4to8m8

Any tips on AC removal?? She's not a daily driver so I figure I could lighten her up a bit and free up the smugglers box for hidden cash for parts

TC_SJ

how much weight would she save if AC remove ?

TIA

4to8m8

Not sure. I heard it was significant though. Anyone have any input.

sushinav

My Nippondenso Compressor from 87 Carrera weighs 17 lbs. I have heard that about 65 lbs for the whole system when removed including dryer, hoses, condensors, brackets.

TC_SJ

not much wieght to delete the AC unless it's does not work, just like carry a little kit in the car.

I know R12 is like gold, just charge my 87 for $360.00,

TC_SJ

TC_SJ

Ops ... I mean carry a little kid NOT kit

ebsalem

the system I took out of my '72 weighed 71 pounds and sold to a rennlister for $400 plus shipping.

rip it out.

4to8m8

It's outa there. 400.00$?????I'm definitely going to be gentle. Man thats almost a Wevo gate shifter. What a trade!!!

raceman77

whatever performance gain you`ll see (almost none) won`t make up for the damage to the future resale of the vehicle.You`ll spend 20 hours taking it out right and if you or someone else wants to reinstall A/C in the future?Buy another car,it`s not worth the trouble. and the $400.00? that was for an A/C system on a 72,which was a rare option. Good luck though.You`ll see a performance gain with a weight loss program for sure,but it has to be a full program.lnterior,body parts,etc

nolift911

That is if you plan on selling the car...for those of us that don't - removing the A/C is an excellent mod that removes weight from extreme ends of the car affecting polar movement. You would be surprised what a little weight loss in these areas account for handling wise.

-Jeff
nolift911@hotmail.com

JCP911S

If you are looking to build a personal performance car that you plan to keep, reducing weight is a much better approach than spending $$$$ trying to increase HP... leaving the engine dead stock is the best way to assure long reliable life.

Some folks (like me) consider the AC ins these cars to be a detriment and won't care if it is gone... it might take longer to sell, but probably won;t kill te resale of an otherwise good car that much.

Some other thinkgs to look at...

For $1,000 or so you can replace the front and rear crash bumbers with fiberglass (GT Racing for example) yes this will reduce crashworthyness somewhat, so you neet to make that personal decision, but it will take 70-80 lbs off the ends of the car.

Stereo equipment is another overlooked source of weight...you can pull extra speakers, poweramps, power antenna, etc, and still have tunes.

The factory exhaust is very heavy. Replacing with tube headers and a simple muffler will save significant weight... but you will lose heat, and have to consider the emmisiions impacts...legal and moral

Depends on how extreme you want to get but you can easily pull 200+ lbs out of a Carrara without too much sacrifice... and that will definately pay off in performance.

Peter Zimmermann

Sushi has it just about right - 65 lbs is the weight we removed from the last car I did. Two critical issues regarding what you are about to do: (1) the mentioned financial implications of trying to re-sell (everything becomes for sale sometime) the car, without something that was standard equipment. Of course a careful removal with all parts and hardware tagged and bagged might instill some confidence in a buyer. (2) By removing just the components in the engine compartment you remove the lion's share of the weight, compressor + brackets/hardware and rear engine lid condenser. This action also results in superior engine cooling (that condenser slows down the ambient air your fan is trying to suck in). You could make the argument that leaving the evaporator blower, drier and front condenser + blower in the car might improve the balance of the car, so why bother to remove it? Unless, of course, you're headed toward prepping a track car, and if that's the case, and you're that serious, I hope your car has no sunroof. Talk about weight in the wrong place!
Pete

mamoroso

Other ways to reduce weight in a simple fashion:
- remove spare wheel
- Optima or even better Hawker battery (the latter weights a mere 17lbs)
- replace OEM seats with racing shells. The stock seats are unbelieavebly heavy.
- remove back seats
- RS door panel

These are all things you can put back in if you decide to sell the car. I just finished installing a set of Recaro Pole Position. The difference in weight is noticeable.

Dan Cobb

You might do well to skip that 3rd (or 4th) plate of holiday bounty too. Why not go to the extreme that you never drive the car with a full belly. For that matter, be sure to drain your bladder before geting behind the wheel. Hell, if you're not all that vain... why not shave your head? Leave those pesky socks and undergarments at home, they serve little purpose while in the Porsche anyway! Remove all of those extra keys from the keyring while you're at it, and be certain to clear the memory locations in your radio... all those extra digits have to weigh someting.

I suggest that instead of going to such extremes, why not simply remove the belt from the AC compressor? This will do 3 things in your favor.
1- It will free-up the previously 'wasted' HP (which is mostly what you are after anyway, right?!)
2- It eliminates the 'value of the car impact' because parts were removed (regardless of how well documented and executed)
3- It will not force you to consider another round of corner balancing

I've read once that 7 pounds is the equivalent of 1 HP; that being so: a 65 lb reduction in weight would provide nearly 10 HP gain. This doesn't include the value of HP 'lost' by just turning the AC compressor. I would guess that to be another 1-3. This entire mod might yield an additional 12 HP.

How long will it take to remove all of these parts and preserve them in a state of value? I think one might find it easier to purchase additional HP through a new exhaust system and to better utilize EXISTING HP by maintaining correct tire pressures. Not to mention that many of us (likely myself included) could benefit similarly through improved driving techniques alone.

Bottom line for me is this... I'll start removing parts from the car to improve its performance as a last resort. (Others can and should do as they see fit)
+++

KC911

I think I may be one of the few with a decent working A/C...that is, the two times I've used it in the past couple of years (didn't use it at all this past summer)...it's history ! Weight savings is just an added bonus...I'm also looking to 'clean up' the engine compartment (along with backdating the heat) for easier access. I don't worry about resale value...she's not going anywhere...

Keith