Fat Car (note no "s" in "fat")
04-10-2007, 08:24 PM
#61
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Originally Posted by GWord256
Since people keep asking me if I notice the difference.
Short answer: No.
Long answer, I really don't have a base to compare too. I baught the car in November and I've never had the chance to push it hard since I got it. Sure I can rip on the on ramps every so often but thats not a very controlled/consistant situation when I can compare easily. The suspension does feel harder (i.e. bumps are more pronounced) but I can't make a definatle call if that is helping/hurting the handeling.
One important thing to note is that all the weight I've taken out of the car is at or behind the rear wheels. Thats a hit to the Front:Rear weight ratio. Sure any weight you take off the car will help handeling but too odd a ratio can make the car unpredictable. It just so happens that I decided to work from back to front so I hope I can remove a decent amout of weight when I move forward. I know a few items that are going to go that will help significantly but not 200lbs worth of stuff from the front.
Short answer: No.
Long answer, I really don't have a base to compare too. I baught the car in November and I've never had the chance to push it hard since I got it. Sure I can rip on the on ramps every so often but thats not a very controlled/consistant situation when I can compare easily. The suspension does feel harder (i.e. bumps are more pronounced) but I can't make a definatle call if that is helping/hurting the handeling.
One important thing to note is that all the weight I've taken out of the car is at or behind the rear wheels. Thats a hit to the Front:Rear weight ratio. Sure any weight you take off the car will help handeling but too odd a ratio can make the car unpredictable. It just so happens that I decided to work from back to front so I hope I can remove a decent amout of weight when I move forward. I know a few items that are going to go that will help significantly but not 200lbs worth of stuff from the front.
Joe
04-14-2007, 03:12 PM
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Gavin, I'm stripping the rear seat and sound deadening as well as child safety brackets today. I'm debating going dry ice or heatgun. I bought some stuff from 3m called "Remover Adhesive" in a little 1qt bottle and I'll let you know how that goes in terms of how it reacts with G's adhesive.
Lets keep it up!
Zac
Lets keep it up!
Zac
04-16-2007, 12:07 PM
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So Mr. Gavinator
I removed all sound deadening from the front seats back. I removed the child seat brackets. I removed all plastics from the from seats back as well as the rear seat. I took my spare and jack out. I ran my tank down to empty and added 2 gallons mixed with some octane booster.
WOW-WOW-WEE-WOW!
This car MOVES now. The one way I can tell is the pull in 3rd gear. Before when I would switch to third it would slightly bog and then pull, very spotty. Now when I switch into 3rd it PULLS HARD. There is no bog down low and the car just takes off. I decided to put the plastics and seats in our spare bedroom for a week and try it out for a little.
I took my cousin for a ride and hes kind of a car nut like me. He said as soon as I dropped second and the tires burnt all the way until the top of second. Then when I dropped it in third it took off. This car is seriously transformed. It feels like I added 50hp.
I can't give cornering impressions yet as I have a car full of computer crap for work at the moment. I check into my hotel and I will remove all of my clothes and whatnot.
At first my cousin was telling me it was a waste of time to start removing weight, just like most of the guys here. But when his neck snapped back in 3rd gear and he looked at me with amazement, I think he changed his mind.
Thanks,
Zac
I removed all sound deadening from the front seats back. I removed the child seat brackets. I removed all plastics from the from seats back as well as the rear seat. I took my spare and jack out. I ran my tank down to empty and added 2 gallons mixed with some octane booster.
WOW-WOW-WEE-WOW!
This car MOVES now. The one way I can tell is the pull in 3rd gear. Before when I would switch to third it would slightly bog and then pull, very spotty. Now when I switch into 3rd it PULLS HARD. There is no bog down low and the car just takes off. I decided to put the plastics and seats in our spare bedroom for a week and try it out for a little.
I took my cousin for a ride and hes kind of a car nut like me. He said as soon as I dropped second and the tires burnt all the way until the top of second. Then when I dropped it in third it took off. This car is seriously transformed. It feels like I added 50hp.
