j260z Posted May 30, 2003 Share Posted May 30, 2003 i know arizona z car has a 5 lug aluminum front hub in one of their packages. i wonder how much of a savings something like that would be? the z31 5 bolt hub weighs 5 to 6 lbs. without the bearings and races. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zguy95135 Posted October 13, 2003 Share Posted October 13, 2003 you could also get a lightened flywheel, CF seats, door skins, fenders, hood, a header, lightweight wheels, and you could get rid of some of the extra bracing that the 280's got. if you know how to do fiberglass stuff then carbon fiber work is easy. some fenders and door skins would be cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baddriver Posted October 13, 2003 Share Posted October 13, 2003 Whoa, you guys missed a bunch of suggestions, come on, are we hard-core racers or not? Fill the tires up with helium! Run the radiator 2 qts low! run a quart low on oil-should drop 2 lbs Drill holes through the heads of all the non-critical bolts! Cut up the fenders, throw out the splash guards! take the doors off the rear storage areas, Only use three lug nuts weld the doors shut and take off the handles! Lexan windows? You don't need windows! passenger seat headlights strip the paint drill out the remaining floor pans and scrap the windshield wipers! There you go. Now you can really lose some weight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted October 13, 2003 Share Posted October 13, 2003 Fill the tires up with helium! Doesn't work. The helium molecule seeps through the tire carcass and you loose about 10 psi per hour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aaron Posted October 13, 2003 Share Posted October 13, 2003 Fill the tires up with helium! Doesn't work. The helium molecule seeps through the tire carcass and you loose about 10 psi per hour. John, sounds like you know from experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted October 13, 2003 Share Posted October 13, 2003 No, just read the above in one of Carroll Smith's books. Also, my nephew, during his BUDS training watched one of the teams get busted for filling their raft with helium. It kept loosing the helium over the course of the day and the instructors made them refill the it using lung power only - while carrying it on their heads - running through sand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted October 13, 2003 Share Posted October 13, 2003 ON3GO, weren't you just recently talking about putting a playstation in your car? Which way do you want to go? Lightweight, or electronics? No stereo, no speakers, no DVD, no Playstation no Monster Cables. That will save a lot of weight. I don't think the stock tank is all that heavy either. Maybe 15 lbs??? Lexan saves weight, but it scratches REALLY EASILY (even the "scratch resistant stuff), and when exposed to chemicals like gas fumes eventually gets a rainbow effect a lot like oil on water. I've got an extra set of quarter windows, and was thinking of putting Lexan in them, but then I thought that I might save 1 lb in glass on a good day and the effort involved wasn't worth it. The hatch glass would be worth it, but not on a street driver, not if you like to see behind you... Interesting side note about ADDING weight: I used to autox with this group that had 3 Manx VWs on slicks. They were really fast. One of the guys had 40lbs of barbell weights welded to the left front bumper. He said his Manx ran 11's, and I believe him. He also said that it was impossible to control at the strip without the weights on the front bumper, and without the tire pressures being something like 12 lbs left rear and 20 lbs right rear. Anything else and the car would lift the front end and make a sharp right turn right into the wall!!! Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zguy95135 Posted October 13, 2003 Share Posted October 13, 2003 other then the helium it sounds like a good idea. i think i'll do that to my car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
260DET Posted October 14, 2003 Share Posted October 14, 2003 Replacing the rear hatch and glass with a fiberglass and polycarbonate substitute saves heaps. Importantly it is 'high' weight which influences body roll and hence handling. An original 240 bonnet is a lot lighter, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silicone boy Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 Don't forget the mufflers. They weigh a few pounds. Maybe a couple of Supertrapps instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ON3GO Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 wow this is a old post.... yeah im putting a PS2, and other things in my car, but im also doing other things to take weight out.. plus i figure this way.. if i had more weight ill just add more HP... hehe.. but yeah i made this post like 6+ months ago. mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomoHawk Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 I took out the a/c on my 280Z with some other stuff on the front and it looks like the front end came up an inch or two??? It's either that, or the springs on the back are sagging down an inch? BTW, on my 280Z the rear (subfloor) is made of cardboard-like stuff and I left it in. I did cut a hole big enough for a full-size wheel and got rid of the mini spare. It was a piece of dried-up junk and the air can was missing too. I hinged the front of the (rear floor) so I can access the two storage wells underneath. Great place to store jumper cables, mini air compressor,TOOLS, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomoHawk Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 Incidentally, on big airplanes like a 747, the weight of just the COLOR coat is like 300-400 POUNDS, but that's for the whole plane. That's why the older jets were bare aluminum. You won't save that much weight from your car- just an interesting fact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silicone boy Posted October 17, 2003 Share Posted October 17, 2003 All this goes to show that losing weight is a lot more expensive than making more horsepower once you get past the first few pounds. In the latest Grassroots Motorsports, Dave Vizard goes through how you shed 1000 pounds from a Ford Mustang.When you add in the race seats, lexan windows, tubular suspension components, composite body panels, etc, it gets awfully pricey. On the other hand, just think of the effect on acceleration and handling if you had a 1400 pound 240 Z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZR8ED Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 Hold on hold on!!! We are looking at this the wrong way. I tired to remove as much weight as possible in my car.. then I added huge wheels, larger sway bars, bigger rotors and brakes, a full roll cage, extra bracing etc.. So I thought..now how do I get more weight out? WHO CARES!! MAKE MORE HORSEPOWER!!! That will show that weight who's truely boss!! hehehe My car is as light as I'm prepared to live with, so its the "MORE HORSEPOWER" route for me!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 My car is as light as I'm prepared to live with, so its the "MORE HORSEPOWER" route for me!!! So how much does your Z weigh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240jz Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 Reducing the ammount of mass on the corners and ends of the car should not be overlooked as well. Things like glass hood, ditching the bumpers, lighter tires, lighter wheels and brakes have a huge affect on a car. In addition to being rotational inertia for many of the components, reduceing the ammount of weight of these components will actually make the car turn faster. By that I mean the the polar moment of inerta restists changes in angular direction of the car. Ie the more mass that is at the ends and corners of a car the harder it will be to turn. Imagine a bar weighing 20 lbs. and one weighing 2 lbs with 18 lbs at the ends. The one with the more mass at the center will be much easier to spin. Sorry about the techinical mombo jumbo I just got out of Physics lecture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 Agreed. We speak Polar Moment of Inertia (PMOI) here . Great point! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BigWhyteDude Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 what about filling the tires with nitrogen???? for one thing its almost compleatly and inert gas so it will not expand like air will. im not too good in chemestry but my High school auto tech teacher races a dirt track car and they use nitrogen in there tires Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BigWhyteDude Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 what about filling the tires with nitrogen???? for one thing its almost compleatly and inert gas so it will not expand like air will. im not too good in chemestry but my High school auto tech teacher races a dirt track car and they use nitrogen in there tires to counter act the swelling of the tires. But it is a "bit" lighter than O2 so you could get an ounce or 2 out of this gah sorry for the double post guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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