geerookie

With me in it and gas on reserve it weighed 2860#

That is 2670# without me.
I still have to remove, AIR, CATS, rear glass, HVAC box in the car, blower motor, HUD, door glass, power window motors, door bars and install a smaller rad overflow tank.
Then add back in cage w/ NASCAR style door bar and a fire system.
I'm aiming for a 2855# competition weight.
Doesn't look like I will make it, so it might be 2905#

In ST2 this means either 315hp which is where I'm at now or if I end up 2900#'s I can go to 320hp.
I'm leaning towards trying to find the extra 40 or 50 lbs and leaving the HP alone.

What do you think would be better.

I'm working on losing 20lbs myself so that will be part of the 50lbs I need to find.

drivinhard

wow!

I'll send you an email offline

Falcon

If it were me, I'd opt for the lighter weight.

Heck, after all that wiring you removed, you only have one wire left in the car, don't you?

geerookie

Actually 2. The other one is to keep my brain charged while the motor is running. I couldn't use a backup battery as it weighed to much

bowmanized

So what DID you remove? 2650 with glass and air is impressive. Any pics?

wallyman424

yeah, are you completely sure the scales are accurate?

geerookie

I'll take some pictures to post but they probably won't reveal most of the work. As stated in many other places....it was all the many small things that added up.

It does have the AC compressor and condensor removed. It's the AC/Heater box in the car and the heater core and evaperator that are still in.

0RAAMaudio

A huge number of bolts, studs, etc are much longer than needed in these cars, I bet you could take that 20 lbs out, or a good part if it just removing excess material from them, any not needed, etc... Also "slag" in the goo the put some parts of these cars together with, caulking, tabs no longer needed, etc.......

I went from a stock harness and misc modules to one Randy at DRM had made for me, it was around 65 lbs lighter and would od all a race car needs. There is more you can remove in wiring I am sure

Drill a bunch of holes in the trunk lid skeleton and other places, open up the air flow from the engine bay to the area behind the rear wheels, it goes on and on and on, just takes time but costs very little and less weight it always better than more power

Have fun
Rick

geerookie

Thanks Rick. I have removed any unneeded bolts and cut off most of the ones that are too long. I removed all the unused brackets and holders, tabs etc. I have removed all the excess bonding agent etc. I have removed any unneeded fuses, relays, circuit breakers, modules and most of the wires. I could probably remove another 3 - 4 pounds of wire if I keep looking.
Drilling the holes in the trunk lid and hood skeleton is a great idea I haven't thought of...guess what I might do this week.

geerookie

I need to go spend some time with the wife tonight but I will post a list of the things I can remember tomorrow.

0RAAMaudio

Most welcome

My best low weight project so far was back around 12 years ago, full suspension, no weak links, mountain bike, 20.4 lbs. I could of taken at least 1 more lb out but it would of required using parts not quite strong enough(though advertised as better than some more normal parts I knew were better)

Drilling holes is a very old trick, older than I am at 58 probably, I learned in the 70's in my Datsun 510 days, I won many events on low power because I could not afford to do much to the engine but the rules let me take off as much weight as I wanted, practically at least

It is very cool you are going to this level, every once matters even if you have to add it back you can choose where to put it.

I have a none Vette TT car that is 300 lbs lower in weight than stock though caged, most of an interior, two race seats and harnesses on sliders, turbo, IC, etc.........I am considering a mid engine LS swap to it next as the support gear to make a 2.4 have the power I want keeps piling on the weight. Heat takes cooling, cooling can get very heavy, turbos make heat, lots of it.

Rick

Falcon

You could do like Penske and other racers did in the 60's, acid dip the frame. They also dipped the body panels, too, but I don't think our plastic bodies could stand up to that.

drivinhard

the long tubes and X pipe (TPIS and Random Tech) on my 1st 01Z were 25 lbs lighter than the OEM manifolds and Hpipe. that will help a little with front bias to.

I'd put the smallest clutch in there I could.

be curious to see how your car does in ST2 with a lower weight/hp number. I'd be tempted to even try 245's A6s on a 9.5" wheel depending on how low you could go, another .4 adjustment and it might be enough "tire" for a 2800 lb car, especially if you could add a little aero.

too bad the "special" 255 is 1 size too big for the next .4 adjustment cut

Jason

geerookie

I was thinking about trying Z06 manifolds instead of the standard '99 LS1 ones I have. H-Pipe and cat back are already changed.

I'm going to try the SPEC mini Twin for next year. Obviously I don't need the holding power just the size and weight.

