Fastback interior stripped behind seats - savings weighed

[Pressure]

Hey, forgive me if this info is repetitive, but I just wanted to post up some (fairly) exact numbers since I have them. I stripped everything out of a 90 fastback behind the rear seats except for the stock speakers and their housings, and left all wiring alone. Here is what I got, rounded to the nearest half pound.

Cargo and back of rear seat carpeting, sound deadening material: 9.5 lbs
Carpeted formed and plastic interior pieces: 9 lbs
Spare and spare cover: 27 lbs
Total: 45.5 lbs

Everything was easy except the sound deadener, it took about 2.5-3 hours for all of it, and I wasn't in a hurry. After I wiped everything down and before the sound deadener came out, it acutally looked much better than it did previously, although the carpet was pretty nasty and much of the plastic scratched. Next is the rest of the horribly colorful interior carpeting and sound deadener, I'll post the totals on those when I get there.

[AKADriver]

All that stuff is only 18 pounds? I figured as much. Makes me feel a lot better for leaving it all in.

[West]

I did the same thing long ago, it seemed like allot more weight then I hade anticipated. Thanks for actually weighing it.

Only thing I don't like about it is the fact that without the hatch cover on the exhaust is way more noticeable in the cabin. Also, I removed the two speaker cover/panels because they started to rattle like mad. After I did that there was no room to set the hatch cover on so last week I got some wood an made some brackets for the edges Very ghetto, so now I am looking for a new set of the rear speaker covers so I can figure a better way to keep them from rattling.

All in all, 19lbs is 19lbs and I have no need for a complete trunk. At least now I can fit the baby stroller in my car I think it was worth it.

[Dream240]

Well I have an S14 and I removed my trunk interior and spare with jack, but thats as far as I went. I like the extra room in the trunk now, but I'm wondering, is there a way to clean up the look of the metal in the trunk? Like some kind of spray paint setup or maybe a very light weight plastic molding that I can custom fit into the base of the trunk?

Also I'm planning a major sound system upgrade by removing the back seats and creating a whole sub package with the box custom built into the chassis, do you guys think the speaker package with the box would weigh more than the existing seats and stuff? I would most likely have 2 12" subs with my set of 6 1/2" added to the box, also one amp somewhere in the base in the foot space. I'm trying to add some looks for the shows and not create a weight monster with all the sound equipment.

[West]

You could possibly use some Truck Bedliner Spray to seal/cover the nasty metal in the back, just an idea.

[Pressure]

Originally posted by WeST
All in all, 19lbs is 19lbs and I have no need for a complete trunk.

Thank you. It's pretty amazing how they chop up all that usable space for cheezy plastic panelage. Yeah, the speaker brackets rattle but so does damn near everything else . . . regardless, they'll come out too.

Dream240 - You could do what I'm doing and paint it to match the exterior. Not sure if you want to go to that trouble tho. The biggest bitch will be removing all of the adhesive that nasty tar **** left.
What materials were you thinking about using for your sound system? If you're taking it to a shop, the standard as far as I know is plywood which is obviously heavy. If it's being fitted to the chassis, then maybe fiberglass is the plan which is much better. I had a fitted box tho, and I'm warning you, the chances of winning any sound competitions is minimal, unless you find a way to square out the inside of the box. All of the curves and odd shapes of a fitted box do odd and usually not good things to sound waves.
I'm not sure if it would work for subs, but I'm thinking about building my new mid housings out of carbon fiber. That would be the way to do it if 1) you want to save weight, 2) you want to win competitions, and 3) you've got plenty of dough to blow to get there.

[Dream240]

To pressure,

Well, I was thinking about going with fiberglass, cause of the wieght of plywood. I hadn't thought of winning sound competions, I just wanted to convert the car to a 2-seater and boost up the sound and looks of the interior while I'm at it. I'm sure there aren't that many 240s at shows with that setup. Maybe it would give me a leg up in the interior competitions. Of course if I can manage to get the local sound shop to sponsor me, I'm gonna go all out with color matching carbon fiber, if they can afford it. I'm sure the sound would be good from inside of the car, but maybe not win any sound competitions.

[twitchy]

Hmmm....19 pounds...would that even make a measurable improvement in performance? I can see if it was as a part of a complete stripdown of the interior, but 19 pounds...thats like...well, thats like 20 pounds. Thats what 2 bags of groceries or a packsack full of books weighs...

is it really worth it??

[AKADriver]

Originally posted by twitchy
is it really worth it??

That's something you have to ask yourself.

If I was building a 240SX for IT racing, hell yeah it'd be worth it.

In a street car/uncompetitive track bitch car? It gets hazy.

