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S130 Parts Weight Thread - DEFINITIVE


Gollum

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Like the title suggests, post the weight of parts you might happen to have lying around or wanting to pull off your car. My goal is much similar to the definitive engine weights thread, which is to gather RELIABLE and VERIFIABLE information. Please include as many details as possible. Just as you shouldn't post an engine weight without sharing if the flywheel was on or not, please include all that was on the part. Example: Don't give us a hood weight without specifying if that includes the hinges, springs, etc. I expect honest measurements, not just guesses. If possible share how you weighed the part, and if it's quite heavy (like an engine block) please be sure you're using accurate measuring devices that have been zero'ed.

 

Since I'm starting this, I'll go first.

 

Rear Bumper: 25-26 lbs

Scale Used: Reliable Bathroom scale, measured 3 times for consistency.

 

This weight includes the main steel box frame of the bumper, the rubber cover, and the chrome cover that goes over the steel box. For those curious I'm including a picture of what the inside of the rear bumper looks like, so you know what makes one up.

 

IMG_20130409_185240.jpg

 

 

Dash: 20 lbs

Scale Used: Same as above

Includes: Metal Frame, Padded Cover(stock, no carpet or cap), Center Cluster, Cruse Control Switch, Rear Wiper/Dash Light Dimmer Switches, Air Vents

Does NOT Include: Speakers, Center Gauges, Dash Support that goes across car (I believe the steering column is bolted to that piece too, anyhoo, it's NOT included as part of the dash here)

 

I hope to have more input in the future, and I hope others have some stuff to contribute. I have good guesses as to what things weigh, and sadly many things I no longer have spares of sitting around, so I guess it'll have to wait for another day.

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Great Thread.

 

Last summer I was bored and fired up the angle grinder and did a lot of surgery on my rear bumper (4+ hours of surgery) to remove about 8-10lbs, I will have to find the pictures and post it tonight when I am home.

 

Other areas where I saved weight: 

 

1) Carbon Fiber Hood (weighs 11lbs) from John C at Beta Motorsports (20lbs weight saving)

2) Removed the front bumper entirely (not sure on the weight saving )

3) Saved about 3-4 lbs per corner converting the car to coilovers

4) Saved about 10lbs by removing the factory seats and installing Corbeaus (left and right)

5) Removed the heavy cast iron manifold, catalytic converter and heavy exhaust system and replaced it all with stainless and 3lb Burns muffler

6) Removed the factory air box

7) Saved 15lbs by running an aluminum flywheel

 

At the same time, I picked weight with:

1) Bigger wheels and tires

2) Front mount intercooler

3) Heavier \ larger front and rear sway bars

 

Regards - Yasin

Edited by slownrusty
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If it was on John's website it should be accurate, but verification as to what exactly was included would be nice. Did he mean hood, or hood + hinges and springs?

 

As far as early versus late bumpers I wouldn't count on them being identical in weight. There's a very good chance they were changed as the 5mph bumper law was changing constantly at the time, and manufactures were finding new ways to meet the ever-changing standards.

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Complete front 79-81 bumper minus shock mounts = 28lbs.

I was able to get creative with a plasma cutter and remove 10 lbs on the rear bumper and 8 lbs on the front. Also, the Euro/JDM style non overider style bumper covers are 2 lbs lighter each from their USDM counterpart. I saved a total of 12 lbs on the rear and 10 lbs on the front.

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Has anyone fabbed up any bumper mounts to get rid of the front"shock" type low speed crash bumper brackets? Would love to see pictures! I hacked a lot out of my steel hood by removing most of the inner structure. Hole sawed on the remaining bit of structure as well. Went crazy with the hole saw on the front bumper too. Next time the hood is off i will weigh it.

D~

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  • 2 weeks later...

The '79 (I think) hood that came with my car, has had the turbo vents adapted and a little metal trimming to open the steel up to the size of the vents.  It weights 44.5lbs, confirmed three times on what is as far as I know an accurate digital bathroom scale.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Dash Cap:  5.8lbs

This is the stock cap, as detached from the frame.  This is the part that always cracks.

 

Dash Frame:  9lbs

Metal frame, NOT the knee bar. 

 

Glove Box: 2.5lbs

 

Vinyl's:  7-7.1lbs

Both left and right side.  The ones with the seatbelt eye.

 

Rear storage frame:  5.4lbs

The metal piece that bolts in behind the seats, creating the storage bins. It has had the speaker holes enlarged slightly by the PO to allow for bigger speakers (woohoo).

