# Thinking of gutting your S13? Read here...



## 2Fass240us (Aug 2, 2004)

I finished this up last night, and thought some of you might find it interesting:
*S13 Weight Savings Guide w/pictures*

As a little bit of background for those unfamiliar with my project, I am building a 93 SE to compete in the SRX Division of the SE-R Cup. The content thus far is pretty much “Stage 1” of my gutting project, as I have not yet weighed a lot of the other stuff that I’ve removed. The headlight stuff, wiring, and other miscellaneous chit will be posted as soon as I get a chance to weigh everything and publish it to my website. Hopefully I can get this done by mid-next week.

Lemme know what you guys think. I am working with the site co-owner to redesign the page, as this is something I "slapped" together last night. And when I say "slapped"," I really mean "spent several hours finding the pictures, formatting the table and page, linking everything together, and publishing."  

Andy


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## pete? (Jul 6, 2004)

did you weigh the enitre car with all the stuff in it before you started to gut it? like a base dyno reading? then compair it to the total weight after your finished. because you took out the seat belts but im guessing you put racing harnesses in, and your most likely going to put a cage in too right? and if you didnt take a weight first, weigh all the stuff you will be puting into the car and subtract that weight from the 198lbs that you have saved and that will be you TRUE savings :thumbup: non the less nice job


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## Irishweird00 (Nov 16, 2004)

I gutted my 91 240 because im doing a complete color change, the amount of shit thats in the car is amazing, took me about 2 hours to get everything out, and there has to be at least 200lbs of shit, not including the sound deadening material all over under the dash and the floor. auto seat belts, body pannels. the stuff adds up quick.


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## 2Fass240us (Aug 2, 2004)

I didn't weigh it first because it had no engine, so I couldn't drive it anywhere to be weighed. I am using the baseline weight on some websites, then subtracting the stuff I weighed when I took it out. After it's running, I'll put it on some cornerweighting scales to get the total weight, add back all the chit I took out, and compare that number to the published values.


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## datman55 (Dec 13, 2004)

*The Jenny Craig Treatment!*

Weight reduction is one of the best ways to lower your lap times.

Don't forget to remove the sound deadening from the under carriage (if it has any)....all you need is a heat gun and a scraper.....it's a crappy job, but worth the effort!

Also, while your under there.....grab a small angle grinder and remove any unused brackets. Or, grab a drill and drill out the spot welds on brackets...another good way for removing them. This should also be done inside the car.

We actually have to run door trims in our category...so we cut out all the bracing in the door itself (from behind the door trim)...just leaving enough to allow the door handle and window winder to function normally.


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## pete? (Jul 6, 2004)

2Fass240us said:


> I didn't weigh it first because it had no engine, so I couldn't drive it anywhere to be weighed. I am using the baseline weight on some websites, then subtracting the stuff I weighed when I took it out. After it's running, I'll put it on some cornerweighting scales to get the total weight, add back all the chit I took out, and compare that number to the published values.


 :thumbup: but also weigh it after you have all the race gear in there too


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## Joel (Jun 11, 2003)

datman55 said:


> We actually have to run door trims in our category...so we cut out all the bracing in the door itself (from behind the door trim)...just leaving enough to allow the door handle and window winder to function normally.


I wouldnt recommend this for a street car


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## TheVodKA (Sep 19, 2002)

I've seen guys do it, but that's in So. Cal, where its always warm. I wouldn't recommend it in a cold area


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## 2Fass240us (Aug 2, 2004)

datman55 said:


> Weight reduction is one of the best ways to lower your lap times.


It's also a great way to decrease tire and brake wear. As an added bonus, it makes for easier towing, too!  



datman55 said:


> Don't forget to remove the sound deadening from the under carriage (if it has any)....all you need is a heat gun and a scraper.....it's a crappy job, but worth the effort!


Meh...maybe if I had ready access to a lift. I would like to eventually strip everything, sandblast the bottom and wheel wells, and coat it all with bedliner. If this ever happens, it'll be when the cage gets installed though, because the chassis will be stripped at that point. In all reality, caging is a couple years down the road.



datman55 said:


> Also, while your under there.....grab a small angle grinder and remove any unused brackets. Or, grab a drill and drill out the spot welds on brackets...another good way for removing them. This should also be done inside the car.


