shaving weight.

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poniesviii

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I always thought I'd leave the car a true 'street car', and not shave any weight. But since I've decided to start modding to the next level while on the prowl for an E46 M3 I've decided why not just pretty much do it all.

I took my back seat out while cleaning, and decided I like it better without. This car wasn't made for rear passengers anyways unless everybody's a midget. I'm carpeting it this weekend.

Looking for input on places to save weight so I can hold up better on the streets. There's some pretty big boys around here, I'd like to at least hang with the average guys. I will still drive the car outside of just playin around and want it safe/ un-annoying.

Ideas to consider?
 
Remove the spare tire and jack, hood liner and insulation under the carpets(as stated above), remove the rear seats, replace the front seats with non-power race buckets, tubular K-member(if you can find one and that it actually fits!), dump the stereo stuff, lighter wheels and tires....those are some things, not sure how much they are going to help on a 4000+ lbs car but you got to start somewhere I guess.
 
Now see, I'm just the opposite. :p

If I started taking out weight, I wouldn't qualify for the Super Southern Heavyweight Shootout. :gr_devil: So I just try to learn to drive better and mod the car to make it quicker.

I've known a couple guys going to extremes with weight reduction, but I gotta tell ya, it was no longer a Lincoln. Just a look-a-like. From the outside. With 5% tint. :eek:

I hafta laugh every time I'm at the track and I see some Civic 'gutted' and sporting a carbon fiber hood and fiberglass racing seat. :bowrofl:
 
How much does the air suspensions weigh compared to coils? I don't really think it would make any diference, more curious.

Has anyone moved their battery to the trunk? I've noticed almost every drag car I've seen has the battery in the trunk.

If you were going to go crazy, take out the air conditioning and condenser etc. you could pull the sunroof and replace it with a plexy peice. I geuss it just bepends on how crazy you want to go. with a luxury vehicle like the Mark theres a lot more weight to be lost if you wanted to than in a Honda, but then it really isn't a lsc its an sc.
 
Not a fan of removing luxury items for weight purposes. I've added prolly 100 lbs of just sound deadener to the 95. I feel that if your worried about going faster, you need more power.


But if your hell bent on it, everything mentioned before this should do nicely.
 
kustomizingkid said:
How much does the air suspensions weigh compared to coils? I don't really think it would make any diference, more curious.
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Coils are heavier. I was amazed by how much heavier they were than the air. Id guess 30-40 lbs total. The rear bags weighed next to nothing.
 
Dern Humpus said:
Coils are heavier. I was amazed by how much heavier they were than the air. Id guess 30-40 lbs total. The rear bags weighed next to nothing.
Click to expand...

how much does the compressor weigh tho? with coils you could get rid of the compressor and maybe balance out the car a little better? ive never seen teh compressor outside of the car so i dont really know how much it weighs
 
the compressor isnt that heavy.

i got my 3800 lb 3000gt down to 3555 with a full tank of gas and didnt replace anything. just removal of deadener, crash bars, rear seats (less room than a mark), and some performance parts that were lighter than stock (downpipe, suspension)
 
My Apollo weighed somewhere between 3400-3600 stock. It has no interior, the dash is just a shell, there's only one seat, no carpet. It weighs around 2900 now, with the Caddy motor which is maybe 100lbs more than the Buick 350 it replaced, and with the 8pt roll bar. I'm going to get a fiberglass front clip (everything from the doors forward.) So you can save a lot of weight by ripping stuff out. I wouldn't do it to a Mark VIII though.

The back seat in the Mark VIIIs is light though. Mine's out, I took it out to help install my nitrous, but I doubt it saved more than 20lbs or so. I'm just leaving it out so I can reach the bottle valve from inside the car.
 
I probably won't save much weight, but it all helps. If I can lose a hundred lbs and still have a car that isn't annoying to drive, I'll do it. I'm not looking to drop five hundred. but I am looking to lose some things, have some fun with it, and have people know it's more about performance when they sit in it.

As far as luxury items, other than the dash and door panels that hug around the two front passengers, there is no luxury. What was option in '96 is standard in '07. You can buy a chevy trailblazer and have just as much luxury as you could in a lincoln ten years ago in my eyes. A brand new BMW- there's luxury.

I'll probably lose the front seats. They are heavy pigs, and my drivers isn't perfect anymore. Time for upholstery anyways, might as well cover some newer cobra seats in leather if I can find 'em cheap. I like not having a wrap around bucket feel, race seats would be dumb in my situation. I don't want to go out of my way, especially on spending much money to save weight. And I'm not looking at weight savings to be the soul of what makes the car quicker. My daily is turning into a toy.

I can't think of too many places to save weight really. Medium-The car does seem more convenient without the back seat. And, now I don't have to worry about giving someone a ride and getting feet put everywhere they don't belong. And ashtreys leaned on and broke. A less-maintenance car is a happier car. :)
 
These cars are just heavy and that's all there is to it.

but, the '03-'04 cobras are, what, only 100-200 lbs lighter than us right?

Better gearing, trans, and a built motor .. the loss of a hundred lbs .. and on the street they shouldn't be such a threat at all.
 
03 cobra drivetrain in a mark and i wouldnt worry about an equally modded cobra. mark has much better aero.
 
The built automatic should help me out also. There's a couple good shifters around here. They hit the N20 and never let off the throttle through the gears. I want to run ahead of them if poss, one has almost 700 rwhp, I'd really like to keep up w that one.. but not expecting to lol.
 
I'm taking my doc's advice. Quit the candy bars and exercise more. He guarantees I'll drop 20 lbs from the driver's seat. Besides I like all the extras the Lincolns have, that's why I don't have Mustangs.
Dave.
 
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