New Light Weight Parts

Randy Webb · 10-20-2003, 03:16 PM

I thought it might be useful to start a thread on what parts -- not currently available -- would people like to see. (I don't fab parts or sell them, I just want to stimulate others to do so, so I can buy them.) Perhaps if enough interest is shown, someone will begin making some parts -- Wayne surely has contacts and could retail them. With enough interest, we might be able to get something going.

So what would be something that a lot of people would buy?

- Al front A-arms to replace the steel ones (w/o having to go to coilovers)

- Al engine mounting brackets; tranny mounting brackets (or maybe therse parts could be made out of Ti -- it's getting cheaper).

- Al brake rotor hats (someone mentioned this recently)

- thinner glass for the rear window? or a hard coating on plexiglass?

- a surefire lightwt. heat and sound barrier for the interior rear firewall?

Please try to post reasonable ideas.

Shuie · 10-20-2003, 05:11 PM

Id pay a pretty penny for a set of access panels to replace the backseat and rear parcel shelf in my car. Something that would be made of a non flamable composite material with good heat/sound insulation properties.

Randy Webb · 10-20-2003, 05:25 PM

Shuie -- did you see the Exl. article on the Carbon Copy car? He used plexi - I think. How much rigidity is required there for the unit body? That'd be my concern.

Shuie · 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Randy Webb
Shuie -- did you see the Exl. article on the Carbon Copy car? He used plexi - I think. How much rigidity is required there for the unit body? That'd be my concern.

Sure did, awesome car. I was disappointed they didnt show any detail of the rear section of it though.

I saw pics of that car somewhere before the article came out and have been thinking doing something similar in my car ever since my rear seating area pulled out with my carpet.

I dont know for sure how flamable carbon fiber is or what its insulation properties are, but its pretty rigid stuff. If it was bonded in right, I would think it would provide at least as much support as the factory sheetmetal (and definitely more than the rusted out section in my car). I have no experience with it though, so Im probably not qualified to give an opinion.

It doesnt seem like it would be that difficult to add a few cross members in that area either. If I ever get anywhere near that point with my car, I would definitely do anything possible to add additonal support back there. I just think it would be pretty slick to put something lightweight back there instead of welding steel back in.

HawgRyder · HawgRyder's Garage

There is a company that makes plexi windows with a hard coating on them.
They claim it can be used for the front windshield if you only use the wipers when it's wet.
Mucho dinero probably.
Bob

dd74 · 10-20-2003, 08:56 PM

Deviating from the parts initially listed, which if replaced, would be done so on a track-only car - aluminum arms, plexiglass windshields, etc. - how about some lightweight body parts that retain the stock appearance.

For '74 and other mid-year cars, it'd be great to have a fiberglass bumper and valance, front and rear, that retain the stock look. I would think some people don't want to change the appearance of their cars with big scoops and spoilers, but would like the weight savings going from steel to fiberglass.

Randy Webb · 10-20-2003, 10:33 PM

I agree -- I like th stock look. I never could get Mike Shaw to answer whether they made a normal engine lid in CF....

Anyway, the stuff I listed _is_ for a street car. The 944 has Al A arms, as do most cars now. Also, a glass coated lexan piece would be sratch "proof" and lighter.

surflvr911sc · surflvr911sc's Garage

I would love to keep my ugly accordions and loose wieght at the same time.

I doubt anybody would make them though.

Tyson Schmidt · 10-20-2003, 10:46 PM

Plastic rear turn signal housings. The stock ones are heavy zinc pot-metal castings.

Those suckers weigh 4.5#'s each! And they are way out back behind the rear wheels. Perfect place to save weight with no penalties.

RallyJon · 10-21-2003, 07:07 AM

Quote:

Plastic rear turn signal housings.

Yes! great idea.

As regards the brake rotors. A company called DBA in Australia has made stock sized 2-piece rotors for WRXs and Audis. The WRX rotors are actually 1mm thicker than stock, since the caliper can handle it.

Here is the stock sized DBA 2-piece S4 rotor. It weighs about 2 lbs per rotor less than the stock all-steel rotor. The real benefit a 2-piece rotor is keeping heat out of the bearings and resistance to coning.

