Put your car on a diet.

[boygenius]

What are some good ways to reduce the weight of our cars?
This is what I have thought of so far, Any more ideas?
1. Lexan windows
2. Fiberglass fenders
3. Fiberglass hood and decklid
4. Carbon fiber door panels, dash ect...
5. ??????

[Sandeep]

5. Alu trailing arms from 944 (if using 944 brakes)
6. Disk brakes which are lighter that the original drums
7. Remove rear seat
8. Use lightweight wheels with appropriate tires.
9. Remove front and rear torsion bars and substitute coilovers
10. Use lightweight engine components inplace of stock items
11. ???

[boygenius]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Sandeep
[B]5. Alu trailing arms from 944 (if using 944 brakes)


My 944 aluminium trailing arms weigh 8 lbs more than my beetle trailing arms. Are the early traiing arms lighter than the late style?

[judgie]

drill holes in ever thing:D :D
no seriously if it's not needed take it out what is not thare don't weigh ant thing.am going with most of the above on my 03 race car.
cheers rob

[hybrid_john]

rob right if you don't need it don't keep it, including the carpeting and luxury comforts we all take for granted, but you must be willing to live with the noise cold and heat, etc. of not having everythingyou might want if its you daily driver... just do some serious p[lanning before you follow up on everything.



John

[judgie]

this is a all out race car so 2xseats&harneses roll cage{heavy but needed}steering wheel and thats about it inside.perspex windows door windows fixed doors trimed so no inners or winders,most of the front under bonnet area has been removed ie spare wheel well fuel tank support etc uesing a strut brace and some braceing.
cheers rob

[samcat]

Also it important to think about weight distribution/centre of gravity.

Lexan windows will pull the centre of gravity down a fair bit, as glass is heavy and high up in the car!

Move battery to the front of the car. I did this the other day and it make a BIG difference to the way the car felt :D

Cya,
Sam C

[boygenius]

Hey Samcat, You have a removable rear end right? How does that work at high speed. Does it rattle or feel like it's going to blow off around 120 mph +.:)

[kdanie]

Small battery like an Optima or DynaBat. Big $$ composite racing seats. Carbon fiber body parts instead of fiberglass. There are even ultra light gages from AutoMeter. If you are considering a roll cage go with chromemolly tubing, it's more expensive but stronger so the tubes can be thinner wall and smaller dia. and saves about a third or more of the weight of a mild steel cage.

Light weight, trick stuff is not cheap.
ken

[hybrid_john]

There are so many ways to lighten up a Super Beetle, it can make your head spin:silly: and chromemolly is lighter than conventional steel, I was gonna ask Alex if his roll cage was off erd in chromemolly but forgot. There i8s another way (I think), I might have seen fiberglass doors somewhere, I don't remember where exactly, but I'll look around some where and see if I can't find them....



John

[njv]

hi
bumpers are very heavy and the brackets holding them to your car so fiberglass bumpers fitted with simple aluminium brackets is good keep in mind you get different weight fiberglasses and the thick stuff can be the same as steel anyway!

ive replaced all my door panels with 1mm ally sheet should look nice when i get around to polishing it ! rear seats in a sqr are heavy as well ive made my own they are considerable lighter

did have glass front and rear bumpers till some idiot reversed into the front of my car rendering the front one totally unrepairable anybody know where i can find typ3 glass front bumpers! theres a lot to be saved simple aluminium l shaped brackets help to.

fit a typ4 engine you can then put your tool box in your garage that saves a few kilos .

take all the rubish out of your car and put it in the bin where it should be!:silly:

heat exchangers on your engine weigh a ton ! get rid and fit an eberspacher this you just take out in the spring when it warms up.

dont fit porsch seats as they are damn heavy especially with the motors 28kg!!! (im fitting them anyway as i like the look and boy are the comfortable

fit a slide back sunroof ! as viynle (sp) weighs less than steel

and lastly yet most controvertional dont fit wheels bigger than you need ! ok ok i know its not necersarily the size but the width of wheels that makes them heavy no need for 8 inch wide wheels on the back when 6 will do and weigh a lot less im in termoil at the minute with a set of pedrinis (very light sat there ) and a set of design 90s 6x16 i cant decide which to fit!!

and yes drill holes in everything

[zen]

Originally posted by samcat
Also it important to think about weight distribution/centre of gravity.

