I'd like to see that happen but don't see how it's possible.

 

I'm sure its possible with a large sum of money, but not many of us can afford a tube chassis, so it'd take alot of fabrication.

https://www.rx7club.com/race-car-tec...-frame-511087/

 

Fabrication with a Sawzall! A 1900 lb FC is rediculous.

Just as another data point and because this is one of my favorite articles of all time.
This "Nissan Sentra" weighed 1674 lb in final trim.


Full article here: SCC Technical Assistance Program- Sport Compact Car Web

 

yeah but its a Nissan! notice when you remove the body, it STILL weighs almost as much as a complete miata.

i should dig up the article, but somewhere we've got one about the JGTC Nissans, and they were shaving 66KG from the RB engine blocks.

66kg is a small block V8....

 

a friend is giving me a jig setup to build lotus super 7 replicas based on rotary power plants. talk about a go kart with a rotary engine...

 

Interesting.
You familiar with these guys?

 

i haven't really looked into it, i was at his house and there was a completed lotus 7 under a car cover and a half built chassis on the jig. the owner was going to scrap the jigs and blueprints but my friend saved them and has been trying to find someone interested in them until i asked.

may be a good starting point for the PP 4 rotor to go into.. 500whp in 1500lb chassis, 1/3 horsepower per lb!

 

with 1500lbs just about any engine makes it fast

 

but you're not doing it right unless a tap of the pedal breaks the *** end loose at 100mph.

 

Even Prius? Lol

 

Totally agree...but as far as a list of components to replace to save the most weight, fenders are near the bottom of the list. Theres so much more weight to be saved elsewhere in an FC. Ultimately, in the end, if theres enough budget to save 10lbs for both fenders, do it.

 

my 87 TII stock wheels, no weight reduction. solid rear conversion, power windows/ power sunroof .ls1/th700r4, ten gallon cell full ,nos tank full , 2820.

 

Nice! Yes, a ford 9" is probably as heavy as the stock rear differential assembly alone not to mention the axles/suspension/subframes.

In the FC it seems like they got 50/50 weight distribution by making the rear end incredibly heavy, in the FD they did it by making maintenance items really hard to get to and in the RX-8 they stripped the engine of the ability to make power to lighten it and pushed it so far back its hard to see even after taking the engine covers off.

 

And that has nothing to do with weight reduction. Bottom line is, there isnt much weight to be saved in the fenders.

And as for the door glass that you previously mentioned, coupe window glass weighed in at 9.4lbs. A similiar thickness polycarbonate replacement "should" show ~50% weight reduction. I plan on running side window lexan as thin as possible, maybe the commercially available .093"...actual weight reduction TBA one day.


Blue, I recently weighed a TII rear subframe. It included the subfame (obviously), the diff, diff mount, solid rear diff mounts, axles, spindles, dust covers, all associated bolts, stock arms, all other neccessary bushings, and sway bar end links. No brake rotors, or camber linkage rod.

235lbs. Two hundred thirty five pounds.

 

2800lbs according to the Kwik Trip scale.

 

Was referring to the hatch glass. The complete whole hatch weighs a ton.

 

Yes sir it does...I've heard of some people weight theirs at upwards of 60lbs...mine weighed 41lbs (glass/frame/wiper/shocks).

There was a guy once upon a time that made a fiberglass frame with lexan and it weighed something like 15lbs.

I plan on building one out of very thin lexan also, except aluminum frame...hopefully it will save me some atleast 30lbs.

 

Just weighed the GXL in at the CAT scale. With sound deadening removed, emissions delete, A/C and P/S delete, full interior (leather seats), and 8.2 gallons of fuel it weighed in at 2760lb. Subtract 190lbs for my weight and its sitting right at 2570. Pretty satisfied. I could lose more by removing my carpet (its soiled), getting different seats (expensive), and swapping to an aluminum or carbon/frp hood. The steel one is roughly 55 lbs I believe. :o

 

2,300 pounds

 

lol...you aren't going to be able to lose any more weight without spending a lot of money...

Although, you can cut the frame out of the hood and use hood pins, which would be basically be free.

If you can get your car on a lift, you can blowtorch and wire wheel off about 10 pounds of undercoat on the bottom of the car. Just make sure to paint it again to prevent rust.

You can also use a hole saw to cut holes in things that don't need to be there, which is almost free.... For example, the stereo towers in the rear. Chop up and get rid of the rear interior. If you want to carry stuff in the back, just use a removable pad.

You can also consider taking he heater out...

If you have started weight reduction before you have upgraded the driver's seat, your priorities are a bit out of whack though. If you have $1000 to spend on a car, the driver's seat should always be the first thing you buy.

You could replace the powered antenna with a modern OEM short antenna off another car, assuming you want the radio to work. Don't cheap out though... it should be OEM or don't bother.

 

Valkyrie, I am not too concerned about the weight. As I stated, I am pretty satisfied. I was implying that I could lose some more weight if I chose to buy the items previously listed. The car will only see occasional track use and will be undergoing a TII swap soon.

As for the comment regarding my priorities out of whack; all the weight removal was just due to boredom and low funds over the winter. Had I 1000 to blow, I would of purchased seats.

As for the antenna, I don't care about radio and simply removed the antenna and patched the hole.

My post was simply to state the weight of the car given the modifications for those wondering what they may be close to.

 

My power antenna was bent and wasn't working and so I just bought a manual one from here:
Mazda RX7 Power Antenna Mast 1986-1992, 0000-81-A901, 000081A901

Probably saved 2 or 3 pounds from what I could tell

It's not the best fit, but it worked. It's nice to have a radio when you forget your mp3 player and don't have any good cd's in the car. Also a radio is a safety feature in my opinion.

 

SPI Composites makes fiberglass hatches.

A set of doors and hatch shipped to the east coast is about $2000.