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 shit 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? |
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 shit 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. |
I think I remember weighing the dash when it was out and it was 20lbs.
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Plexiglass looks shitty comapred to glass.. And no he's not trying to kill himself, bumper beams do nearly NOTHING after 5MPH..
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yes escpecially considering that there made of many layers of fiberglass
there heavy though |
put an aluminum pole in there. light as hell.
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Originally Posted by SirCygnus
put an aluminum pole in there. light as hell.
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make one
post pics make more sell it ??? profit |
Originally Posted by SirCygnus
put an aluminum pole in there. light as hell.
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If you build it (and it looks good), they will come.
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Originally Posted by LizardFC
If you build it (and it looks good), they will come.
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Originally Posted by pengarufoo
...and say it's too expensive.
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so if u removed the bumper bars then it wont make much diffrence if u crash
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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). |
I've taken out the dash and its not that heavy at all. Its up to you if you wanna go through all that trouble only to save maybe 10lbs at most.
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i got an FC dash sitting in my driveway right now, it weighs maybe 30 lb's... maybe slightly more...
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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
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i was thinking of putting aluminum pungees in my bumpers.. that way if someone rearends me, theyll be a car-kabob
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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. |
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. |
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
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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. |
Originally Posted by felixwankel88
so if u removed the bumper bars then it wont make much diffrence if u crash
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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. |
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. |
yeah I might be interested in a fibreglass one that was light and easy to install and had removable guage windows for multiple guages and the logicon. I also like the idea of being able to remove it in 10min or less. the stock one has lots of screws and parts and I wanna be able to pull my carpet for cleaning and not have to worry about not being able to put the dash back in. I too am obsessed with wieght reduction. The car I really want is a Lotus Elise. need a better job for that.
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Originally Posted by pengarufoo
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. A properly made cf dash would probably be only a few pounds. |
Originally Posted by JamesWade2002
The stock one has lots of screws and parts and I wanna be able to pull my carpet for cleaning and not have to worry about not being able to put the dash back in. I too am obsessed with wieght reduction.
I thought you said just stuff that makes it run.... Get real. |
Originally Posted by RX-Heven
There is a significant weight difference between the two series of dashes. The gutted series 4 dash (metal frame still in there) couldn't be much more than 10 pounds. The Series 4 uses thinner gauge steel for it's bracketry/bracing/tubing than that of the series 5, not to mention there is just less of it in the earlier dash. Otoh, the gutted series 5 probably weighs around 25 pounds.
A properly made cf dash would probably be only a few pounds. |
if you guts are that hard-core about weight reduction, just take the dash out all together. unless you have acces to a large scale vacume press to properly for a CF peice that big, no dash is gona look no worse than any 1/2 assed atempt at a CF one.......
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Originally Posted by andrew lohaus
if you guts are that hard-core about weight reduction, just take the dash out all together. unless you have acces to a large scale vacume press to properly for a CF peice that big, no dash is gona look no worse than any 1/2 assed atempt at a CF one.......
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Just to input on the bumper beam subject, I am a body man and i own a collision repair shop, a buddy of mine had a 89 honda crx that was stripped for racing but he drove it on the street, it was minus a front and rear re-bar among other things. One day driving home from the srtip bar he got in a seemingly light collision in the city doing about 45 - 50 kms an hour and let me tell you, ive never seen a car going that slow in to a stationary object (pole) get crushed that badly, needless to say it was totaled. i have nothing against taking them out i just wanted to say that they are there for a purpose and do an amazing job at that purpose
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on the subject of reducing the weight of the dash - simple, pull it out and cut away all the bracing and steel portions possible, it'll be super flimsy but it'll also be as light as it'll get wether its cf or not
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Lightest dash you can get is none at all! Just take it out and mount the gauges onto something else, problem solved. Doesn't look too pretty, though.
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Originally Posted by RX-Heven
Let me get this straight, you are obsessed with weight reduction and are talking about undertaking a major job by creating a new dash to shave only a few pounds but will still have the heavy ass carpet in there?
I thought you said just stuff that makes it run.... Get real. Okay how the hell did I piss you off??? I am free to second an idea when ever I feel like it. maybe I don't like having to hack a stock dash up? maybe i don't wanna keep up with all the stupid little parts in it? Maybe my stocker doesn't fit right anymore after 17 years and I wanna get something new for it? maybe I wanna beat off on your mother!!! don't quote me bith cas! I'm dangerous. |
Alright, lets not start a flame-war here. I was wondering if removing the bumper bars would have any effect on chassis stiffness. I want to build a drift car, so lighter is better, but a friend mentioned that some cars rely on the bumper as part of the unibody. Obviously a drift car cannot sacrifice any chassis stiffness at all, even for weight savings, so would an aluminum replacement bar be a better idea. My thinking is that this would reduce weight while still maintaining the original bracing effects of the stock bumper if any. Any thoughts?