Lexan windows will pull the centre of gravity down a fair bit, as glass is heavy and high up in the car!

Move battery to the front of the car. I did this the other day and it make a BIG difference to the way the car felt :D

Cya,
Sam C

so how did you choose to mount it? pics?

[boygenius]

Originally posted by hybrid_john
There are so many ways to lighten up a Super Beetle, it can make your head spin:silly: and chromemolly is lighter than conventional steel, I was gonna ask Alex if his roll cage was off erd in chromemolly but forgot. There i8s another way (I think), I might have seen fiberglass doors somewhere, I don't remember where exactly, but I'll look around some where and see if I can't find them....



John
I think www.creativecarcraft.com has the fiberglass doors.:D


SORRY. www.markvfiberglass.com has the doors for $197.50 each.:o

[hybrid_john]

I new it was somewhere simple just couldn't think of it then...so what do you think... yay or nay?

Personal opinion, fiberglass doors aren't safe at all. I wouldn't if it's a daily driver!

John

[boygenius]

They are not for the street. there is no place for window regulator harware or a window. If you want windows you have to bolt them in. They are supposed to weigh 11 lbs. I will weigh my stock doors tomorrow to see what the real weight savings are. just out of curiosity I will weigh my chassis tommorrow and maybe my body if I get brave. Maybe we can turn this post into a technical referance artical for real world weight savings. :D

[Racelook]

Maybe I'm blind.. but i can't find the fiberglass doors on there site.

Can anybody give me the direct-link or can show me the way where i can find them on there site.

Grt Wiebrand

[boygenius]

Originally posted by Racelook
Maybe I'm blind.. but i can't find the fiberglass doors on there site.

Can anybody give me the direct-link or can show me the way where i can find them on there site.

Grt Wiebrand



SORRY. www.markvfiberglass.com has the doors for $197.50 each. They weigh 10.5 lbs. Just type in the keyword DOOR in the space provided and it will bring you to them.:D

[boygenius]

I weighed my chassis tonight. 150 lbs. (68.1 kg) That is completely bare, not even paint.:D (1969 IRS)

[hybrid_john]

Not bad, there has to be a way to lighten it up a bit more without sacrificing saftey and quality. If your not gonna use a rear seat maybe you could cut the pan halves out and replace them with fiberglass ones, and even the rear luggage compartment ( fire wall, etc.). VW Innovations (Glass Action) sells them. I dont really know how well that would work but its an idea. They said the pans bolt in, you could just use fiberglass resin or bondo to seal and smooth them out.......:D

Check em out: www.vwinnovations.com


John

[boygenius]

My pans are brand new and I am modifing my fire wall for a hideaway turbo.;)

[Wally]

On the matter of weight: Last weekend I just saw a 2,0 type 1 with Oettinger Nikasils (90 x 78,4) that weighted (are you sitting?) 85 kg and produced 211 hp at the dyno at 7000rpm with Porsche cooling, custom exhaust with motorbike silencer and fan belt on.
Engine has a compression ratio of 10,8 :1 , DTA efi and will be used in 'dirt racing' (space frames).
Mag case and alu cylinders save a lot as well...

One other thing to think about: the ligther your car, the smaller your brakes can be. Try a avoid heavy porsche vented rotors if weigth is your goal.

Light weight stuff is about as costly tho as more hp :(

Greetings,
Walter

[samcat]

Originally posted by zen
so how did you choose to mount it? pics?

http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a_temp/battery_relocation_1.jpg

Cya,
Sam C

[njv]

hi
sam tip for you if you take a hose from your eberspacher inlet and run that to your car as well you will efectively have re-circulation cutting down on the heaters cycle and ensuring faster warm up to boot . i will take a picture of how my battery is fitted to the front of my typ3 and try and post it .