I took my rear seat out. Probably a good 30 pounds, there. I didn't need it, it was easy to remove, and with the rear interior panels still in place and the carpet laid over the 'hole' it still looks clean and is quiet on the street. Did I notice a performance gain? No, but since I was constantly working around the rear seat, and it won't match the front seats I want to get, it made sense to pull it.

[einherjar]

you also need to worry about balancing, espically on a 240sx which has a very light rear end. make it even lighter and you will get less traction on the ground, if you are going to remove carpet/deadner then remove it from the front aswell as the back.

<--- what is this?

[zero.counter]

Get an Odyssey battery or the one from PDM-RACING to have another 15lbs. shaved.

[AKADriver]

The fastbacks we're talking about already have a 30lb ballast in the rear thanks to the huge rear window.

I am removing A/C from my car, though.

[Pressure]

Originally posted by twitchy

is it really worth it??

To those that have done it, yes. To those who have no intention of doing it, no. I don't know if you were referring to me but I posted originally that it was step one of the strippage.
Every pound is every pound. It's free. There's little chance that it will hurt any facet of performance as long as balance is maintained as said above. Say 20 pounds equals 2 hp. It's like nothin by itself but when one's aim is to continue to do whatever possible to add power, then there's no reason not to. I mean, even if I was on the dyno busting 645 horses, that doesn't mean I don't want to make 650 or even 646.

Add: the only concern I have is removing weight from the rear and center of the car, but not as much from the front. I know we're talking about small numbers here, but what kind of effect do yall think it might have on the polar moment of the car? Or, for discussion, if I removed 100 lbs from the back, 100 from the middle, and 50 from the front, what would be the result on the car's dynamics? (Not asking anyone in particular, just throwing it out)

[twitchy]

doesnt the 240 have close to perfect weight distribution....theres a pic on here somewhere. II think its like 48 to 52...the rear end isnt THAT light

[West]

IIRC S13 Weight Ratio is 53/47.

Lets say the weight of a average 240 is 2700 lbs.

Total: 2700lbs

Front: 1431lbs
Rear : 1269lbs -19lbs (1250lbs)

Best thing to do is to just pull your battery and move it to the back. I don't remember what they weigh, but its about 30-40lbs. Let say its 41lbs for ****s and giggles...

Front: 1390
Rear : 1310 -19lbs (1291lbs)

Now Remove you AC and your getting closer... about 50lbs? (Ac compressor is HEAVY) plus you have your ac cooler/fans and lines.

Of course if you get a KA Turbo Kit or even an SR id Imagine your weight gains to the front end would increase about 40-90lbs from turbo components.

Anyways, this isn't rocket science. If you want to see how close your car is to 50/50 then try to do some math or get your car corner weighted.

[West]

Yup, its 53/47

[Startours7]

I was planning on moving my battery to the trunk(I work for a marine electronics company so cable cheep My boss however reminded me that two 15ft runs of 1/o cable would weigh 20lbs. so now I have another beef. just have to find 20lbs. to get rid of.

[transient]

Originally posted by WeST
You could possibly use some Truck Bedliner Spray to seal/cover the nasty metal in the back, just an idea.

All I have to say is Hammerite. That's stuff that they use on boats and it basically eats any rust in it's way as well as leaving a 1/8-1/2inch (depending upon how liberal you are with it) protective coating wherever you want it.

http://www.masterchem.com/pages/default.aspx?NavID=42

[LanceS13]

The best thing to do as far as a battery (unless you have a system, etc. and you need plenty of juice, I guess) is to leave it where it is and get a lightweight battery. Battery cable is heavy, then you have a box and other extra hardware. You can move it to the back, but you'll easily add another 20-25lbs. to the car. Say a stock battery is 30lb...move it to the back, and you have up to 55lbs. of battery stuff in the car (maybe more). I got a 13 lb. battery from www.gotbatteries.com and left it where it was. I just fabricated a custom j-bolt/tie-down setup to account for the smaller size. That's still 17lb. off the front of the car from stock, and somewhere around 40lb. lighter than a full-sized relocated battey. And if I move it down to the frame rail (it's that small!), that helps lower the CG, too.

[Pressure]

It seems like it would make more sense to move the battery closer to the center, ie floorboard or under a seat. That way, the weight is still removed from the front, but polar moment of inertia is decreased as well.

[uiuc240]

batteries like to spew out strange gases as they work. don't put it in the car with you unless you plan to use a sealed battery, or you plan to build a vented enclosure for it. also, keep in mind that all this talk about polar moment is kinda irrelevant. you've got this big engine/radiator/etc. up there WAY in the front of the car...moving a battery isn't going to suddenly turn your car into a Lotus Elise. plus, having a nice FR setup like we do gives easy car control...which is one of the top reasons the S chassis makes a good drift car. if you lower the polar moment too much, it makes the car less stable in drift.

i know this is way off topic...but whatever.

Eric