I'm stripping the body down. It will have a roll cage welded in.
I just got the fenders and the bumper off, and I was wondering if there is anything that can be cut / removed, that isn't important to the stiffness of the chassis?

Or, what areas are there that I can lose some weight?

Are there any race specific front glass that are lighter? My front windshield was already damage from a very large rock hitting it, so I removed it. But, because this will be a pure track car, I thought maybe I could replace the windshield with a different material.

 

Doors can be gutted. side impact beam can be removed. You can look in my gallery to see what mine look like. Otherwise I wouldn't remove any metal from the unibody between the suspension (aft of the front struts or forward of the rear shock towers).
Lexan (polycarbonate) windshield.

 

If you are going to be running it in a classed event, I would look to what is allowed. If no rules apply, then you can go nuts.
There is a lot of weight that can be removed from the FC shell, but you will quickly run out of "free" weight loss.
Depending on how far you want to go with it, you should be able to get your NA down to around 2000 pounds.

Hope it helps,
25XP

 

get rid of everything in front of the struts, and replace with tubular members to support body panels, radiator, etc. That should cut quite a bit out. Take a look at any decent drift car to see what I mean. Most of them are built to handle front end collisions, so they can be lightened up.

If you need lights, just use some cheap plastic lights from autozone. They are just as bright as OEM, but with no cutoff lol.

cut out the spare tire well, and all that bracketry that holds in the rear part of the interior. replace with sheet metal. ditch stock rear lights, use plastic autozone lights.

fuel cell should save a bunch, assuming you can keep it from starving mid corner (stock tank requires several gallons, which is wasted weight).

lexan front/rear to replace the glass. 1/4" front and 1/8" rear should be good? Might wanna check with road racers on that one. Will require bracing.

 

I make a 15lb rear hatch and a 15lb hood that fills in the headlight areas. Those two parts will save you over 100lbs. PM me for details.

 

I'm a big fan of walking around race paddocks at NASA events and seeing how people have gutted their cars.

Take some notes and then compare to the class you're in, or that you're working to be in, and decide what's reasonable. Obviously not being street driven any more can open up a lot of options regarding HVAC, dash, windows, hatches, lights, etc.

 

Thanks for the info guys!
jgrewe I may end up PM'ing you about it.

Would love to get the car down to 2k.

 

Ask yourself if every piece you put back on the car is as light as it possible can be. There is alot of weight to be saved everywhere.

 

I'll be looking to cut where I can.
Just not wanting to cut anything vital and ruin stiffness.

I'm trying to avoid replacing stuff with tubes. I've seen some tubular cars, but most of the car has been replaced with tubes, and now it's just the skin of the car, not the actual frame anymore. So, I want to keep it mostly together. Cutting safety stuff is fine with me.

Great idea on the impact stuff in the doors.

Appreciate all the info!

 

Any suggestions for door bar removal?

I was going to cut the inside skin and then get to the bar. I'm considering keeping my glass, but might not. If I do keep it, I'll try and either have them fully up, or fully down, but I'm guessing I can save a good amount of weight by losing them and replacing them with nets.

 

There are about 6 spot welds in the door jam area of the door, front and back edge of the door frame. Drill those out and cut the door bar itself. You dont' need to cut all the way through, just the part that makes it a channel. The flat piece near the door skin itself can be left alone. You are just trying to weaken it enough to bend it in so you can slide it out of the layered door ends.

Slide it out, it weighs 11 lbs.