[Mk2] [Generic] weight loss on an NA tbar with tubby engine??

[jimGTS]

i have found a few threads on weight loss, there are many, and most have some great info.

this is good info from ashley
http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic. ... ss&start=0


it seems i have a pretty good base to start with being an NA car.
but i wondered if anyone could point out some areas i could potentially look into?
im sure this would help others who would also like to keep some creature comforts?

i basically want a job, so thought if i could find 50kg+ to drop, for free, i would do it!

i however am not looking to loose many creature comforts in the cabin.
so interior wise, i would like to keep this how it currently is
(i already run recaro seats/aftermarket wheel, so dropped a tad over stock i imagine?). i still want door cards/carpet/dash

as said the car is originally an NA, SO;
i already run a smaller rad, 1 rad fan
no a/c gubbins at all!

at back ive removed, or replaced stock with;
r/m charcoal canister
knN filter
greddy ic
r/m engine hooks
r/m a/c parts from tubby engine
r/m resistors packs+fp relay (well it didnt come with any!)
berk decat and exhaust
poly engine mounts
added weight with water injection kit.

i imagine anything ive lost in the bay, ive put back on with the w/i kit, lol!

ive decided to remove my ICE (2amps+board+sub), as i simply dont use it being a weekend car, only for long motorway trips i might, so i can prob get away with just using the back speakers with h/u and thats it when i need to.

i wont be going c/f body panels
so any other suggestions??

i guessing im probably 50kg less over an equivalent turbo model, being it was an NA to start with, but is there anymore items i can realistically remove?

**or should i just deal with the fact, ive no real weight to drop??

(i want to stick with my work 17s, so dont plan to drop wheel size)
(i have coilovers, so might weight slightly less than stock?)
(im considering a big brake upgrade more for better braking than weight loss, the WMS kits on here look interesting!)

[craig]

Unless you're going fully stripped out track car, I wouldn't bother if you're going to be leaving the interior in.

[Mullen]

Interesting that nobody has mentioned aluminium or titanium fixings in those threads.
Admittedly they're not cheap and I have no idea how much weight you'd save over the standard nuts & bolts in total or which fixings, [if any] really need to be steel but it is a lot lighter.
Just a thought.

[Donato]

I agree with the above. I've removed a fair bit of weight myself. 50
KG is quite ambitious if your want to keep your interior. There's around 8KG just in sound deadening!

[jimGTS]

How much can realistically be saved in the cabin anyhow?
Surely biggest items are seats and airbag stuff, both of which I've address (more for esthetics than weight tbh)

I guess window electronics and glass? That's a no go.

I'm happy to remove any oem ICE parts, even sound proofing if I can keep the carpet?

Was hoping some rear of car stuff?
Aerial?
Bumper grill?

[Nic]

This may be of help, click the 'Weight Tuning' link http://www.mr-2.com/english/fm_frame.htm

[craig]

How much can realistically be saved in the cabin anyhow?
Surely biggest items are seats and airbag stuff, both of which I've address (more for esthetics than weight tbh)

I guess window electronics and glass? That's a no go.

I'm happy to remove any oem ICE parts, even sound proofing if I can keep the carpet?

Was hoping some rear of car stuff?
Aerial?
Bumper grill?

That's all small fry stuff Jim. Like I say, unless you're going to be dedicated to removing stuff worth removing then, the effort is pointless.

You wanna be looking at stripping the interior, sound deadening, polycarbonate windows, manual winders, fibre glass doors, carbon boot/bonnets with aerocatch pins etc.

removing a bumper grill and the stereo is going to do F all.

[Donato]

The rear firewall carpet is quite very, roughly 5-ish KG. Sound deadening 8KG. Speakers 6KG. So it does start to add up!

[craig]

The rear firewall carpet is quite very, roughly 5-ish KG. Sound deadening 8KG. Speakers 6KG. So it does start to add up!

Yeah, it does, but you'd have to go the whole hog to reap the benefits.

With weight saving, to me, it's 'all or nothing'.

[jimGTS]

Red, I'm not asking to make the car 1000kg, just some good ideas.

Stuff that is 'worth' removing as you say.

I know the couple of silly small items I mention will do naff all, but I'm talking about combination of all these said items. Those 2 randomly just popped into my head at the time.


Even if I remove 20kg, it is still something to do and give me some satisfaction of removing weight, lol.

[ashley]

You are going to struggle to shed 50kg without going further than you want Jim, but there are some good savings to be had whilst retaining the interior feel.

I would take out the carpets and get rid of as much of the sound proofing/ tactile as you can...that stuff really adds up when you've pulled it all out and weighed it. You can then stick the carpets back in with no modifications.

If you're happy to use fixed harnesses, then remove the stock seat belts- another decent saving there.

Seats you've done already.

The rear cabin wall carpet is proper heavy- if you're feeling keen you can strip a lot of the weight out of it, then put it back.

