MattCraneCustoms
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| posted on 18/12/06 at 08:56 PM |
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Keeping weight down in a build
Hi all,
Just read the thread about the weights of cars. Thought I would make a follow up thread - What have people done to keep their weight down in cars?
Whats good and what isnt? Should be a useful thread for people wanting the most from their car.
Regards
Matt
P.S. I've only just started a build so can't really add anything!! Aluminium sheet instead of steel perhaps?
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matt.c
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| posted on 18/12/06 at 09:00 PM |
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Im going on a big diet!
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zxrlocost
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| posted on 18/12/06 at 09:01 PM |
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minimum interior
smaller wheels
no windscreen and with a bike engine should see you inbetween 430kg and 490kg
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Hellfire
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| posted on 18/12/06 at 09:07 PM |
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First thing to do is to ditch the car engine and get a lightweight bike engine.  Second place to look and start saving weight is on the unsprung and
rotational mass ie, wheels and tyre combination, brake discs and calipers and uprights. You can also save some weight on your choice of diff and
driveshafts. The list goes on and on.............
Phil
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Danozeman
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| posted on 18/12/06 at 09:12 PM |
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Light weight battery will loose a bit more.
Light weight seat., No passenger..
Visit the lav before you go out for a drive
Dan
Built the purple peril!! Let the modifications begin!!
http://www.eastangliankitcars.co.uk
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dave r
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| posted on 18/12/06 at 09:27 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by matt.c
Im going on a big diet!
me and you both ;p
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Volvorsport
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| posted on 18/12/06 at 09:43 PM |
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minimum amount of wiring and dials , no carpets , interior etc.
keeping your rolling stock as lightweight as possible , soild discs etc , single piston calipers .
single gel coat and woven roving GRP , pretty cheap lightweight car .
www.dbsmotorsport.co.uk
getting dirty under a bus
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smart51
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| posted on 18/12/06 at 09:51 PM |
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Lose the pinto
lightweight wheels
solid discs not vented
CFRP bodywork instead of GRP
thinwall T45 steel for the chassis
smaller fuel tank
unpadded seats
no boot box
cutting off the excess length from the suspension bolts will save a kilo.
I've done none of these, except for the pinto.
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fesycresy
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| posted on 18/12/06 at 09:51 PM |
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Carbon fibre floor / rear panels / body work, muffet diff, magnesium 13" alloys, titanium bolts.
My ar*e, now stop dreaming and learn to drive faster
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up.
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mark chandler
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| posted on 18/12/06 at 09:52 PM |
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Round tube, small wheels, Ali floor and panels, bike battery, engine & dials.
If you pick it up and it feels heavy put it down and look for a lighter item.
Stength is in design, lots of triangles not thick lumps of metal !
Even simple things like using correctly sized bolts makes a big difference when added up.
Regards Mark
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chrisg
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| posted on 18/12/06 at 10:39 PM |
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This reminds me of the classic "Sevens" list topic about saving weight.
To summarise, men with necks like birthday cakes were disscussing wether it was worth drilling the centres out of bolts to save a quarter ounce.
Eat less pies.
Cheers
Chris
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iank
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| posted on 18/12/06 at 11:12 PM |
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As said previously rotational weight is the 'best' kind to lose.
Proper racing lightweight wheels in a small size probably 13" [i.e. not halfords budget 18" ]
Decent lightweight tyres, do some research.
Solid discs rather than vented.
Also
Alloy calipers
For bonus points put the engine in the boot to avoid the penalty of the driveshaft and separate diff/gearbox casings.
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 19/12/06 at 07:51 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by dave r
quote:
Originally posted by matt.c
Im going on a big diet!
me and you both ;p
And me! I'm not going to worry about the weight of my car until I've reduced the weight of the nut holding the wheel...
David
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martyn_16v
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| posted on 19/12/06 at 09:32 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by chrisg
To summarise, men with necks like birthday cakes were disscussing wether it was worth drilling the centres out of bolts to save a quarter ounce.
Eat less pies.
Bwahahahahahahhaaaaaaa
I would suggest driving naked as a weight saving exercise, but the sight of a fatty rippling away in the wind (think Clarkson in the Atom, but oh so
much more disturbing) is probably not one anyone else wants to ever experience. Ever
[Edited on 19/12/06 by martyn_16v]
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Peteff
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| posted on 19/12/06 at 09:40 AM |
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The circumference of a fat backside
Is the formula pie/arse squared? Apart from the fitting solid disks which will actually be cheaper every other option apart from the diet seems to be
very expensive. What about leaving the brakes off, that should save a bit, and put IRN-BRU in the radiator, the bubbles will weigh less than liquid.
