no, you just connect the two fittings on the rack to eachother (AKA loop the lines) and plug everything on the gear/valve housing of the rack.

 

its pretty simple to remove A/C completely. you can have a mechanic remove the refrigerant from the system (or you could purge the toxic stuff into the atmosphere = bad!), then disconnect each of the lines one by one and remove the A/C components piece by piece. its a good 20-30 pounds of lines and units.

if you want to remove it all, there is a unit under the dash behind the glove box that should be replaced with a tube/hose from a non-A/C car in order to get the most weight savings. you could find that tube/hose at a junkyard or from someone parting out their car, it conencts the blower motor to the heater controls/vents when the A/C unit is removed from the dash.

 

where can i get lexan?

 

BUMP for the lexan hatch question. Ive been thinking about that for a while since the hatch weights 60lbs. I always forgot to ask on here. Google didnt help much.

 

About that P/S remoiving.....

Is the same manual rack that's in the 7 the same as other models. Or is it RX7 specific? Could I take a rack out of a Miata or something if I can't find a RX7?

 

http://iscracing.net/body_kit.htm

 

You can just plug the PS rack and use that with no PS until you can get ahold of a stock rx7 manual rack if you want, or just use the plugged PS rack even. I have removed PS and am using a PS rack still, no problems at all no big deal. I'm not sure if there are any manual racks out there than will just drop in without modification of some sort, I'm going to doubt it.

 

Corksport also sells a lexan rear hatch, which comes with an anti-scratch coating.

 

Don't forget wheel weight folks, they make a difference in acceleration beyond just the reduction in total vehicle weight. Rotational inertia is greatly reduced with lighter wheels / tires, and a smaller tire diamater (for example, by running something like 205/50/15 Falken Azenis tires on stock 15" rims) gives the effect of a taller rear end ratio. I guarantee you my car accelerates faster on its autocross rims/tires which have a ~ 23" total diamater, as opposed to stockers with 24.5" diamater. Bling bling 17's have a TON of rotational inertia and will slow down the car when it accelerates or brakes.

Don't let yourself get spanked at the dragstrip by some base model FC with stock rims and smaller than normal diameter tires! Bling is not necessary for FC's. Contrary to popular belief, bling + FC does not = hott chix.

 

Why stop there? Titanium wheel studs and wheel lugs too! Every ounce counts in rotational weight!

 

true that.....upgrade to the 4 lug setup and get the 14 inch phone dialers

 

Titanium lugs make about as much sense as putting a lexan sunroof in, the lugs are on a radius of about 2.25" from the center, compared to most of the rim weight being 7.5" out. The rotational moment of inertia is porportional to the radius squared, meaning that a pound of weight 10" away has 100x the effect on rotational acceleration compared to a pound an inch away. Titanium lugs wouldn't give you anything, I'd rather run titatinum valve stem caps, haha. j/k

Stock S5 15" rims are very light just like BBS vert rims (~12lbs ea.), and don't forget tire weight. Potenza RE92s are pretty light.

Stock 14's are 13.5lbs and are pretty light but the BBS or S5 5 star 15's are the best stock rims for weight vs. size IMO. If you have so much power that you need 16's, the S5 TII / GTUs rims are about average at 18ish lbs, but FD rims are the best choice in that size at 13-16.5lbs if you are willing to run spacers.

 

I've had both the 4 lug and 5 lug hubs / brakes on my car and let me tell you, I couldn't tell a damn bit of difference in the weight of each type. The big breaks on 5 lug hubs are aluminum while the small brakes on 4 lug cars are steel. I've held each type in my hand and couldn't tell which was which if I wasn't looking........

Look at your FC from an engineering standpoint guys, it's pretty simple. Listen to your inner physicist and analyze the car's performance potential with mental free-body-diagrams and equations of equilibrium, it's not hard.