[samcat]

Originally posted by njv
hi
sam tip for you if you take a hose from your eberspacher inlet and run that to your car as well you will efectively have re-circulation cutting down on the heaters cycle and ensuring faster warm up to boot .

Yeah, its on the cards... Just a case of finding somewhere suitable to take the pipe to to get nice air from the cabin....

Cya,
Sam C

[zen]

you super guys have it made for the front battery placement. :D

[boygenius]

Anybody know how much weight a one piece front end saves.:confused:

I was thinking about one since I need so much bodywork up in front it would be easier to cut it off and use a one piece front end.

Does anybody make a widened one piece front end.:confused:


If I get a quote to make a widened one piece front end would anybody be interested.

[vujade]

Dont do a one piece front end! It will make your car too light in the front (which is bad for handling, good for drag racing) and it will make your car less rigid too.

You could always use a fiberglass hood & fenders but stilll leave your car intact & uncut.

[boygenius]

Good point.

I kinda figured that but wasn't sure.

Thanx.:)

[njv]

hey
where would you put the shopping with a one peice front end to:D

[DORIGTT]

C'mon njv!

What the heck are you thinking! Who carries groceries in their V-Dubs anymore?:D

These vehicles aren't pack animals! They are prime specimens of what a car can be (if it were 30 years old and they didn't have acid rain when it was built):silly:

I strap the bags in the baby seat!!!:p

[boygenius]

If I can't carry groceries.

Then I can't eat.

Then I'll lose weight.

Then I'll go faster.


It all makes sense, doesn't it......:silly:

[njv]

hi
spend all your hard earned on lightweight parts for your car and end up with no food money left you lose weight the cars goes faster:silly:

then u run outa gas:toilet:

do the glass wings and bonnet thing but dont take the cars dignity completely:takethat:

[boygenius]

I'm too cheap anyway.


I don't feel like spending that much money on the front end.

I just don't like doing bodywork.:p

[hybrid_john]

I think just about everyoen would agree with you on that one genius. But then again I like body work, as long as I dont have to reshape any metal, like panels and such.......:D




John

[vujade]

Brendan, what year is your bug>?

There is a 69 Beetle over here with good body panels for $200.
Maybe we could split the cost. You can have the body & Ill take the pan.

Whatdya think?

[SilverBullet]

Do anyone knows who does lexan windows for bugs/SB?

[vujade]

aircooled.net sells them I believe.

[craazy Cooter]

Go to the hardware store and make your own like me.

[boygenius]

Originally posted by vujade
Brendan, what year is your bug>?

There is a 69 Beetle over here with good body panels for $200.
Maybe we could split the cost. You can have the body & Ill take the pan.

Whatdya think?


I don't think I want the body since I already replaced the heater channels and the wheel wells and the front body pillars. I have a new front clip from mexico but I'm afraid of welding it on crooked. I had a shop work on the rest of the body for 65 hours to get it to its present condition. Road salt got the best of my car since it spent some time in NC before I bought it. Ironicly my beetle is a 1969. It was made in december 1968 so it just turned 35 years old this month.:cake: How complete is the car. Does it have seats? I may not want the body but I may want some other parts. :)

[boygenius]

Originally posted by craazy Cooter
Go to the hardware store and make your own like me.
Can you bend the plexi-glass to make the rear and front curved windows.:confused:

[zen]

yes to the rear. illegal and unsafe (for street use) in the front. plus they scratch easy.

http://volksport.net/images/projpics/zen22.jpg

[boygenius]

Thanks, thats good to know. What kind of weight savings are we talking about by using lexan windows.:confused: Will they work with pop-out rear windows.:confused:

[craazy Cooter]

Lexan is a little harder then plexiglass. I used 1/8" or 3/16" and it will flex for the rear window easily. Plexiglass is usually stiffer and crack prone. Lexan has a scratch resistant UV outer coating. About $30 for 3x4' .

[craazy Cooter]

also the stock window is 5 pounds or so and lexan is a few ounces. good weight savings. My pop outs are lexan.

[boygenius]

Originally posted by craazy Cooter
Go to the hardware store and make your own like me.

What hardware store?

home depot?

Lowes?

Ace?

Scotty's?


