weight reduction (plz be serious)

spyke_696

New Member
Mar 19, 2012
25
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kittanning
Ok the car is damn close to 4tons and b4 i paint it i wanna know what i can cut off of the chassis to make it lighter im also adding a roll cage so thats adding alot more so what can be cut from the chassis to get rid of weight ....also the spot welded part behind the rear seats is that structure or is it for the seats so u dont sit back and fall into the hatch
 

willfish

been here since 2003
Apr 23, 2005
648
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Pittsburgh, Pa.
how about a carbon fiber hood ?

maybe a aftermarket fiberglass bumber ?

that alone should lighten you up 100 lbs.... Im guessing

for starters....

when i took of my stock bumper and carried it to my basement. I think it alone weighted some 50 lbs...

WILL

BTW. are you in kittanning Pa ?
 

MarkIII4Me

Project OVERKILL!!!
Apr 10, 2005
1,249
1
38
Charleston, SC
Well first I'd remove whatever you put in the car to get it up to "4 tons", (our cars are under 2 tons factory). After that, you can pull the interior and remove all the asphalt sound deadening from the front and rear foot wells as well as from under the back seat and trunk. That should be around 25lbs right there. Maybe the gram light rims or some 3 piece if you have the funds.

As for the structure behind the seats, I would think that is needed as bracing of the unibody. Don't mess with it.
 

Turbo Habanero

New Member
Apr 28, 2009
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Tucson,AZ
Stock driver seat is over 70lbs and the passenger seat is over 40lbs

the rear seats are 28lbs

Hood is 40+lbs

lighter wheels

Plexi glass for rear hatch window

front bumper has a huge metal bar in it (for safety purposes im not telling you to remove it)

Stock exhaust is very heavy (after market aluminium)

Stock driveshaft is 70+lbs

A/C system you can lose about 35lbs


then you can get rid of the electric motor for the antenna and replace it with a screw in type like the N/A

take off the spoiler for a whole 5lbs or so if its a 3piece

cruise control can save ya 2 lbs lol

and just little things like that you can even take out the dash and remover the heater core.
 

Notsafe1jz

New Member
Aug 16, 2012
42
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Ohio
You do realize that 4 tons is approx. 8000 LBS right? Unless your car is a 1998.5 Dodge Ram 2500, you will be under 2 tons stock. Curb is usually around 3300-3400 LBS. What is your target weight? Are you looking to just drop the extra heft?

Supras are heavy by nature, it's an 80's designed car that was over engineered. 3000 LBS(1.5 tons) is most likely as light as you want to go while maintaining civility and structural integrity if you drive the car on the road.
 

RazoE

Boobs/Boost, my favorite
Jun 13, 2006
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www.cafepress.com
Turbo Habanero;1877772 said:
then you can get rid of the electric motor for the antenna and replace it with a screw in type like the N/A

Que? N/A's had the same antenna as turbos from 86.5-88, and just slightly shorter ones for 89-92.
 

radiod

Supramania Contributor
Dec 13, 2007
1,342
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Abbotsford, BC
Here's a list of a lot of the car's components and weight.

http://trdsupra.com/library/A70WeightIndex.pdf

If you're going to be tracking it you can afford to get rid of some of the comfort features like the cruise control and A/C. After you've taken out the seats and replaced the front ones though there's really not much weight you can lose. You have to aggressive and lose pretty much all the luxury of the car to get a decent amount of weight savings.
 

Poodles

I play with fire
Jul 22, 2006
16,757
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Fort Worth, TX
No matter what, you're not really going to get it down to the weight of something like a 240SX because of it's design in general. Our suspension is far more robust, thus, heavier.
 

spyke_696

New Member
Mar 19, 2012
25
0
0
kittanning
If i said 4i tuns i ment 2 i must have been thinking 4000brandon when i was typing it and ya i know the supras are fat pigs thats why i wanna put some weight off of her
 

te72

Classifieds Moderator
Staff member
Mar 26, 2006
6,603
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WHYoming
Turbo Habanero;1877772 said:
front bumper has a huge metal bar in it (for safety purposes im not telling you to remove it)

Stock exhaust is very heavy (after market aluminium)

Stock driveshaft is 70+lbs

A/C system you can lose about 35lbs

take off the spoiler for a whole 5lbs or so if its a 3piece

cruise control can save ya 2 lbs lol

and just little things like that you can even take out the dash and remover the heater core.
To address Jordan's points here...
-I'm going to take the aluminum bumper out of my LS400 (it is a donor for the Chevy anyway, will be leftover), and use it in the Supra. Weight savings by replacing with lighter, yet equally strong parts. ;)
-Stock exhaust is quite heavy. Get something like the RS*R, and you're cutting a decent amount of weight out right there.
-Jordan, in what universe is the stock driveshaft 70 lbs? IIRC, it felt more like 40 to me...
-As Jordan has pointed out, many of the little luxuries add up. Hell, take out the whole dash if you're feeling frisky.

What I don't see here though, is a goal. What are your intentions with the car? All out ultimate track car? Hope you have some serious money... Just dropping the unneeded weight, but still want a comfortable car? Replace a few things (hood, unsprung weight) with lighter components. Really gotta have a purpose in mind before you just start removing crap man...

Depending on your purpose, balance may or may not be a factor. In my car, it is, otherwise, I would have replaced the hatch with carbon fiber, and the rear window with a Lexan piece. However, removing weight from the rear of a nose heavy car isn't exactly the best idea.

RazoE;1877811 said:
Que? N/A's had the same antenna as turbos from 86.5-88, and just slightly shorter ones for 89-92.
Same here. :)

ryansmith;1877838 said:
How about gutting the doors? is that legal in the U.S?
Not sure, as this will vary from state to state. Probably not the smartest thing to do in case you do get t-boned. With a hard top, I'm sure you could get away with it, but the targas have additional bracing in the doors.

If you have the cash, RHDjapan has carbon fiber door skins for our cars...

radiod;1877851 said:
You have to aggressive and lose pretty much all the luxury of the car to get a decent amount of weight savings.
This is the thing... you have a comfortable, nice car. How much of that are you willing to give up in the name of performance? Your car, your decision. ;)

jetjock;1877872 said:
And you wanted us to be serious...
Must be hard with all your laughing, huh JJ? :rofl: