How much have you lightened your 911

[82sctarga]

I just removed most AC components and washer resevoir for a weight savings of 61 lbs and I can feel the difference. I have my eye on a little more like a Miata battery glass mat embedded for another 14 lb saving and I am looking at the evaporator and evaporator blower motor under the access hatch. Has anybody removed this and weighed it )approx. ) another words,is it worth the effort (the front condenser blower only weighed 2 lbs) I think this is then at practical limits for a street car.

[RarlyL8]

Eliminated weight at both ends - fiberglass bumpers.
This saves a ton of weight. If safety is an issue you can fab a bumper bar under the 'glass skin.
Generally, I have removed everything that the car doesn't need to go fast in relative comfort. Got power seats? Trash 'em.
Now if you weigh over 200 yourself................................

[Jack Olsen]

I recently went to fiberglass fenders, front and rear, as well as the hood. I have a fiberglass rear ducktail for days I'm feeling fat. I also did aluminum rear trailing arms.

But all of this was to compensate for my added AC, tranny cooling system, additional oil cooler, etc.

'Track anorexia' can get pretty obsessive. Here's a link to a guy who's farther down the road than most of us:

http://www.early911sregistry.org/jCalzia.html

[rscupper]

hmmm, let's see - Fiberglass front & rear bumpers & 1/4s, hood, and ducktail replaces steel turbo-bodied (w/ leaded flares!) '74 Carrera. Replaced all side, 1/4, and rear windows w/ Lexan (windshield stays stock). No rear seats, pair of EVO2 shells, removed ALL insulation, A/C, radio, tools, spare tire, and anything else I could find. Added rollcage, fire suppression system, front aux oil cooler, and light weight carpet set. Changed the stock fuel tank to 100 liter cell.

Stock Carrera was 2,450 lbs + 50 lbs(?) for turbo body = 2,500lbs.
Car was corner balanced recently and weighed in at 2,070 lbs dry.
It's a noticeable difference.

[campbellcj]

Not a helluva lot...

I removed the front license plate, front "bumperettes", and the rear selt belts.

An "R" it's not, no question...still, at 2350 lbs wet w/ spare tire, radio, full interior, carpets and everything else, not what I'd consider a porker.

[911pcars]

As a point of reference, the 911 Turbo is 3395 lbs., the Corvette Z06 is 3130 and the Silverstone Jag is 4021 (whoa, that's SUV country). Then again, most of us don't have 400 hp to haul around our lead ass.

Sherwood Lee
http://members.rennlist.org/911pcars

[Jack Olsen]

I've got both the 2500 pound 911 and the 3600 pound Jaguar. The Jaguar has more power, but the extra 1100 pounds makes all the difference in the world.

[Gary Peters]

Has anyone replaced the power windows with manual mechanisms? My passengers window has quit working so I'm thinking of gauranteeing no more electrical problems with the manual ones.

What kind of weight savings would I be looking at? I'll be putting on RS panels at the same time of course.

[not_sure]

Since we are on this topic, what did you guys use to attach the glass flares, quarters and such, and how are they holding up? I am thinking about using glass, but Im just not sure about the strength.

[Doug Zielke]

Removed *all* the a/c crap....on the scale: 74.5 lbs. Aside from that, stock muffler and cat were shelved in favor of S.S. GHL muffler and test pipe....another 10 lbs or so. (That's all I want to remove on a nice and otherwise un-molested car).

[Yargk]

The last time I had my car corner balanced it was 3100 pounds with 150 pound lead driver weight, half a tank, and the sub that I forgot to take out. Spare and tools are included in all numbers, however they will be removed for the next corner balance.

3100
-150 me (or my lead version)
-20 sub
2930 car

Since then I've added lighter seats (Recaro SRDs), a roll bar, removed sound pad, glass bumpers with aluminum supports, front oil cooler

2930
-30 seats
-75 (guess at total from removed bumpers, added supports and oil cooler)
-10 sound pad

2815 + the weight of the autopower roll bar (how much do those weigh anyway?)

I still haven't decided if I'm going to ditch the A/C or not, I don't know why I don't just rip it out now. The only thing keeping it in is the possibility of it working well with the new motor, however I have never used it in my year of owning the car, or in the previous 76 turbo I had. I drive home from 100+ degree track days with the windows down and the wind in my face.

I'll get some updated numbers once I have the car corner balanced again with the new motor, tranny, and coil over suspension.

Gary Peters: I'd also like to hear how much weight is saved by switching to manual windows and RS panels, does anyone have those numbers?

rscupper: Where is some easily removed insulation? How is the Lexan working out? Any possibility of street use? Where did you get your light weight carpets?

Call me crazy, but I actually have considered the carbon fiber sunroof from GT racing, I know one should just remove the sunroof all together, but still keeping it and losing 10 pounds from the highest point on the car isn't bad. I'm also looking at the carbon GT2 rear wing and carbon hood, they should each yield about 30 pounds of savings.

[GeorgeK]

Gary,
I removed the electric windows, the sound deadening in the door. Quite easy mechanically, but time consuming. Plus you have to redo your panels, or go RS.
My car is about 950 Kgs, but there is really not much left in it. Seats, some carpet. The shell was acid dipped to remove all that was on it before repainting. There is not one once of sound deadening on the car. Pics in the owner's gallery :-))
GeorgeK

[RarlyL8]

Tom-
I'm not a big fan of 'glass fenders on a street car, but durability is solely dependant upon the manufacturer.
I had a glass hood on my last 911, no problems whatsoever.
The glass bumpers on my current SC have small spiderwebbs at the mounting points. This is very typical. Vibration and shock at the stress points.
My rear wing is 'glass and carbon fiber. No problems.

There is also a safety issue. Metal will protect you and your cars' tub better than glass. This doesn't bother me personally, I share the same roads with motorcycles.
Obviously if you get into an accident 'glass will crack. It can be repaired easier than metal if the damage is a small area.

I would like to add that my car has collected a lot of rock chips due to soft shiny paint. With 'glass this is not a problem, with metal you have to get on it or rust will take over.

Overall I would say that the more you drive your car on the street the less 'glass you should have on it. If your 911 is a daily driver I'd opt for a glass hood and wing, that's about it.

[URY914]

Just to show another point of view, my 914-4 weighs in at 1,740 pounds. I still have the stock metal fenders and the roof and windshield on it. The hoods are f-glass and it is REALLY stripped out. (I took eight pounds of electrical wire out of it.) The goal is 1,500 lbs.
Also if you can reduce weight which is high in the car (say going to plastic windows from heavy glass) will have a greater effect by lowering the center of gravity.