1B> power mirrors
2B> Security lamp

1C> rear defrost
2C> power antenna (?)

 

1a is probably power windows
2a is power locks (if you lock the driver door, the passenger door will lock
3a not sure

1b power window control
2b anti-theft light

1c and 2c, both of those are probably for the power radio antenna

 

Roberto, at the first rally cross I'll look through your car again and try to find stuff to tear out. My S5 turbo with full interior and a roll bar weighs 2700 lbs...

what's your car at now weight wise?

look over at josh18_2k's thread on no-rotors. His v8 XP FC weighs 2490 lbs... he's done pretty substantial lightening to the front end.
http://www.norotors.com/index.php?topic=10137.30

 

The door moldings are glued on. As is the front fender trim pieces. But they are GLUED on their and take quite abit of work to get them off without bending sheetmetal or peeling off the paint. It's worth it though as they are solid rubber/plastic and quite heavy. I htink the front and rear trim peices are integral to the bumper.

As far as the electricals go...if the connectors aren't connected to anything and the car still works then obviously you don't need the wires!

Good luck,
Crispy

 

Thanks everyone for the help.

I was able to remove about 6-8 lbs of weight between the crapload of wires/connectors/clips and the antenna itself.

It was easier than what I thought, but it did take me a lot of time since I always try to do everything really neat and finished looking.

Now I will try and figure out how to remove the cold start crap as well as some other engine bay items.


Mike, I will see you at the next rallycross Congrats on your trophy!

BTW, here is mine and Gorka's!





Oh, and Gorka lost his first place to another RX7. So it is all good

 

Leaving the back hatch open will cause exhaust to flow into the cockpit. Carbon monoxide poisoning can result.

 

What about a lighter battery?

I've done lexan all around, and fabricated a kevlar rear hatch frame. There was a bit of weight saved there. 1/8" lexan can also simply be bent and riveted into place to the stock rear frame after some careful cutting. The same holds true for the side windows, which would also allow you to remove the crank assembly for each window.
The windshield can be replaced with 3/16" lexan, again, riveted in place.
Lexan sheets can be bought extremely cheap, but they do have increased maintenance costs.
You'll save around 65 lbs swapping to lexan. Roughly another 15lbs if you make your own rear hatch frame.
If you don't want to tackle this yourself, I think forum member jgrewe makes them.

Stock intake manifold, throttle body, etc weighs around 35 lbs. Fabricating a working manifold assembly would save some weight.

There is a couple lbs of heat shields under the car.

A stand alone EMS can remove a few lbs, and add a few horses to an N/A to boot.

You can cut the spot welds off of the speaker mounts on the rear shock towers, maybe 4 lbs there in sheet metal.

You can cut out and weld in a piece of sheet metal to replace the spare tire well. A few lbs there.

 

Looking at your pictures... you can pull off the rear spoiler, as well as the passenger side mirror (not required to be street legal; it was an option on chevy sprints).

 

scathcart, I have been trying to get a lexan hatch for a while, but got no luck.

The only couple I found for sale, they were $500 used.....

Other things like the spoiler, passenger side mirrors and the like are two small of savings to make the car look dorkier.


Now, I was thinking about removing the Charcoal canister and the lines going to the engine and fuel tank, but I wonder if I will have to do something on the engine side (I will just put an air filter on the line coming out of the fuel tank).

 

build it yourself for next to nothing. Take your time cutting the shape of a flat piece of lexan, then, starting at the middle, drill and pop rivet it into place. Should be well under $100, and the curve should be pretty close to the stock glass shape.

 

From what I have read on the forums. The glass is the light part. The actual frame is the one that weighs 55 lbs...

The only thing I do not like is that if I get the fiber one, I would have to pick up and leave the hatch on the ground each time I open it. Besides, I think it stops being a locked hatch and could be opened at any time with a screw driver.

 

The latch mechanisms for the hood and rear hatch together weigh about 10lbs ~ 5lbs each. If you use pins you don't need them. Security is another issue altogether...but this is a racecar right?