There's tactile on the insides of the doors as well, and obviously the speakers and tweeters.

Apparently there is little weight saved through switching to manual door winders, if you can even find a pair, so not worth messing around if you want to retain winding windows.

Remove the radio and replace with a Din blanking plate/ cubby hole.

Remove the two speakers below the quarter windows.

Aerial removal removes a bit of weight in the worst part of the car, but then you need to delete the hole somehow- so bodywork/ paint (or do what I did and just leave the top of the aerial )

If you're not fused- remove all the trim in the boot, the boot lid stay, and even the heat shields under the boot floor (but beware of carrying anything in the boot after that!)

Make sure you've ditched the two harmonic balancers in the engine bay- from memory one on the front gearbox mount, and one on the rear gearbox mount...they do nothing except add weight.

If you've ditched the a/c- remove all the pipework, front rad, and the ecu in the car. If you're keen- take the dash out and do a full delete of the ac matrix between the blower fan and the heater matrix (you'll need to put the plastic casing back in though to seal the airflow path to the heater matrix).

Are you in love with power steering? If not ditch it, either replace with non power assisted steering (a bit more involved, but still easy enough), or just remove all the gubbins and drain the rack. Makes it heavy to drive at low speeds, but maintains a reasonable ratio...depends if it's a shopping car or not, and if you need to do a lot of parking!

If you're not fussed- remove all the trim in the frunk, including the spare wheel and the bracket that holds it. You could (I wouldn't) remove the front bumper bar

Then you're into more expensive stuff...lighter battery, cf bonnet, lighter brakes, wheels, etc etc.

As for titanium / alloy nuts and bolts...great idea if your pockets are deep enough, but get ready for a shock when you price it up

Can't think of much else without it becoming more hardcore, but if I do I'll post it up for you

[jimGTS]

I don't see why it has to be all or nothing.

50-100kg is better than nothing as long as the car is still street friendly.

[jimGTS]

Ashley when I say no a/c, I mean the car came with no a/c.

so no rad, pipe work, anything. So a bonus (depending on your views on a/c).

I see you've sprayed your interior, was that because after removing all the stuff it looks a bit of a mess?

Ideally I'd like to prioritise the rear of the car, hence not too fused on cabin, but it does sound appealing.

Yeh I had planned to just keep the aerial tip to not have to touch bodywork.


Edit, Arh yeh, you mentioned to put carpets back in.

[ashley]

I sprayed it mainly cos I had to spray where I'd welded in the roll cage mounts, and I had scratched up the paint removing the sound deadening so figured I'd just do the whole thing, but you could easily just throw a coat of etch primer over the floor after you removed the sound proofing from a rattle can, then stick the carpets back in...after all- you ain't gonna see the floor are you.

Back end is the place to look to save weight for sure- can't think of much else other than what I posted already (not without a cf boot lid, and spoiler delete anyway)

[Quibble]

I saved 90kg by dumping a fat bird.

[jimGTS]

Thanks, your cabin suggestions sound great.


I'm tempted to keep spare wheel in purely to have some weight over the front. And I'd certainly keep the crash bar.

[craig]

I saved 90kg by dumping a fat bird.

[jimGTS]

I saved 90kg by dumping a fat bird.

Image Replaced With URL For Quote http://www.jonrb.com/emoticons/hehe.gif

ive gained a wife recently
mind you she is around the 50kg area, decisions decision,

[Torero]

I saved 90kg by dumping a fat bird.

Also, Ganador mirrors are half the weight of retracting OEM ones and would save about 3-4kg alone. (Julian is selling some)

As mentioned, ditch the spare wheel and it's surprising a set of 4 pot brakes will save about 4kgs per wheel at least and Hi Spec do handbrake enabled ones for the rear. So 16kgs on brakes alone.

Coilovers as opposed to springs and dampers.

And finally, you could replace the glass with a single fixed FRP panel like the Ferrari Targa replicas use. I think these come in under 200 quid and it does away with both the glass and the blinds.

These are expensive and may not fit in with your plans but the more suggestions you have then the easier it is to make some decisions, Jim.

[jimGTS]

Yeh it's a tbar, was what I was after after the hardtop I had.

Only got manual mirrors, so no worries about retractable motors.
Can they really weigh much?


I have my eye on the wms brake kits sold on here.
Anyone any feedback on these?
They look great and I'd hope stop the car better? Though guess that is down to brake pad. (I have oem discs and yellow stuff, which are ok. Initial bite isn't great, compared to the mk3 mx5 we own, brakes on that are great).
Be nice to drive an mr2 with some meaty brakes, and saving weight is a bonus.

Hi spec seem overkill for what I'm likely to use it for.
Only the odd track day now my weekends have freed up. Plus price is more appealing for the wms.

I've decided given the good light Na base I have, I'll dabble with this weight loss program , not as if it's my daily.