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Shaving weight on a 280Z....


Guest ON3GO

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Hey Pete! I just weighed the Z today.

 

It weighed 2900lbs flat!

 

Not exactly a lightweight eh? oh well.. I'm not likely going to try and shave any of that off...

 

Not bad for a 1978 280z all the bracing, roll cage, larger wheels, brakes, sway bars, diff, tranny, driveshaft, custom body panels, full interior, stereo and custom enclosure. Heavy duty driveline mounts and bracing, intercooler, oil cooler etc...

 

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I've skipped the last two pages of this thread, so forgive me if someone else covered it... DON'T do the Lexan windows if this is gonna remain streetable. Lexan is really only a race application item. You pretty much won't keep a clear lexan shield, as they aren't as forgiving as glass in the day to day real world of driving on the street. AND I'm not sure just how much you will truly save yet. Haven't installed them in my track car yet...

 

Mike

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there was a big article in Sports Z magazine a while back like a year maybe. But in the long run... after all the weight was removed it was replaced by all the addes safety, and performance upgrades, after all was said and done they only saved around 10 lbs. including roll cage, differentials, trannies, anit sway bars, striped interior. etc.

 

And nitrogen in your tires? um.. no thanks... i've already had my car catch fire once.

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Nitrogen isn't flammable (thank god because it's what 70% of the atmosphere). The only reason they do that is because it is more stable at temperature, so your pressures don't vary as much when the tire gets hot.

 

If there is a 2 oz weight savings per tire I submit that you could run regular air and take a crap before you got in the car and get the same effect, and not have to buy a tank of nitrogen. If you're racing there are other reasons to use nitrogen, but that's not what we're talking about here.

 

Jon

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Nitrogen and Oxygen don't mix to become nitrous oxide. They mix to become air, with some CO2 and miscellaneous other elements. Nitrous Oxide is a molecule that is a combination of Nitrogen and Oxygen. Kinda like Hydrogen and Oxygen. H20 is water, H2O2 is hydrogen peroxide.

 

Sorry, wasn't trying to make you feel bad... now I'm kinda embarrased. :oops: Don't want to come off like a jerk...

 

Jon

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ZR8ED, that's not bad. I was blown away when I was having my Z corner weighted. 2810 lbs without driver and 3/4 tank of fuel. No spare, tools, etc. With me, it went to 3025 lbs. I figure the corner weight scales should be pretty accurate. But I want to go to the drag strip soon, and I'll weigh it there also.

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Guest penguin

nitrogen all the way. go to barnes and noble and pick up a magazine called "racecar engineering."

if youre hardcore enough, flip through it, and if they do it in Formula One, do it in your car. and nitrogen in the tyres is required in F1, so i have some doubts to its flammibility.

i caught the post about the weight savings arcticle in Grassroots, but i think the moral of that article wasnt how much it weighs, but where the weight is at. move the battery to the trunk should be the first thing.

if youre really serious, go lexan, but only if you really are going to go racing. anything you can scratch, you can buff back down. it wont be like glass, but it will be good enough.

if its made of metal and you can get if off your car, except for screws, replace it with carbon. im gonna post this and then go post about structural properties of CF in the CF thread, so if youre thinking about it, go read there.

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  • 1 year later...
Guest Roaces

Sorry for Dragging up a long dead topic, but Im a big weight loss fan at heart. One thing that may well be overlooked is the Rack and Pinion for power steering, or Steering Gear (Wormgear) for manual steering. I work at a parts store and have to lift those things on a daily basis. They are all Fairly heavy (One I had come in for a Ford F-150 was like 50lbs, I swear) and cast iron. For any racing application, a custom machined one might weigh on the order of 10-20lbs, depending on materials. Beyond that, you would be able to set the steering ratio.

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Guest bastaad525

Hey just so you know, the turbo and intercooler, at least, don't add that much weight. I weighed my car before and after the turbo conversion. It's a '73, and used to have a built up N/A motor with SU carbs, weighed with about 6 gallons of gas, it weighed 2320 lbs on a certified truck weighing scale.

 

Same car with the L28ET, intercooler and piping (stainless steel = relatively heavy) and about the same amount of gas weighed 2350 lbs. I was expecting the weight to go up quite a bit more, and was very pleasantly surprised.

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Guest Roaces

You know what, Im gonna make a list, but only good idea type ones. This goes for most all cars. Most weights are low geustimates.

Free

Blower Motor + Heater Ductwork (5), Heater Core/ Tubes (4), Power Steering Pump (10+), AC Compressor + Piping (25+), 5mph bumper Dampers (A lot, but only later 70s have em), Stereo (12ish), Carpet (15), Tar undercoating (10), Spare tire/jack (30+-)

 

Nowhere near as free

Aluminum Calipers (12?), CF hood (240 - 25, 280 - 35), Headers/stainless Exhaust (10+), Aluminum Rims (20), Aluminum Radiator (10), Convert from your tripple webers to FI (40

 

So this way, you can add weight where you need it, such as bracing to keep your Chassis from ripping itself a new one. Or killing you in an accident.

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my intercooler + piping added about 20lbs to my car, maybe abit less.

so it does add some.

 

i got the weight down to 2500 even last i hit the scales at the track... not bad for a 77 280z! should be less now with alot more taken off of it.

 

mike

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