Regards,
crispy

 

Removed:

- Excess wiring around the car.
- Radio Antenna
- Evap Canister and hardware/lines
- Air Pump with tubes and lines
- Cold Start reservoir and hardware.

Total weight savings: Around 25 lbs

 

You said it's a street car, licensed and insured.

The roll cage is not good to have unless you're in a harness and wearing a helmet. Just saying.
And I wouldn't go apeshit with weight reduction. Some things will make it less pleasant as a street driven car. It would be wiser on a dedicated race car.

I'd focus on getting a little more power and maybe wheels/tires/suspension (not sure where you're at there). Or maybe save the money for more track time and/or rally events and trips to them.

Just IMHO.

 

It is a street car, but not a daily driven car.

The reason why it is a street car is so I can drive it back and forth to small events like rallycross.

The car is logbooked, so it has proper harness, seats and other equipment.

Less pleasant drive? Try using RB headers on a car with no sound deadening

 

Been there, done that, on a HBP to boot. lol

 

Not quite. I removed all of the tar in my project and weighed the box that I put it all in and it came to 37lbs. That includes firewall tar (behind the dash), too.

There's a british company that does lexan for FCs, but it's not super cheap. They do all 4 windows, too.

If you take a look at my build thread (linked in my sig), you might get some more ideas there.

 

Hmmmm.... I haven't looked into that myself and am skeptical. Glass is heavy.

 

Thanks for the info on the Tar weight.

The problem is that I cannot remove the dash without breaking it because the roll cage goes through it.....
So I cant really remove the tar or a piece of carpet and foam that is around that area.

 

I have a method I use for removing tar that would enable you to get most of the firewall stuff without removing the dash...if you can get the carpet out of the way.

If you use crushed dry ice, in a black trash bag. You can hold it against the tar for a few seconds then just smack it with a hammer...off it comes. I used the trash bag method for my entire car. It allows you to get all of it with minimal hassle. Also, it has the bonus of making the dry ice safer to handle and makes it last longer.

 

We have done the dry ice trick on a drift truck we have. But I was wondering how much the tar actually insulates the cabin from noise....

If it isnt much, I would remove it all, if it actually works, I might as well leave it there. I am guessing that you removed the tar with the carpet and insulation, so I do not think you were able to check sound levels after removing each. Did you?

 

just to be curious, a roll cage is about 200-300 lbs?? any exact weight?

 

Roberto, I've seen a few threads recently that there is apparently ~70-80 lbs in the doors if you completely gut them. you have door bars... so I don't think it's a problem.

 

Also, make a new exhaust with only 1 muffler.... your dual exhaust weighs a lot.

 

Remove flash to pass lenses and cut out the openings, then rivet aluminum filler plates to the bumper and/or mount a GoPro in one of the openings.

Remove the "door guard" molding.



Also you could always make your own lightweight hatch.
What you would need: Lexan, Large oven, A Rear Hatch Mold/Form, U channel Rubber Gasket and/or adhesive weather-stripping(optional but recommended), T channel Aluminum, aluminum plate or strips and rivets/bolts.

The hardest part would be building the mold/form(you could use the glass but I'm paranoid when it comes to glass) other than that it just takes time and not overheating the lexan.

Once you've got a form, cut the lexan to shape and lay it on top of the form, then heat it up till it droops in place (google how to do it)

Seeing as to how large the rear hatch is, you'd probably be better off doing a 3 piece hatch design similar to an FB, that way you would only have to form the sides which would could probably be done with just a heat gun. Plus should something get damaged to the point where it's unusable you only have to replace a portion of the hatch.

Anyways, if you do use a 3 piece design wrap the edges of the lexan in rubber U channel Gasket (optional, but if it's in the rain I would seal it up!) Make a few "strips" out of aluminum plate to bind the side windows to the inside of body, bolt or rivet the T channel to the side pieces and then bolt the central lexan piece to the hinges using aluminum as a washer.

Place weatherstripping on the "unused" edge of the T channel and then to secure the Central lexan piece however you want. You could also remove the hinges, create a few aluminum brackets and just use pins to hold the central portion.


I wish I still had my Eagle Talon TSI so I could show you what I'm talking about, my description kinda sucks, lol