Interior stripping / weight reduction

15th April 2011, 20:03

Hi girls and boys

I'm now off work for the next couple of weeks over Easter so planning to prep and maybe spray the interior of my car.

It currently looks like this;

And I'm looking to take out any bits and bobs which are not needed

Currently my list to remove is:-

Rear seat mounts
Middle roof mounts as my carbon roof doesn't use them
Front footwell tar
Sound deadening behind the dash

Any other neat ways of removing weight? I want to keep it standard ish and tidy looking so won't be gridding out inner door skins etc

Thanks

Josh

P.s before anyone says it, the carpet is staying in

15th April 2011, 20:10

The bars within the dash, any material not needed behind the dash or drill the crap out off the back of the dash for the swiss cheese look, dremmel off any unused captive bolts about all i can think off at the mo thats not to serious

15th April 2011, 20:12

If you want to keep the carpet and still remove weight, there is sound deadening under the carpet that you could remove, then put the carpet back in.

Also when you get to the stage you are at with stripping you should look at trying to get an equal weight on each wheel to help improve stability when cornering and braking. This can be done by relocating certain things like battery, windscreen washer bottle etc. Ideally you should use some corner weights so you can see the weight on each wheel.

15th April 2011, 23:57

maybe get rid of the glove box + anything in it? like just take the boxy bit out and blank the front?

16th April 2011, 08:43

Jay - i use the glove box, same goes for the centre console so will keep both.

Oli - yep all that sound deadening under the carpets already gone, the tar in the footwells needs to come out which is about 1.5kgs each side. As for the battery and washer bottle relocation. Battery fair enough and I'll do that when I do the engine again. Wash bottle will stay where it is as it's pretty tidy there and tbh I wouldn't notice the difference anyway if I moved it.

Miami blue - yep will be doing that before putting the dash back in

Good ideas so far lads, any others?

16th April 2011, 09:10

jp man up, spare wheels are for losers lol...

16th April 2011, 09:15

behind all the dash gubbins is that tar backed foam stuff, its pretty heavy actually, its worth ripping it all out!
a few things to remember..
the blower motor needs a small bit of the foam as a gasket to the bulkhead as it doesnt seal up without it...
and if you take the tar backed stuff out from behind the pedals, the clutch pedal will travel too far, so a stop fixed to the bulkhead is a good idea.....
tommy

16th April 2011, 09:53

Excellent advice thanks tommy.

Moxy - lol

when I go on track I remove it so its all good

16th April 2011, 10:29

Just a warning, the sound deadening behind the dash is a right bastard to get out

Took me and a mate a couple hours.
Worst bit is behind the heater matrix, there are some cables clipped to it so you need to try and get your hand in and separate it.

16th April 2011, 10:32

Cant see but guessing the headlining has gone? or is that a comfort you still want?

16th April 2011, 10:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by jayyoung

Cant see but guessing the headlining has gone? or is that a comfort you still want?

Ok Alex thanks - sounds like its worth leaving the soud deadening from behind the matrix in from other posts in this thread?

16th April 2011, 10:41

car is pure porn, when you off to the ring?

ive booekd to go in august, need itbs or boost before i go, best hurry
be the first time i go, cant wait

16th April 2011, 11:10

Wiring behind the dash would probably one of the best things to do.

Keep heaters id say, you never know when you might need them plus can remove some of the heat out of the engine when on track by using blowers.

16th April 2011, 11:22

if you have the dash out its easy enough to drop the heater box out and saves a lot of shouting and swearing trying to remove the insulation..... does mean dumping your water though..

id not bother with removing spare wiring. i had a misshap doing one of my looms, obviously removed something i shouldnt and lost 2 days of my build because of it, ended up buying another loom and taping it all up. the weight i saved from old loom was iirc circa 3lbs. so not much really. just have a decent dump before hitting the track!

16th April 2011, 11:25

ahhhhhhh yes....i remember now...roof = sex

16th April 2011, 12:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by moxy89

car is pure porn, when you off to the ring?

ive booekd to go in august, need itbs or boost before i go, best hurry
be the first time i go, cant wait

Yeah you better get on with it lol. Were going first weekend in July

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsdvtr

Wiring behind the dash would probably one of the best things to do.

Keep heaters id say, you never know when you might need them plus can remove some of the heat out of the engine when on track by using blowers.

Heaters will definitely be staying, my brother removed his from his westcoast a few years ago, I drove it all the way to llandow in march it was horrible! Lol

Quote:

Originally Posted by tillygti6

if you have the dash out its easy enough to drop the heater box out and saves a lot of shouting and swearing trying to remove the insulation..... does mean dumping your water though..

id not bother with removing spare wiring. i had a misshap doing one of my looms, obviously removed something i shouldnt and lost 2 days of my build because of it, ended up buying another loom and taping it all up. the weight i saved from old loom was iirc circa 3lbs. so not much really. just have a decent dump before hitting the track!

Cool I'll look at the heater matrix, want to keep as many squeaks to a minimum if possible. I agree with the wiring, don't really know what I'm doing with wiring so I'd rather leave it alone tbh

17th April 2011, 08:42

Its not hard at all to get the sound deadening/firewall out from behind the dash. It took me about an hour on my own with a stanley knife. I just ended up leaving a little bit behind the heater matrix as couldnt be arsed to empty the water out, but still got most of it out. And it wieghs a heck of a lot.

Also, why are you keeping your carpet? Its a really heavy item and if its just for creature comforts then I'd look at replacing it with a lightweight carpet, accoustic carpet weighs feck all and comes in a nice shade of black.

You've got a stereo and 2 speakers in there as well which are quite weighty items. Remove them out the car and put them in a separate box with some wiring terminals so you can just whip it in / out when you need to.

Do you still have glass windows? Polycarbs save alot of weight and then you can do away with the wiper motors in the front doors as well. As well as all the wiring in the doors.

Also, whilst your prepping the inside I'd weld the top of the cage to the top of the B pillars, without a top strengthening bar between the roof you can suffer from scuttle shake with the flex in the carbon roof. Only a little bit mind.

17th April 2011, 23:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoshB

without a top strengthening bar between the roof you can suffer from scuttle shake with the flex in the carbon roof. Only a little bit mind.

The roof on a saxo is not a stressed member of the monocoque. So doesn't particularly matter whet you replace it with

18th April 2011, 07:28

Thanks Josh and adamski, I'm going to get cracking and do a few hours today & see how far I get

Stereo and carpet are staying as the cars not a full-on track car, does a fair amount of decent back lane and b-road blasting out around my area!