Does anyone know of something similar for under 400hp and less money?

Talk about messing with people's understanding of what works....going to 245's and then ending up faster

Wouldn't that be fun

I have been thinking about aero but with the lower HP I don't want to mess with drag and then make myself slower but I do "feel" like I need some downforce. Maybe 40lbs more on the nose and 75lbs more on the back.

geerookie

Here's the list of what I can remember. There is probably more but it didn't come to mind.

Removed:
fog lights, brackets relays and wires
AC Compressor, AC Condenser
AC Compressor bracket and all bolt and relays
Headlights, motors, brackets, bolts and associated wiring and relays
Factory fans and shroud including unneeded relays
windshield washer tank, motor and all hoses including the ones on the wipers
All hood release related cables, brackets, handles and hardware
battery and battery box (15lb battery relocated behind pass. seat on floor)
Air bags and air bag controller
Dash Pad
All inside vents, ducts, mounting tabs and hardware
The column lock motor and assembly
Wiper control stalk (plus it's embarrassing when you hit it accidentally on the track)
Any and ALL interior panels, carpet, covers, mounting tabs, brackets etc.
Door control modules, all relays and wiring associated with them
Door opening handles, locks and rods
Seat belts, brackets, bolts etc.
YAW sensor and Lateral Accelerometer
All stereo stuff, mounts, brackets and wiring
All E-brake hardware, mounts, cables in the car, under the car and on the rear wheels including the dust shields
All the gas door release cables, solenoid, relays and buttons
All wiring inside the rear of the car and related relays except for hatch release and solenoid
Cut out the wheel well thing in the back flush with the frame and put a flat piece of aluminum in the hole. This saved weight but more importantly I can remove the rear-end without having to drop the rear cradle to an extreme angle which is helpful when you don't have a lift!
scraped out every last bit of sound deadening material
removed all interior lights and wiring

Still to Remove this winter:
Heater/AC blower motor assembly and all wiring, relays etc.
Heat exchanger assembly and all water in it and all hoses from water pump etc.
HVAC controls and all wiring
side window glass, motors and my light weight wiring and relays and switches
door bars and excess fiberglass on door interior
AIR system and Catalytic converters
Radiator over flow tank on right front fender
Rear hatch glass and replace with lexan
rear hatch release solenoids, wiring, mounting brackets and relays
5th and 6th countershaft, gears and synchros etc.
Alternator and replace with small racing one

Fastguy

Its not cheap or easy, but removing all of the hardware you can and replacing it with titanium will drop a lot. Think of how much a 5 gallon bucket full of bolts weighs. Trick Titianium used to be a good place to get that stuff. We stripped out one of our race cars and lost a lot of weight switching hardware.

0RAAMaudio

I lost much of my notes, etc, during a major crash that took out my backups as well but there is a member here that is working one, or has completed, a full titanium swap kit that would save some weight for certain.

That is going to be pretty costly obviously but cool factor would be off the scale and weight is weight, less is best, etc.......I was going to use quite a bit of it on my race car, over time at least as budget allowed.

AutobahnRacer

My car is 3016 without me in it. I still have a Sparco passenger seat, but otherwise it's fairly stripped. Stock glass front and rear. Cage weighs a bunch.

geerookie

OK. The season is over for me as of this past Sunday. This means time to remove all the parts I didn't have time to deal with. The car was on the scales about 4 or 5 weeks ago and was 2654lbs without driver and about 3 gallons of gas.
Yesterday and today I have started taking things out:

I have removed the CATS 14lbs
The inside heat exchanger 29.5 lbs
HVAC controls and wiring 4lbs
AIR system....about 7lbs
rear hatch release solenoids, wiring, brackets and relays 9lbs
rear hatch rubber gasket 3.5lbs
Side window glass 9.5ea 19lbs total
motor, guides, cables 4.5lbs ea 9lbs total
door wiring, bolts, nuts and grommets both sides 3.5lbs total
HUD 3.5 lbs
All marker lights, wiring, two of the brake lights and wiring etc. I left the lenses but cut off all the extra plastic. 6lbs

So that is 108 lbs and I'm guessing the rear glass and door bars some more wiring, BCM computer and misc rubber seals etc. are good for another 45 - 60lbs. Hopefully it will end up under 2500lbs before the cage.
It's going to Phoenix near the end of the month. I will have them weigh it before and after the cage and post the weights and some pictures.
This is becoming a bit obsessive but it is kind of fun.