 

Strut tower plastics:  5.7lbs

Left and right side weighed together again.

 

Center console:  4.7lbs

No shifter boots or bezels, just the console with lid.

 

Elec. Antenna Gizmo:  1.5lbs

This is an aftermarket piece, and was popular in the day.  I'm pretty sure the PO removed some sheet metal upon installation  as there was some crap generic bracket riveted on.

 

None of these items have hardware included as I have kept it all together and when the interior goes back in the unused hardware will be weighed together as I feel this is a more accurate way to measure it.  At the moment I am not sure what exactly is going back in.  The only thing I know will make the list is the center consol.  Its (relatively) light, very low, and in the middle.  The dash will be modified, everything else is on the chopping block. 

 

Crawling around inside the car behind the seats is the only time I have ever wished I had a 2+2, but this one is lighter so whatever.  The last time I gutted one of these my back and knees didn't hurt so bad.  Z cars make you feel old.

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Nice list!

 

Your last couple of posts have me itching to get some stuff weighed. Unfortunately I'm out of town on work until mid-july. The only good news is that pretty soon I need to kick some serious butt getting my garage organized and I'll be able to weigh some stuff in the process, especially since some of it will likely just be getting thrown out.

 

I've got some gutted 2+2 doors I need to weigh (gutted as in no windows and the only hardware on them is hinges).

 

And also... either pretty soon I'm going to start doing some cheap fab work on my S130, or ditch it. Either way stuff is going to get weighed for the records.

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It's been a long time but I've gone over much of that before. I'll highlight the big ticket items. Obviously if you watch the ounces the pounds will disappear. 

 

1. Bumpers. They're heavy suckers

2. Steering. Convert to rack and pinion, if not manual if you can find it.

3. Seats - Non-reclining race buckets are light, and you'll shed even more if you put the seat in a fixed position without rails.

4. AC - Do you really need it? BIG difference

5. Header - Stock cast manifold is HEAVY

6. Diff - Convert to R180 if your power levels can keep one alive

7. Hatch glass. No joke, I was shocked how light a glass-less hatch is since they're so damn heavy with glass!

8. Gutted Doors - Possibly one of the biggest differences if you can stand not having windows

9. Delete needless features: Cruise Control, Vacuum tank/pump, windshield washer tank, etc

10. Hood. Convert to fiberglass or CF. Not insane savings, but worth it in many ways.

11. Tubular rear control arms: Extremely hard to pull off compared to the rest of the list, but 1000000 times worth it! 

12. Corner glass. Small pieces but easy to replace in lexan and every pound counts.

13. Dash. I know most won't ever drive dash-less, but consider ditching the center console (upper and lower) and maybe doing some dash gutting.

14. If you don't need heat or general cabin airflow the whole HVAC system isn't exactly light either.

15. Headlights. Get ones with plastic fronts instead of glass. Worth a few pounds each.

16. Flywheel. This really should be listed earlier in the list. Higher priority than many items here. Match with good clutch of course.

17. Battery. Can easily save 5 lbs here or more depending on what you have and how much you're willing to spend.

18. Ditch the corner markers. Might be a pita to make the plugs/caps and weld them, but every bit counts and this helps the looks too imo.

 

That's all I can think of off the top of my head right now. A huge aspect of weight reduction is going to be centered around the intended use of the car and what you're willing to deal with as far as comfort. Is it okay for it to be loud? Does it need a stereo? etc. If it's just a weekend auto-x toy car then you can usually deal without a lot. Just consider how much it might prevent you from driving your car in the future.

 

Trim for trim the S130 seems to be lighter than the later S30 chassis. I know people disagree, that's fine. Most that disagree don't realize when I mean trim for trim I REALLY MEAN IT. The heaviest S130 was certainly heavier than the heaviest S30, but it had power everything and T-tops to boot! So all that said, 2550 w/driver seems attainable if you're willing to gut some stuff. Biggest elephant left in the room if you don't do it will be glass weight. Glass is easily one of the heaviest aspects of something that you can do something about. The pain is that it really kills street-ability factory to just go removing it.

 

I need to get my car to a scale though, because I'm sure I'm close to 2550 right now as the car sits, and I've still got stock bumpers on it. And I see plenty of weight to remove to reach your goals.

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My memory served me on this one, but I crawled up in the attic and weighed it anyway...

 

Hatch Glass:  18lbs

 

Just the glass with a little duck tape around the edges.  No molding, no hardware, no chrome. 

Edited by roger280zx
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