Weight

[tissimo]

Well.. I've been toying with the idea of a drag car for a while, I've sorta decided to start building one here in a few months. I'm going to have a smaller budget so want to go as fast as possible for as cheap as possible (light weight). So I was thikning maybe a mkii, but not sure.. Anyways, I know my buddies 86.5 hardtop weighed in at 3460 or so, with full everything.

Anyways, I'm thinking how much weight can I strip out of it. I still want seats, door pannels, the dash, and maybe some carpet, but from the front seats back I dont care, i'll strip it all. No AC/Heater, no radio or anything, going to strip it all, etc. I'm wondering about how light I could get the car, I would like to get it around 3100-3000 if possible. Any ideas or experience.

I'm probably going to go with a 1jz auto or more likely a 2jz auto do the export conversion and stay with the twins for a while.. (after seeing hotsoup's 10.60s-10.70s with the stock twins on some spray at full weight (i think, 3300-3500lbs) should be more then enough for a while.

 

[Slow66]

You could get it down there, although it would take a bit more modification that just removing things. Stuff like removing the ABS, using a lightweight manual rack, drag discs and calipers, fuel cell, thinning the wiring harnesses, and use of lexan all make significant gains but require a bunch of work. Obviously lighweight seats, wheels, and removal of all unecessary stuff is essential, but that alone might not get you where you wanna be.

 

[tissimo]

yea, i figure the ac/heater and some of the rear pannels/carpets + some lighter seats should be good for 150 or so lbs.. ??

I dont really want to lexan and all that, i still want a street car that I can drive around.. I dont want strickly a trailer queen..

 

[Slow66]

Well, keep in mind that the 2j with the twins, the nitrous bottle, and the auto trans will probably make it weigh MORE than it does as it sits.

Also, streetability is a relative term One persons daily might be another persons trailer-queen drag car I dont know how serious you are about doing weight reduction, but as usual, the more weight you wanna lose, the more involved you gotta get...

 

[tissimo]

yea... i would assume the engines would weight close to the same +-50 lbs.. but im sure the auto trans if prolly heavier then the manual.. I want to get it as light as possible and not totally strip the car like no dash, door pannels, etc.. i'm starting to think 3100 is a stretch...

 

[Nick M]

If you want to build a drag car, start with something else. If you are trying to build an MA70 drag car, that is different. Seems like somebody gutted his down to about 3100. Jeff Gore maybe.

 

[tekdeus]

Just get a Mk2, strip that and gain a full second on your ET.

 

[Slow66]

JMO, but you already got the mkiii shell, so stick with that. Just be real anal about stripping weight without sacrificing driveability too much. Theres tons of areas to lose weight. If theres a wire not in use, trace it all the way back and take outhe whole wire....i shed at least 30-40lbs just on unnecessary wires in my car. Strip the undercoating, cut out the spare tire well and put a flat sheet of metal there, swiss cheese the bumper supports......I'm sure you already knwo these things, but it all adds up in the long run. All you gotta decide is how far you wanna go.

Guaranteed you'll be lighter than hotsoup's car, and if you can manage the same power, the Ets will be there

 

[Bishop92t]

IIRC there was a road racer that got just under 3000lbs.

 

[Yellow 13]

Brake rotors weigh a ton. Get rid of them.

Youll also gain some power by removing the rotating mass.

If you ever wanna stop just hang your foot out of the door and drag it on the street.

 

[Superjustin13]

Brake rotors weigh a ton. Get rid of them.

Youll also gain some power by removing the rotating mass.

If you ever wanna stop just hang your foot out of the door and drag it on the street.

wow.


That was one of the most Useless posts i have ever seen.


besides this one of course.

but wow

 

[dbsupra90]

best advice i would have is figure out what class you want to race. there are many rules depending on class and it would suck to modify something and it be deemed illegal for the class.
also, chromoly is more expensive than mild steel, but weighs a lot less. if you could swing cm that would def be the way to go.

good luck w/ your project.

dave

 

[tissimo]

best advice i would have is figure out what class you want to race. there are many rules depending on class and it would suck to modify something and it be deemed illegal for the class.
also, chromoly is more expensive than mild steel, but weighs a lot less. if you could swing cm that would def be the way to go.

good luck w/ your project.

dave

very true.. i want to get into more competive racing.. so will have to look at whats avalable around here and build it to a class..

I like the mkiii, can find fairly cheap and can made to look pretty decent. I'm looking for a nice car I can run at the drags thats performs good (consistant 11s, not looking to go sub 10s right away :evil2: ), can still drive it on the street and have some fun on the weekends. Would eventually like to get into a series or something wiht it...

 

[Slow66]

Something like the Nopi turbo street class woudl probablu be up your alley

Turbo Street class

Sport Compact FWD/AWD/RWD cars allowed. Unibody chassis, all glass, ¾ interior, 4 and 6 cyl cars allowed, race gas only, motor swaps and 2 power adders allowed

or you could keep the interior, lose the juice and run "power street"

Power street

Sport Compact FWD/AWD/RWD cars allowed. Unibody chassis, all glass, full interior, drag radial class, motor swaps and 1 power adder only

Or you can build it how you want it and just have fun....sometimes the constraints of rules make it less fun to actually compete.

There are so many ways to go about your project. Whichever way you choose, remember to have fun with it

 

[tissimo]

yea.. ndra doesnt come to Fl anymore.. though.... at least this year they didn't.. nhra has 2 events in fl, sport rwd looks good.. 3500lbs for 6cyl 1 power adder though.. 3700w/2.... i wonder if thats with driver??

I dont want to build it specifically for that event, just want to run it when it comes around.. I guess I could bolt some weight in the car right? I'll have to look into the rules for that.

looking at the results from the recent event winner is a 9.9 and runner up went a 10.4.. so i wouldn't be total blown out of the water

 

[Slow66]

Weight rules usually include driver. You could always lighten it up, and then when the event comes around, weigh it down with ballast, and put the weight wherever you want it.

3700 is quite a bit though, i dont know how much you weigh obviously, but the car as it sits with you, nitrous and a 2j with an auto might be right there. Maybe power shoudl be your focus