Since the white bird is slated to be a Pikes Peak hillclimb car (2WD Time Attack Class) I am wondering how much weight I can expect to shed from a simple "Stage I" gutting of the interior. Panels / Carpet / Seats / Dash / etc...
"Stage II" will involve replacing the windows (removing power window ) and getting a full fiberglass front clip, (hood / fenders / front end) trunk lid, and fuel cell.
"Stage III" Lighter drive shaft / Flywheel / Wheels
Here is what I am guessing
Stage I = 300lbs +/-
Stage II = 350 to 400lbs +/-
Stage III = 25 to 50lbs +/-
Total race weight goal = 2500 to 2800 lbs +/-
Any other suggestions from those who have actually done this are appreciated!
se out the sound deadening that at least 20 lbs, the bumper reinforcements and the impact shocks are good for another 75 lbs
Wow, that's alot of dead weight!
Thanks!
what is it? TC, 5.0?
It's a turbo coupe.
I gave up on the 5.0 scene after I got my first 2.3t haha :burnout:
After I sed the sound dampening material off the backside of a stock carpet, I put it all in a garbage bag then weighed it at roughly 40pounds!
The Carpeting itself only weighs about 8 pounds now. ;)
That was a 4eye interior though, Dunno about 87-88 Carpeting.
ah.. i was going to say try finding some aluminum heads because that'd save you quite a bit of weight lol
if its not gonna see street duty, pull the impact beams out of the doors too.
also, i would swap stgII and stgIII around. rotating weight is more important than sprung weight. i.e. do the "free" weight removal, then when it comes time to spend money on getting lighter, spend it on rotating mass first.
Do a side exit exhaust with no lers... lol.
If you want to be competitive, go all out. I think that if you went with a aluminum headed 5.0 you could be faster for less, but since you already have the 2.3 do it.
I would pull everything. You can put it all back if you want to street drive it again.
just the sound deadener glued to the floor came out to 38# in the 87 lx(?) I have. Carpet itself was 40#. I'm going through the same stuff right now trying to loose weight for autox instead though. 2800# should be pretty easy I think.
it's a shame i don't live out closer to you.. i'd love to set my GoProHD in car camera up and catch an in-car video :D my life long dream is to run pikes peak, even if i have to do it in a yugo hahah
When would this take place? I'm not exactly close, but I would love to see a pikes peak and fellow cougar owner.
Wow, I didn't think the sound deadener would add up to that much. I thought about sing it off but got lazy when I thought about how much there is. I may just have to get to it. I have some weight reduction done : 2.3T in place of 5.0, removed carpet and padding, all interior panels, deleted heater and ac, removed all ducting and excess stuff from behind dash, removed rear seats and installed manual seat tracks on the front, and a few things in the engine bay. I haven't weighed it yet but I am hoping it weighs in around 3000.
The hillclimb takes place in July of every year. Although, I am not sure if I will have the car ready by next year. Also, I have to start doing autox / other racing events to get good at driving. I don't want to drive off a cliff LOL
Pikes Peak will be fully paved by 2012 I think it is. At that point, the competition should get VERY intense.
BOOOOOO!!!!!!! not cool :mad:
Yeah I know...
welp if you want to attend an older and more local race check this out
NO GUARD RAILS AT ALL
I am from Vermont btw, so I will probably be attending this east coast hill climb :]
http://vtcar.com/2010-09-14/2572/
It's going to have the stinger 3 inch, but it's going to be a straight pipe. Anyone know of a sturdy driveshaft to maker?
check your local transmission shops.. you'd be surprised what kind of stuff they can make
man i wish my buddy josh still has his GTI :( i'd do that in a heartbeat
Backseat, passenger seat, all carpet and padding, all the glued down soundproofing in the interior AS WELL AS the trunk. Take out every stich of molded plastic interior trim as well save for the dash.
FWIW -- I'd leave the side impact beams. More weight to be shaved by removing the power window motors and door lock actuators.
Take out ALL the glass and window trim. ALL OF IT.
In short -- strip it as if you were going to part it out, but leave the drivetrain, dash, column, wheel, and driver seat along with the sheetmetal.
i say ditch the dash too, if it's just a toy.. a nice aluminum dash will save you a few pounds and give it that sinister race car look ;)
Yeah I think I will leave the stock dash, should save me a lot of time in the long run. :bowdown:
Good luck on the 2800lbs
I've gutted my Blk car out pretty well :Door beams,sound deadning,trunk sheet metal
light weight seats and it weights #3200lbs with me in it.
My car weighs just over 2900lbs(w/out my fat butt) I have 2 amps, 1 10" sub, and full interior, it can be done, I think you could see 2600-2800lbs with the right stripping. don't wreck your car or it will fold in half. lol
Try removing the bumpers and cutting out all the center junk if you have access to cutting torches.
All you really need is enough meat to hold up the bumper covers and support the mounts right??? LOL
4eyes seem to weigh less and seem to do better with reductions than 87-88's, Maybe its just me. :dunno:
oh, yeah I forgot what year he was doing
X2 on the 4 eyes. I firmly believe there is a couple hundred pounds, even stock compared to the later years.
i would have guessed the blkcat was lighter than that. my TC is 3199 with half tank of gas, no driver. it still has door beams and a full interior minus the loose sound material.
i think 2800 is doable with a race car type of gutting. no glass, no interior, no extra wiring, no stock crash parts, etc.