Its an upgrade because you can now run a tire with less rubber for side wall and have a bigger contact patch. weight is barely worth considering, as it is only like if 1.5 x the weight was sitting in your lap as far as acceleration goes.

cutting off the roof seems a little extreme for only net of 5 lbs.

mk

 

MK
But thats 5 lbs at the highest point in the car too!

 

It was a net gain of 5lbs but the old roof had a giant hole in the middle. Thats gotta be close to 50% of the entire area of the roof missing. Maybe Carl can clarify this point. The 5lbs is also not taking into account the sunroof stuff thats already ben removed in the past.

 

The hole in the middle was cuz, in this cars younger days, I had cut in an after-market sunroof.

BTW: my race sanctioning bodies require I wear arm restaraints if the roof is open, or I can put window-net material up there (not very aerodynamic) or it has to be metal.

 

What are you guys using to cut the holes in the aluminum bumper reinforcement bar?

I attempted this a couple of years ago and the hole saw I was using just wouldn't "cut it".

Ken

 

The broaches made by Blair are really top-notch. Very tough, last a long time, and cut a much cleaner hole than a hole saw. http://www.blairequipment.com/ I recommend them highly.

The big holes were made with a hole saw, but use a 1/2" or larger corded drill to cut them, not a rechargeable, and you will be fine.

 

Carl,

Thanks for the referral. Just what I was looking for.

If you were not going to buy an entire kit, but just a couple of the most useable sizes, what would be your preference.?

Ken

 

Kit # 11091 is my favorite.

http://www.blairequipment.com/Kits/Cutter_Kits.html

 

Perfect !!!!

My goal is to get 75 pounds out of the car before May. (Obviously not all with cutting holes)

Thanks again.

Ken

 

One of my weight savings plan is to install my McLaren Electronics alternator, now Bosch and Race Proven also do similar models but you better check the charging rate. To make up for lower charge from the alternator at low revs, only 8 amps at idle and 40 amps at 1350 rpm I plan to convert my car to LEDs, I think Nicol does these?

Also I will convert the headlights to HID as there is a lightweight kit on Ebay for $137, its amplifiers are only the size of a credit card and I believe that these systems draw less power, apart from the gains of not sucking so much power off the alternator the net weight difference is 5+kgs. I have also thought if I used an aftermarket controller I could charge the battery only when off throttle and on the brakes. There would need to be an allowance made to kick it is when needed if this charging wasn't enough. You could also cut the power to the alternator under full acceleration.

Greg

 

You can save between 9 and 12 pounds off the front of the car by installing one of our lightweight alternator packages.

 

Removing the outboard rear seat belt mounting brackets saves another pound.
These puppys are heavy!

Use a spot weld cutter and they come right off.

 

These photos below show last year's racing exhaust, from the headers back.

Twin 3" exhausts made from garden-variety aluminized 14 gauge steel, just like you get from the local muffler shop, complete with ram-bent corners and everything. 60 pounds! Not pretty.

My search for materials landed me on 0.45 wall stainless steel mandrel bent tubing - where I could save 1.5 pounds per running foot over the 14 gauge steel and still have good strength characteristics.

 

After welding the stainless steel, we smoothed the fillets with a shop grinder.

The finished new exhaust weighs only 35 pounds - a savings of 25 pounds! The mufflers accounted for about 12 of those pounds, the tubing the other 13.

Looks nice, too.

 

Stainless is a bugger to weld, looks like some grinding took place after