Pro's and Con's OF REMOVING STUFF FOR WEIGHT jeez.
02-22-2010, 08:42 PM
#1
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Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 21
Total Cats: 0
Pro's and Con's OF REMOVING STUFF FOR WEIGHT jeez.
Of doing major weight reduction.
I like to drive my cars as much as possible and really don't mind extra noise
or heat. How far do most guys go with removing weight.
When I first got the ca rI planned on removing most non essential (to me) systems.
A/C and Heat along with all controls and under dash parts.
Smog equip.
Radio and speakers
Carpet
Replace seats with lighter race units
door panels and windows along with all hardware
Top??
Spare Tire and Jack
Any other stuff that can be removed?
I like to drive my cars as much as possible and really don't mind extra noise
or heat. How far do most guys go with removing weight.
When I first got the ca rI planned on removing most non essential (to me) systems.
A/C and Heat along with all controls and under dash parts.
Smog equip.
Radio and speakers
Carpet
Replace seats with lighter race units
door panels and windows along with all hardware
Top??
Spare Tire and Jack
Any other stuff that can be removed?
Last edited by mike90miata; 02-22-2010 at 09:10 PM.
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02-22-2010, 09:42 PM
#7
Cpt. Slow
iTrader: (25)
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Oregon City, OR
Posts: 14,175
Total Cats: 1,129
You WILL regret saying that, and you will also have no hair on your shin. Honestly the carpet isn't heavy enough to justify removing for a street car, and that's ignoring the fact that it keeps the interior much quieter and cooler. A dash cut in half like mine with no radio/hvac is a big loss, along with AC, PS, soft top, as is cutting all the unnecessary wires out of the harness. That last one is a bitch, I've only gotten the easy stuff so far.
I've done it all except for keeping the door cards on, the above mentioned partial wiring job, and I've kept the heater. You can operate it by hand easily by reaching under the dash. The door cards are cardboard and a little vinyl, and are well worth the weight gain since you won't have to deal with that goo under them.
All the info I gained about the cut dash comes from Keith's Targa build. I thought I had posted some pics somewhere, but I can't seem to find them. Oh well. Beyond loosing the radio and easy access to the heater controls, I don't see why someone couldn't live with this in a daily driver. Aesthetically it would benefit from a custom carpet set, as I think it exposes some seams.
I've done it all except for keeping the door cards on, the above mentioned partial wiring job, and I've kept the heater. You can operate it by hand easily by reaching under the dash. The door cards are cardboard and a little vinyl, and are well worth the weight gain since you won't have to deal with that goo under them.
All the info I gained about the cut dash comes from Keith's Targa build. I thought I had posted some pics somewhere, but I can't seem to find them. Oh well. Beyond loosing the radio and easy access to the heater controls, I don't see why someone couldn't live with this in a daily driver. Aesthetically it would benefit from a custom carpet set, as I think it exposes some seams.
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02-23-2010, 06:53 AM
#12
I've had mine down to nothing but the essentials:
Dash bar
Steering wheel
Race bucket
Zip tied gauges
No A/C
No PS
No carpet
No passenger seat
No spare
No rollbar (just harness bolt-in crossbar)
No radio
No dash
No heater
It was very agile, somewhat quicker, noisy but not bad, and could get hot. Worst was feet sliding on floorpan, windows fogging in the rain, never could take a passenger, and boring 1.5hr trips with no tunes.
Here's what I eventually put back in:
Heater
Reflectix insulation instead of heavier foam/fiber junk
Floor and shelf carpet
Rollbar
Dash
Door cards
Center console
Radio
Pax seat
This is the list for a far you have to put up with one the street. You could reconsider the radio. Now that I've heard everything on my iPod 20 times I'm thinking about taking it out. I still don't have a spare, and have had an undriveable flat since then.
I do not miss PS at all, actually prefer manual rack. I've hardly ever had cars with A/C, and this is the easiest one to live with being a convertible and all.
My only remaining weight reduction is to get rid of the barn doors, and it's more for aesthetics and space than weight I believe.
A stripped down car is fun...for about a month.
