“I’m talking about the trim that covers the whole hatch area including the little piece that coves the wiper motor.”
I dunno man, I’ve had all of that out and I’d swear it weighed almost nothing…2 or 3 pounds at the most. I mean…Its just thin plastic? I guess we are not talking about the same thing or something.
Remember the topic is weight reduction…if this guy is strictly using his car for any type of racing he’ll try to squeeze any bit of power/weight. So 3 pounds is about a good amount comparing the rest of our interior trim.
“Remember the topic is weight reduction…”
I remember but that’s not really the point I am making here. I think your right by saying that if he wants to reduce any weight he can from the interior, the rear wiper mechanism is a good idea…
But then you said " After you remove the rear wiper mechanism and the plastic underneath it (which is pretty heavy also) you’ll notice its pretty LIGHT."
And um…I have done this before and the hatch is still HEAVY AS SHIT. 
im pretty sure the biggest part of the hatch being so heavy is because of the back glass. im really thinking about getting some lightweight racing glass.
I wanted to point out that to some people something might “feel” like it only weighs a few pounds but try putting the stuff on scales from time to time and I’m talking a good one not some bathroom spin dial bull shit. The power antenna motor, abs pumps, windshield wiper rear motor, heater core, even our stock header are heavy bitch’s when related to strictly racing purposes. It all adds up. Ya’ll can hate if ya want but pick up April 2010 Import Tuner and they got a 6 page article on how to do shit right. Thought that might help.
Stock Header 26lbs / Dc Sports 12ibs
LS Flywheel 17lbs / Aftermarket 8-12lbs depending on what you get
Stock LS seats / Buddy Club P1’s cut weight by roughly 36lbs
They also found a way to loose 140lbs worth of interior weight throwing out all the heat/ac, radio, back panels and such, switching to lighter seats and getting all the sound deadening out which they claimed weighed in at almost 40ibs if you get ALL of it.
after i removed all the accessory shit from the back of the car and went non ABS, i had the interior out and decided to eliminate the extra wires from all the shit id removed.
the rear cabin wiring harness weighs 6 lbs. my new one weighs under 1lb
all the seats weigh in at almost 70 lbs with all the brackets and seatbelts, etc.
when i get a new seat ill probably have saved about 60-65 lbs there
i removed all the ABS wires, module and of course the actual pump, all that was nearing 50lbs.
the rear wiper, power antennae, third brake light and related wires weighed in almost 10lbs.
notice at this point i still had all my sound deadening, power accessories (roof, windows, mirrors) and carpets in, and i managed to spare 120+lbs, without any impact on daily comfort.
its not so much the actual piece youre pulling out that has most of the weight, its the associated shit with it (wires, brackets, sensors) that adds up the bulk.
while my cars been down, ive been contemplating converting over to manual accessories. the sunroof alone has me excited to get all that weight off the top of the car. apparently this stuff is HEAVY, i have a friend with an RS and his doors are like shutting a dainty bathroom door, unlike mine, which feels like im slamming a lead vault door closed.
my goal weight, loaded and wet, is 2000lbs. after the sound deadening and tar removal im at 2190ish now also with power accessories. im hoping that there is 200 lbs in that shit, i dont want to start cutting the trunk floor out ahah
I never paid much attention to the Full Race traction bar set up as compared to the stock cross member as I always thought the bars are structurally week when compared to stock. What is the weight difference between the two? I am sure there is weight to be saved from the steel radius rods to the Aluminum alone.
I didn’t weigh mine, but I want to say that either the Full Race or the old Place Racing bar was weighed by another member and it was about the same or slightly more than the stock piece. And from handling both pieces recently when I installed mine I’ve have to say that’s accurate. I don’t think there’s significant, if any weight to be lost by installing a Full Race traction bar.
Thanks Colin, however that is disappointing, looks like I will need to fabricate my own Aluminum radius rods.
:iagree: this man speaks the truth. I just finished doing this, and it is quite a job, but man, when you finally finish, and pick up the shop-vac vaccum bag that weighs the equivelent of a seat, it feels damn good!:dance:
Alot of weight can be saved by switching to fiberglass doors. Though they may be hard to find. Also there is alot of extra steel in the body that can be removed.
well said! In for links? distributors?:gotpics: I have not had any luck finding 90-93 fiberglass doors:(
As far as I know there are none in production, and there never really have been. Same goes for fiberglass hoods. A lot of that stuff was made in very limited quantities for the DA many years back (Gude/Bullfrog comes to mind) but were only used by a small handful of draggers. I think you’d have a VERY hard time finding a set currently.
But with that being said, if there is a company making them I’d be very interested in learning more.
Funny you mention Gude/Bullfrog Colin, I talked with the guy at the last autox I went too. He gave me a super deal on building my motor since he was amazed on how clean my DA was.
Right on Matty! You don’t hear much from them nowadays, and I never paid much attention before either. But a friend (not sure if you remember “AllMotorLS” from back in the day) had the Gude LS head package (I think this was circa 2000 before daily drivers were getting gnarly) and was putting down 160-165 whp. Pretty good numbers for an LS w/ head package and bolt ons!
shameless plug…
jdm bumper supports, which i have for sale:angel:
I’ve never really looked for fiberglass doors for my teg however I have used them in the past on other cars and in some cases you can save up to 60 pounds per door ( but on a teg you would probably only save 20-30 pounds per door at most). I have never heard of anyone makeing a production fiberglass door for a teg and I hate to say it but i think the only fiberglass doors for tegs are custom made and would probably cost a crap load.
Stock doors are HEAVY! We gutted the doors on our race car and it make a huge weight difference. I’d say you’d definitely save more than 20-30lbs per door if you had fiberglass pieces.
Is there any way to get some weight off the door without making it dengerous? I ask because i dont have a cage in yet.
I removed absolutely everything i could so far. I just need a roof cap and im debating the rear hatch glass…i think leaving some weight back there might be good for balance.
Oh and an aluminium header back exhaust system should be worth some weight savings.
Is the car a race car or street car? If it’s a race car you can take out the windows, motors, regulators…blah blah blah. Other than that the only thing you can do is cut out metal from the inside - that’s not such a good idea.