Going junk diving

[zen]

Originally Posted by evilC

A friend of mine became obsessive about weight in his road rally car to the point where he took all the bolts out of the vehicle and cut them to the precise correct length. The bucket of bolt ends weighed in at around 10kgs! Clive

Now that's commitment...the obsessive kind.

[evilC]

Originally Posted by zen

Now that's commitment...the obsessive kind.

It may have been obsessive but since the guy couldn't afford the go-faster parts of his piers he had to level the playing field somehow. The car competed in the Lada Challenge (the rounds that he could afford) and some of the other lightening that was carried out:

A thin 1/4" foam layer substituted for a rear seat on road rallies - it often passed scutineering.
Fiat 124 steel wings that were 1/2 the weight of the identical Lada wings that he then acid dipped at the local door strippers.
Guts cut out of the doors and the outer skin substituted with 1.0mm aluminium. Those doors were frighteningly flimsy.
All side and rear 'glass' was 4mm polycarbonate.
The sumpguard was 1/4" polycarbonate bonded to 1/2" ply - lighter than aluminium and very effective!
The holesaw was also given free range.

Just to finish the description all of this work was carried out in a lock-up garage with no power and a hurricane lamp for lighting. All drilling was carried out with a hand drill (non-electric) and all cutting was by hacksaw or shears.

That wasn't obsession it was dedication. Dick was/is a true clubman, a man to admire.

Clive