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weight reduction on the zx


rdsk8ter

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There'a nothing wrong with the fiberglass bumpers but, you will need to be carefull. No dought your driving style will change some as you enter parking lots and things such as that.

 

Why are you looking to reduce the weight of your ZX?

 

For a daily driver there's not really that much that can be taken out or removed and it still all be functional. I guess it depends on what your willing to give up.

 

Safety or Comfort?

 

I disassembled most of my ZX at one time or another. Let me know what your thinking and I'll see if I can help.

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I know when I did my SBC swap I looked into the same issue of weight. I ended up trying to put as much weight to the rear of the ZX as possible, engine mounted as far back as possible, mounted battery in spare tire well. Up front, light alum. rad., alum. intake, headers, no A/C. The front shock absorbing bumper with mounts weighs 32 pounds and hangs over the front wheels a distance, I removed the bumper cover and drilled two inch holes in the steel bumper to lighten it a bit then replaced the cover. My 83' with SBC 350 and 700r4 trans with T tops and full interior with 300ZX power seats weighs 2880 pounds with about 10 gals. of gas in the tank. The old saying goes "it's cheaper to add horsepower than to lighten the car".

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My ZX is being rebuit primarily as a competition car, most of the weight reduction involved removing the a/c, heater and ventilation system, made up a basic lightweight ventilation system. Other than that its seats, anti pollution gear and a plastic rear window to replace the glass and thats about it. Was going to replace the rear quarter windows with plastic too but the stock glass is thin so I didn't bother.

 

The ZX is basically not a heavy car, it had extra comfort and safety equipment compared with the S30, thats the problem.

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There are tons of things you can do to loose weight on the ZXs. First is the AC and accessories. That's stuff is heavy. For later ZXs you can convert back to manual windows to save a few pounds. Also you can remove the rear window wiper which you won't need and all the cruise accessories. For later ZXs you can swap in the manual rack and pinion from the 79 that will save a few pounds also. Get rid of the 2 bumpers reenforcement and replace them with aluminum reenforcements from new cars. Lastly you gotto get rid of the stock seats. They are heavy and so are the 300ZX power seats. I got a set of Supra MKIV seats in my car and they fit and they are light.

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could you get some pics?

There are tons of things you can do to loose weight on the ZXs. First is the AC and accessories. That's stuff is heavy. For later ZXs you can convert back to manual windows to save a few pounds. Also you can remove the rear window wiper which you won't need and all the cruise accessories. For later ZXs you can swap in the manual rack and pinion from the 79 that will save a few pounds also. Get rid of the 2 bumpers reenforcement and replace them with aluminum reenforcements from new cars. Lastly you gotto get rid of the stock seats. They are heavy and so are the 300ZX power seats. I got a set of Supra MKIV seats in my car and they fit and they are light.
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That rear hatch is heavy ... dose someone make a plexiglass replacement for it ... ? Joel

 

What I did with mine was to remove the glass and take it to a 'plastic glass' fabricator. From that they cut and moulded a 'plastic glass' replacement.

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The rear window will do a good amount as all of you know who handled a hatch with, and without glass know .. it weighs in!

Remind to use two alu strips to hold it in place!. the side windows would help aswel as do the fronts.. problem with the fronts is their pillar less i still have to see s et up that i like and still has some rigidity and does not get sucked out at high speeds ( only a window net would be unacceptable for me )

Apart from that weight can be safed in the bumpers as mentioned .. the euro bumpers only weigh a little over 1/4th of a US spec bumber ( with supports that is).

 

Next to that CF hatch. Hood, and doors ( available in japan, and the hoods from Beta motorsport aswel !) And naturally replacing the seats .. i used Sparco race buckets .. but given they are not the most comfy seats.. and! need to go with the general look you want to create if that is an issue.

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You can loose all the comfort features as mentioned before .. however you have to know what you want to use it for .. full track? or weekend warrior?

 

I decided to keep interior, however i will remove the rear hatch glass for lexan. but well i just crank up boost a bit .. or built a car with no interior at all!

 

 

On the other hand the ZX is not that heavy to start with.. it weighs less then a fully loaded 280 in most cases! .. ( ok now ill go and hide ;) )

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