

thats with me in and my backpack n the car with just over 1/4 tank.

LLLLLLLLLET THE DIET BEGIIIIIIIIIINNN!

Rx-7Doctor

iTrader: (13)

Whats the point of this thread?

stevensimon

iTrader: (11)

to post the weight of my car before i start lightening it. it is the follow up to the sub 2000lbs thread i made a few days ago.

for guys that dont like boxing

stock fb weighs 2420lbs with me and 1/4 tank

Manntis

"
Weight reduction of Fb without gutting of interior
i want to lighten the load a little bit. "



...Pretty self explanatory.

Rx-7Doctor

iTrader: (13)

Well, It is now after I renamed the thread from the original title of something like.
"And in the blue corner". And merged it with the original thread that was started on the subject.

elwood

iTrader: (1)

One piece racing buckets -- OE seats with recliners are heavy by necessity.

Lexan rear hatch -- it's big so you'll get more bang for the buck.

Ditch the spare -- might sound obvious, but it's easy. I carry a can of fix a flat and a AAA Plus card. (I actually ditched the spare because it wouldn't fit over my big brake kit, but you get the idea.)

Aluminum water pump housing from an FC -- saves a few pounds

Lightweight wheels and tires -- you can save a lot of weight here in a hurry. Hoosiers are very light (no steel belts), and some wheels (like Volk Racing) can save you 8 pounds per corner vs some of the heavier aftermarket wheels.

Aluminum driveshaft -- good for a few more pounds; CF is even better, but pricey

The AC system, the AC system -- did I say that twice? The compressor mounting bracket is a boat anchor.

Lightweight battery -- there are lots of racing units that weigh substantially less. You may give up some cranking power.

Manntis

in that case, good work

mr.12a

start running 10 miles when you wake up that'll shed a few more pounds

notveryhappyjack

iTrader: (4)

hgue weight savings to be found in aftermarket seats, my sparco sprint seats weigh just under ten pounds each. stock seats are somewhere int he area of 35 pounds each.

never tried but Im sure the door panels could be lightened a few lb.s

smaller gas tank, 16 gallon tanks weigh so much full, when you could get away with a 8-10 gallon and half the weight.

stock exhaust is very heavy, get a header and test pipe to replace cat(s) and factory exhaust manifold.

I have weighed all three sets of my tires and wheels

factory 13'' 185/70/13 = 27.5 pounds each

factory 14'' le's 195/60/14 = 32 pounds each

kosei K1 15'' 205/50/15 = 32 pounds each

good luck, anything you take out and replace you should weigh and make a list them post back here. Im interested in what you come up with.
-aaron

rolfs_7

i heard about some guy on the 2nd gen forum takin out random nuts and bolts cuz he thought his car had 2many...so yeah start unbolting **** like ur fenders take a couple bolts out have you ever thought of gettin fibreglass fenders on aluminum maybe? how much do the head light units weigh?

rolfs_7

o yeah when we had our robot comp in vocational school we had a weight limit so we had an aluminum body/platform and just drilled holes in the bottom for weight reduction haha could try that.

stilettoman

iTrader: (1)

I was driving my V8 powered 84 the other day and turned on the AC. It didn't seem to cool very well, and I was thinking "it worked fine a few days ago". Then I remembered that a few days ago I was driving my other 84 which still has the AC!

I took out the compressor, condenser and hoses, firewall forward, but it is not worth the trouble to tear the whole car apart to get rid of the evaporator under the dash - it doesn't weigh much. So my switch and indicator light still work, but no cool air.

I think most of the other ideas are just not worth the effort. I am an aeronautical engineer, and I certainly understand the importance of light weight. You will spend a lot of time, effort and money to get rid of 100 pounds, and the main effect will be more noise.

Spend your time and money on performance and handling improvements.

stevensimon

iTrader: (11)

^^ i think i will try to come up with a nice compromise. many performance pieces weigh less than the factory units usually. i am going to ditch the air pump and go to a smaller battery. im going to keep the stock seats but i might shed some metal from them if its safe enough. i dont think i will be looking at FG fenders. thats a lot of work and money and sheetmetal isnt that much in weight. dont worry guys, ill get it handled. at least if i dont make the goal, i will have a clean car and it will be done right. who cares if it means that i am still 100lbs over budget.

i also plan on comparing all replacement parts and removed components, as well as the total weight when im done.

Ricky74

NICE...


Take the AC out and take the heat... take a girl on a date while you are at it
Take the metal in the bumper and eat your engine if you hit something...
Remove extra bolts and have your car rattle like a piece of junk...
replace the hood to loose minimal weigth... that will be costly.

"these cars are just built so solid and they are as light as possible without sacrificing creature comforts from the factory" 85rotarypower...

Best recomendation so far goes to mr.12a...start running 10 miles when you wake up that'll shed a few more pounds.

Just not worth the effort...

Start with reliability mods...