Dash bar
Steering wheel
Race bucket
Zip tied gauges
No A/C
No PS
No carpet
No passenger seat
No spare
No rollbar (just harness bolt-in crossbar)
No radio
No dash
No heater
It was very agile, somewhat quicker, noisy but not bad, and could get hot. Worst was feet sliding on floorpan, windows fogging in the rain, never could take a passenger, and boring 1.5hr trips with no tunes.
Here's what I eventually put back in:
Heater
Reflectix insulation instead of heavier foam/fiber junk
Floor and shelf carpet
Rollbar
Dash
Door cards
Center console
Radio
Pax seat
This is the list for a far you have to put up with one the street. You could reconsider the radio. Now that I've heard everything on my iPod 20 times I'm thinking about taking it out. I still don't have a spare, and have had an undriveable flat since then.
I do not miss PS at all, actually prefer manual rack. I've hardly ever had cars with A/C, and this is the easiest one to live with being a convertible and all.
My only remaining weight reduction is to get rid of the barn doors, and it's more for aesthetics and space than weight I believe.
A stripped down car is fun...for about a month.
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02-23-2010, 08:16 AM
#13
Mine's pretty light. It does make a big difference in the handline and speed. I could still get it lighter, but my class has a minimum weight. I have considered putting head and tail lights back on and putting it on the street, but it certainly wouldn't be a DD.
Things that save a decent amount of weight:
These are just numbers I'm trying to remember, so they may not be the most accurate
Doors 100lbs for the pair
Soft top 35lbs
front bumper/front frame rails 50lbs
trunk floor/frame rails, inner bumper 70lbs
windshield 35lbs
trunk lid has a lot of weight to remove
Seats are heavy
Dash, heater, dashbar, etc save a significant amount of weight.
Things that save a decent amount of weight:
These are just numbers I'm trying to remember, so they may not be the most accurate
Doors 100lbs for the pair
Soft top 35lbs
front bumper/front frame rails 50lbs
trunk floor/frame rails, inner bumper 70lbs
windshield 35lbs
trunk lid has a lot of weight to remove
Seats are heavy
Dash, heater, dashbar, etc save a significant amount of weight.
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02-23-2010, 06:49 PM
#20
Elite Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Colorado
Posts: 1,642
Total Cats: 36
I am fairly crazy in terms of what I call DDable. My last car was 3000Lbs and AWD and nose heavy and I still put a manual rack in it, no AC (38 mile commute in PHX @ 2:30PM stop and go traffic in July-Hooray) no interior behind the front seats, no cruise, no radio for a long time, and so on. It had an 11lb flywheel and a 6 puck clutch in that stop and go too, which I really did not mind. I also had a 92 Mighty Max that was among the most ghetto hoopties I saw in PHX, and that is really saying something. I sold it for 100 bucks and it was still runningish too.
But I would never consider going without a heater for the defrost of the windows if a car sees any street duty. Thats fairly dangerous when you really think about it.
AC is a no brainer I agree. Not only is it heavy, it's parasitic drag (not much but some) and an extra pile of crap in your way when you are working as well. I ditched cruise controll to, and the throttle was much beter in terms of feel too as well as freeing firewall space. Ditching PS was almost as good as AC because of the room it freed up.
But things like interior bits are not really going to make much diff. Honestly some plastic and rubber is not significant next to things like ac and PS. Bumprs certanly are, especially with where that mass is located, but if I had a family to take care off I would not consider it unless I had a good cage. So internal door stuff and dash stuff maybe, but I would leave the carpet around your feet in place or replace it with something else.
But I would never consider going without a heater for the defrost of the windows if a car sees any street duty. Thats fairly dangerous when you really think about it.
AC is a no brainer I agree. Not only is it heavy, it's parasitic drag (not much but some) and an extra pile of crap in your way when you are working as well. I ditched cruise controll to, and the throttle was much beter in terms of feel too as well as freeing firewall space. Ditching PS was almost as good as AC because of the room it freed up.
But things like interior bits are not really going to make much diff. Honestly some plastic and rubber is not significant next to things like ac and PS. Bumprs certanly are, especially with where that mass is located, but if I had a family to take care off I would not consider it unless I had a good cage. So internal door stuff and dash stuff maybe, but I would leave the carpet around your feet in place or replace it with something else.
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