Randy Webb · 10-21-2003, 01:10 PM

Yes, the turn signals are really heavy -- it wouldn't be too hard to get some of those flexible LED stips and wire them up and put them in some of the pastic housing already available. It could look almost stock until turned on.

Jon, what is the center hat made of?

dd74 · 10-21-2003, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by surflvr911sc
I would love to keep my ugly accordions and loose wieght at the same time. I doubt anybody would make them though.

Call Peter and Renspeed. He makes f/g bumper blades that are exact replicas of the stock bumpers. Fit those on and the accordians over them and they should look the same.

What I would like are the blades AND a fiberglass valance, front and rear, which would resemble stock. Unfortunately, the manufacturers believe all of us want to make our cars look like RS cars...

dd74 · 10-21-2003, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tyson Schmidt
Plastic rear turn signal housings. The stock ones are heavy zinc pot-metal castings.

Those suckers weigh 4.5#'s each! And they are way out back behind the rear wheels. Perfect place to save weight with no penalties.

Tyson - I talked to Kevin about these. He's never heard of them.

Is this something that would have to be made from scratch?

RallyJon · 10-21-2003, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Jon, what is the center hat made of?

Aluminum. It's pretty standard construction. Most aftermarket brake kits have aluminum hats bolted (either tightly or floating in elongated holes) to iron rotors. The cool thing about the DBAs is that they fit otherwise completely stock brake systems.

JTO · 10-21-2003, 01:38 PM

Randy,
It would be terrific if someone supplied front and rear bumper/valence that were made from plastic, like dd74 said. It would be great too to get rid of the accordians (man, I had keeping those clean).

troy

Wrecked944 · 10-21-2003, 01:50 PM

I'm a closet rice and would pay for almost *anything* made from c/f. How about intake manifolds? Throttle bodies and velocity stacks? All they carry is air, right? So how much stress do they need to handle? Maybe find a way to use the two-stage system designed for the 964 for the early cars. My 3.6 has awesome low end torque compared to my old 3.0 SC. Obviously a c/f or smoked lexan targa top (or sunroof) would be sweet. How crazy are you willing to go with the R&D? Can tranny cases be made from c/f? Axles? I believe I've seen fiberglass cooling fans and housings in race cars. A c/f cooling fan would have serious bling potential.

Tyson Schmidt · 10-21-2003, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dd74
Tyson - I talked to Kevin about these. He's never heard of them.

Is this something that would have to be made from scratch?

David, I'm not saying they exist. The point of this thread is to come up with ideas. I'm actually kind of surprised that the plastic rear turn signal housings haven't been made yet.

I think Kevin makes his own set-up by grafting light pods onto the back of the lenses.

dotorg · 10-21-2003, 02:10 PM

An access panel through the rear shelf/seats would be pretty trick.

Someone making transmission support bars for those of us with 901's who can't replace the transmission mounts would be nice.

A magic spray I could spray on my car and turn the rust into... well... something thats not rust.

Not sure about the plexi window, what would the advantages of that be over existing lexan solutions?

Also, not really a light weight part, but non-concourse replacement wiring harnesses would be great. Something half or 1/3 the price existing solutions are... Could be weight saving if it broke out systems you could leave off, I guess.

MT912RS · 10-21-2003, 03:09 PM

I am working on some signal and tail light housing folded from sheet alu. They may use LEDs but I haven't really gotten to far on the process. Relatively simple and by my estimation with the raw materials in hand they should give a pretty good weight savings. I am a cheapskate and don't want to pay a bunch of money for stock, early, heavy, front signal housings. In the end I would like to have them laser cut out in some quantity and with some welding and electrical work be ready to sell.

Randy Webb · 10-21-2003, 03:31 PM

LIghter seats (that recline) and mounting brackets would be nice also. The seats I know of use steel frames. They could use CF frames, or Al or Ti. The same with the barackets -- they are a big fraction of the total seat wt.

Montana 912 -- Keep us posted on the turn signals -- I think there's a pretty big market for them.