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Originally Posted by JamesWade2002
Okay how the hell did I piss you off??? I am free to second an idea when ever I feel like it. maybe I don't like having to hack a stock dash up? maybe i don't wanna keep up with all the stupid little parts in it? Maybe my stocker doesn't fit right anymore after 17 years and I wanna get something new for it? maybe I wanna beat off on your mother!!! don't quote me bith cas! I'm dangerous.
Second, I mistakingly thought you were the thread starter and were about to embark on a major cf dash project to save maybe ten pounds, yet still have the carpet in there. Obvoiusly, that is not you I now realize. My mistake. Third, only a complete idiot would take the dash out to clean the carpet. Last, the only beating having to do with someones mother is the one your Mother woud give you if she heard what an idiot you are. I might just tell here when she comes over later. Oops, did I quote you again? |
The bumper bar is not an integral part of the stiffness of the chassis. Its just attached to the front with bolts. If you're drifting, I wouldn't remove it. If you get in an accident, you'll just be messing up the car even more.
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Originally Posted by '86_fc_drifter
but a friend mentioned that some cars rely on the bumper as part of the unibody. Obviously a drift car cannot sacrifice any chassis stiffness at all, even for weight savings, so would an aluminum replacement bar be a better idea. My thinking is that this would reduce weight while still maintaining the original bracing effects of the stock bumper if any. Any thoughts?
So replacing the stock fg inners with aluminum would not provide any weight savings if you want the aluminum to provide the same 'protection' as the stockers since the aluminum would have to be pretty thick. The bumper supports do not 'stop' working after 5 mph as someone had mentioned. Their job is to absorb energy at any speed and not just protect the unibody from damage, but to reduce the amount of energy being transeferred to the occupants. |
Originally Posted by RX-Heven
For starters, you didn't piss me off.
Second, I mistakingly thought you were the thread starter and were about to embark on a major cf dash project to save maybe ten pounds, yet still have the carpet in there. Obvoiusly, that is not you I now realize. My mistake. Third, only a complete idiot would take the dash out to clean the carpet. Last, the only beating having to do with someones mother is the one your Mother woud give you if she heard what an idiot you are. I might just tell here when she comes over later. Oops, did I quote you again? okay so you must be one of those rich snobs that has never cleaned up a really nasty car. My FC was junk when I got it. It came from a junkyard. have you ever seen a carpet filled with leaves and vomit?? do you know what its like to try to scrub that shit out and get the smell of smoke out of that shit, ass face? Next time you think you wanna clean your carpet, vacume and scrub all day and then take it out and pin it up at the car wash and pressure wash all the crap out. Then compare the difference. Once again, 16 year old kids that screw up FCs should not have them, I'll probably be buying yours next and bringing it back from the dead. If you think you can finance my mom's spending habits, then by all means take her. She would drain you dry in less than a week and leave you braken and homeless. Take her. Get rid of her. She needs a rich snobby bastard who can't read to ride around with. |
Thanks for the insightful reply rx-heaven, but seriously you guys both look like pretty big losers right now. I wish I had the authority to close a thread.
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Why CF for dash? If you're going all out stripped interior.. use some 1/16" aluminum... couple holes cut in it for gauges and you're done!
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Ok I don't want my thread closed so if you 2 want to bitch then leave this thread do it somewhere else.
Ok back to what I was talking about. Yes I want to make a hardcore light as hell car, and yes all carpet being removed. So what I'm making is a carbon fiber dash thats just going to hold some gauges and switches and maybe hide some electrical stuff behind it. Even though I'm going anal on the lightweight stuff i still want it to look somewhat decent, and I don't know about everone else's dash but mine looks like total ass, its gray to start with and looks like it got warts on it, from heat damage. It won't be hard for me to make these and I have access to everthing needed to make one. I will be pulling the dash out of my parts car to start making a dash to make a mold off of and will hopefully have pics of it soon. Also I will be making some carbon fiber door panels for the interior. Also I do want to say this again this dash will have no spot for HVAC, stock gauge cluster, vents, glove box, ashtray, etc. I will be putting a spot for a 1 din so that you can put a radio in it or something else in there and there will be a place for the idiot lights, hope fully can have that so it can been seen right in front of you instead of off to the side. |
bleh.....all this crap is too expensive for me....and I cannot make anything due to my lack of experience......
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