I have already removed the intake box bracket and "ignitor bracket" from the engine bay, and have started on the battery tray. I plan on cutting a fair bit out of the interior as well, specifically the climate control brackets and other useless underdash stuff. The spare mounting bracket will go as well.



1.6pete said:


> :thumbup: but also weigh it after you have all the race gear in there too


That's the plan.


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## kilty_0 (Aug 21, 2004)

my intake bracket litterally fell out of my car when i put in a new stock air filter


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## Irishweird00 (Nov 16, 2004)

kilty_0 said:


> my intake bracket litterally fell out of my car when i put in a new stock air filter



Get ready for some unexpected rust spots when you strip your cars. I found a couple I was not prepared for, luckily im not driving this thing around, I might have fell through the floor boards.


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## 2Fass240us (Aug 2, 2004)

Irishweird00 said:


> Get ready for some unexpected rust spots when you strip your cars.


The only rust I've found on my car was outside near the sunroof, but it wasn't bad at all. The underside shows little to no signs of rust, and the only other rust I've seen is the battery tray, which was likely caused by a leaky battery. Then again my car has spent its life in NC & SC.


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## datman55 (Dec 13, 2004)

Sounds like your well and truely on the right track......I'll be interested to see how much weight you pull out of it.


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## Irishweird00 (Nov 16, 2004)

2Fass240us said:


> The only rust I've found on my car was outside near the sunroof, but it wasn't bad at all. The underside shows little to no signs of rust, and the only other rust I've seen is the battery tray, which was likely caused by a leaky battery. Then again my car has spent its life in NC & SC.


I have the floor boards rusted on both sides of the car, and the rest are spotted around.... minor at best, but the floor boards are rusted all the way through... Wasn't to happy when i pulled the carpet up. :/


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## pimp1911 (Oct 22, 2004)

Irishweird00 said:


> I gutted my 91 240 because im doing a complete color change, the amount of shit thats in the car is amazing, took me about 2 hours to get everything out, and there has to be at least 200lbs of shit, not including the sound deadening material all over under the dash and the floor. auto seat belts, body pannels. the stuff adds up quick.



I am going from blue to black in my 89 hatch. Still got to get the dash out and the headliner. Do you have a sunroof? If so how was it removing that.


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## Irishweird00 (Nov 16, 2004)

pimp1911 said:


> I am going from blue to black in my 89 hatch. Still got to get the dash out and the headliner. Do you have a sunroof? If so how was it removing that.


nope no sunroof, shouldnt be to hard to get out, hardest thing to get out of the car is the sound deadening shit.


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## 2Fass240us (Aug 2, 2004)

Irishweird00 said:


> hardest thing to get out of the car is the sound deadening shit.


Meh. I removed all the sound deadening forward of the rear seats this weekend using dry ice, and it asn't bad at all. Sure, some of it wouldn't come off because it was vertical (meaning dry ice wouldn't stay) or stuck in the seam glue, but most of it came out without much trouble at all using a mallet and putty knife.

I added this weight to my list and put some other removed components on the scale, and I'm up to 321 pounds of gutted weight!  Check out the link in my first post to get more details.

-Andy


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## Binger (Aug 29, 2002)

thats amazing...some of those pieces are alot heavier than I thought they would be.

Just think most Engineeres would kill to loose 30 lbs from their car design...of course your car would be pretty miserable to use as a daily driver.


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## 2Fass240us (Aug 2, 2004)

Binger said:


> thats amazing...some of those pieces are alot heavier than I thought they would be.
> 
> Just think most Engineeres would kill to loose 30 lbs from their car design...of course your car would be pretty miserable to use as a daily driver.


And some of them were a lot lighter than I thought they'd be, particularly the aforementioned floorboard sound deadening.

The car would be pretty miserable as a daily, yes. Although I don't think I'd have as much problem driving it as some people would since I used to drive an ITR with nothing behind the front seats. But lack of headlights (which I still need to weigh) would definitely be a hindrance to daily driving.


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## Binger (Aug 29, 2002)

and a radio...most people can't handel that.

even if you don't weigh them you should find the weight of the stock hood, doors, fenders, wheels and rear hatch for those who are thinking about replacing all of those.


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## 2Fass240us (Aug 2, 2004)

Binger said:


> even if you don't weigh them you should find the weight of the stock hood, doors, fenders, wheels and rear hatch for those who are thinking about replacing all of those.


I was thinking about this the other day, and it isn't a bad idea really. I'll see what I can do...


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