Shave your head, have your teeth out and any bits you can do without could be removed, come on how long is it since you used it and it just looks
silly dangling there. My mate lost 2 stone when he had his leg off, how dedicated are you?
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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02GF74
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| posted on 19/12/06 at 10:53 AM |
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1. don't paint the body panels.
2. drive without alternator; you'll need to figure out how far the battery on its own will take you (not a good for long road journeys).
3. use a bus system for the electrics with chip control for the lamps to minimise amount of wire used.
[Edited on 19/12/06 by 02GF74]
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Syd Bridge
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| posted on 19/12/06 at 10:55 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by chrisg
This reminds me of the classic "Sevens" list topic about saving weight.
To summarise, men with necks like birthday cakes were disscussing wether it was worth drilling the centres out of bolts to save a quarter ounce.
Eat less pies.
Cheers
Chris
I'm trying to lose 20kg's from my racecar build, -----------mainly from around my gut! And only three months to do it. It's
gonna be a starvation Chrissy for me.
Cheers, ( Mines a fizzy water )
Syd. 
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Jasper
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| posted on 19/12/06 at 11:21 AM |
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Decide what you want to use the car for first - if it's track blaster then go the mega lightweight route - if you want an all weather long
distance machine then think again......
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Confused but excited.
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| posted on 19/12/06 at 11:53 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by chrisg
This reminds me of the classic "Sevens" list topic about saving weight.
To summarise, men with necks like birthday cakes were disscussing wether it was worth drilling the centres out of bolts to save a quarter ounce.
Eat less pies.
Cheers
Chris
I thought the purpose of making the car lighter, is to get the performance without forfeiting the pies!
Tell them about the bent treacle edges!
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 19/12/06 at 12:09 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Syd Bridge
I'm trying to lose 20kg's from my racecar build, -----------mainly from around my gut! And only three months to do it. It's
gonna be a starvation Chrissy for me.
Cheers, ( Mines a fizzy water )
Syd.
I've managed to lose 14kgs from my car's all-up weight - another 7 or so to go... but I can't raise the enthusiasm!
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hughjinjin
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| posted on 19/12/06 at 03:03 PM |
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weight reduction
some food for thought on keeping weight down. The most important areas for weight reduction are in unsprung weight. The lighter the overall weight,
the greater the effect of the unsprung weight on the handling of the car.
One of the most overlooked areas for weight reduction by amateur builders is also one of the most important.I'm talking about wheels and tyres.
On my car, an Alfasud Sprint, the standard wheels and tyres (5.5x14 and 185/60) weigh in at 18kg a corner. Replacing them with old 7x13 Allycat rally
specials which cost me a tenner each and a set of 7x21 Avon acb10s (part worn 65quid a set delivered) lost 7kgs a corner. If you also consider that
because they are rotating they effectively add another 1/4 of their weight to the rest of the car it adds up to carrying an extra 35 kgs or so or to
put it another way the weight of an extra gearbox!
I had no idea that there was such a weight difference until I put them on the bathroom scales so think about that before buying alloy hubs to save 1kg
a corner!
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smart51
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| posted on 19/12/06 at 03:45 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by hughjinjin
If you also consider that because they are rotating they effectively add another 1/4 of their weight to the rest of the car ... so think about that
before buying alloy hubs to save 1kg a corner!
But hubs rotate too!
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hughjinjin
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| posted on 19/12/06 at 04:02 PM |
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smart arse
my point is that it is better spending your money on reducing the weight of the wheels and tyres than on the hubs because there is much more weight to
be saved
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BenB
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| posted on 19/12/06 at 04:27 PM |
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Re the diff. Go for a freelander diff. Its lighter than a standard Ford item.... Not as cheap though.... Quaife do a LSD for it too which is certainly
a wallet-lightening exercise...
Otherwise it's just ali floor panels, bike engine , alloy uprights / callipers etc as previously mentioned.. Nicad battery (or at least
motorbike battery)....
Drill f'ing big holes in the passenger footwell firewall and plate over the ali (have you seen how thick the metal is sometimes!?!) or if
you're DIYing the chassis only put battleship grade steel on the driver side firewall for the pedals.
If you want to go really light get drilled and grooved brake discs... When the cracking around the holes gets really bad and the disc explodes they
don't way anything
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C10CoryM
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| posted on 19/12/06 at 06:40 PM |
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Anyone know how much weight IRS saves overall? Obviously the unsprung weight is the primary reason, but wondering how much heavier a solid axle would
be.
Cheers.
"Our watchword evermore shall be: The Maple Leaf Forever!"
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