What section of the store was it in. I get lost in Home Depot.:silly:

[zen]

i got mine from a window store.

[njv]

hi
id love to but one german winter scratching away in the morning and they would be buggered !!! i suppose i could find my old winter cover out and start putting that on .

anybody know how it stands up to de-icer /isoproponol alcohol i just imagined my car all iced up i spray it with de-icer rather than scratch and my windows melt:rolleyes: that would be a windy morning to work.

all im seeing over here in our diy sorta departments is what we call perspex is this your plexiglass or the other stuff?

perspex here is a bit of a pain to work you need a special blade for the jigsaw so it doesnt just melt the plastic and you have to go real real slow to drill holes in it or you will get cracks comeing out of it:rolleyes:

it stikes me we all might be talking about the same stuff its just trade names there is a real tough plastic that is used for makeing riot sheilds and such public order eqipment;) perhaps this is what you call lexan oh i dont know and i dont seem to be helping much do i .

[Racelook]

Originally posted by njv
perspex here is a bit of a pain to work you need a special blade for the jigsaw so it doesnt just melt the plastic

You can saw plexiglas (perspex) with a normal blade (for steel) in your jigsaw.. the only "trick" that you have to do: is that you have to use painttape (crepetape) exactly over the line where you want to saw it.. than the tape "catch" the melded plexiglas up so it don't meld back together after your saw..

ANd I also want to know what you'r meaning with lexan.. is this acrylplates.. (acrylplates are just like plexiglas only then scratchresistender and it can't brake by freeze)

I know ..i'm not so good in english :silly:

greetings Wiebrand

[njv]

hi
cheers for the tape tip id used tape under the foot of the jigsaw to stop it scratching the perspex as you cut it i will just use a wider strip next time i cut some.

as for lexan well im not sure what i mean either i have thought of another name we called our riot sheilds when i was over in northern ireland the name was macrolon almost indistructable it was and obviously flame proof as well a thin version of whatever this stuff is must be better for car windows as i know perspex can shatter into nasty size pointy bits if its hit with force!!!

back to an earlier post a window or glazing place is probably better than your local diy place they may not be too happy about you putting plastic windows in a car but im sure if your insistant about doing it with them they will supply the correct stuff for the job.

as a child the front door to my house was at the bottom of our stairs it got smashed several times by toys of one discription or another going down the stairs:D eventually the landlord fitted a special plastic window that spoilt the fun but put an end to some pretty draughty times :eek:

[craazy Cooter]

lexan is made by General Electric. A jig saw won't melt it if you use a slower speed and concentrate.

[boygenius]

My friend was cleaning out his warehouse and found some lexan or plexi-glass in the corner. He also found some 4' x 8' aluminium sheets. I'll see if its any good. Lightweight and darn near free.:D


I'll use the aluminium for the fire wall.;)

[njv]

HI
i use aluminium as much as i can im a twat for stealing wayward bits of it that are left around at work;)

[boygenius]

I work at a motorcycle shop so I'm always taking little bits of this or that home from work.;)

[vennard]

Dont want to bum everyone out and sound like an MOT tester but most if not all of the lightening answeres you have come up with also weaken the car. Just thought Id point it out. Guilty of most of them myself but its something you should know before you proceed with anything structual.

Sorry:(

Karl

[miller]

Yes but the act of lightening means less stress in general. I agree think before you decide to make something out of aluminum. Maybe their is a reason why that panel is 16 gauge and not 22. As long as you take the proper precautions then going through your car and swapping out materials for lighter ones is definetly a good idea for performance and reliability.

[vwdevotee]

Old thread I know, but anyway. Just wanted to clarify a coupl eo fthings:

Perspex=plexiglass=cast acrylic=PMMA=polymethylmethacrilate
PMMA is more scratch resistant than Lexan, but is very brittle. It also tends to break into large stabbing shards that tend to ruin ones day.

Lexan=HyZod=PC=polycarbonate
PC is very tough and impact resistance, but it scratched easily. You can actually fold a piece of PC over onto itself and the crease just turns white. It doesn't break. PC is used in F1 for the facemasks of the drivers.