I can't give cornering impressions yet as I have a car full of computer crap for work at the moment. I check into my hotel and I will remove all of my clothes and whatnot.
At first my cousin was telling me it was a waste of time to start removing weight, just like most of the guys here. But when his neck snapped back in 3rd gear and he looked at me with amazement, I think he changed his mind.
Thanks,
Zac
04-16-2007, 07:38 PM
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Update: Well don't expect much this week. I haven't gone food shopping in a month (hotdogs for breakfast 
) because this project and all the traveling i've been doing in April (Allentown for easter and Penn State for a wedding). My apartment is a wreck, I'm way behind on anything that doesn't involve my car. So this week is desiginated as a week off from this project. But if I catch up with everything then I can give myself permission to work on the car again.
My next plan of attack is the doors. Who knows what I'll find in there. I'm guessing a sheet of celephane held on with black puddy like goo, which seems to be common in most doors but I don't know what it's for really, some stryophome (spelling?), and some more wire caseings. Oh and I suppose I still need to finish up the trunk with the adhesive remover.
Oh I did put the headliner, panels, and all seats back in. It actually makes me a little sad now that I don't hear the exhause ALL THE TIME. The car seems so quiet compared to the last few weeks. Though anyone else will probably say it's still loud. I found a place that sells custom leather but their hours are 8a-4p and I work 7a-5p. You can see a problem there. I'm going to try and stop by the place this friday on my day off but I have family visiting so that may be scratched (Although if you keep reminding me Kyle we'll go).
I'm glad to hear you enjoy you car's diet. I don't need to feel the difference to know it's there. But I am sure with 200 pounds removed the difference would be noticable if I got to run my car at 100% regularly.
EDIT: Oh thinking about it, After I put the seat and some other crap back in It definatly feels like the suspension is a little softer again. Just an FYI.
) because this project and all the traveling i've been doing in April (Allentown for easter and Penn State for a wedding). My apartment is a wreck, I'm way behind on anything that doesn't involve my car. So this week is desiginated as a week off from this project. But if I catch up with everything then I can give myself permission to work on the car again.My next plan of attack is the doors. Who knows what I'll find in there. I'm guessing a sheet of celephane held on with black puddy like goo, which seems to be common in most doors but I don't know what it's for really, some stryophome (spelling?), and some more wire caseings. Oh and I suppose I still need to finish up the trunk with the adhesive remover.
Oh I did put the headliner, panels, and all seats back in. It actually makes me a little sad now that I don't hear the exhause ALL THE TIME. The car seems so quiet compared to the last few weeks. Though anyone else will probably say it's still loud. I found a place that sells custom leather but their hours are 8a-4p and I work 7a-5p. You can see a problem there. I'm going to try and stop by the place this friday on my day off but I have family visiting so that may be scratched (Although if you keep reminding me Kyle we'll go).
I'm glad to hear you enjoy you car's diet. I don't need to feel the difference to know it's there. But I am sure with 200 pounds removed the difference would be noticable if I got to run my car at 100% regularly.
EDIT: Oh thinking about it, After I put the seat and some other crap back in It definatly feels like the suspension is a little softer again. Just an FYI.
Last edited by GWord256; 04-16-2007 at 07:41 PM.
04-23-2007, 01:30 PM
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WARNING: I'd like to preface this update with a little warning. If you remove either seat, disconnect the airbag controller under the center console(to get the carpet out) OR disconnect the connector behind the glove box you will have a problem. If you remove any airbag connector and turn the key into the ON position, which allows the airbag system to do a self check, you will put your airbag system into error mode. If you disconnect a connector and reconnect without activating the ignition you should be fine. If you see the blinking airbag light on your dash, YOUR AIRBAG WILL NOT DEPLOY IN AN ACCIDENT. Here is the Airbag resetting procedure if you come up with an error.
For the Airbag Reseting procedure…You must first change the SRS system to self-diagnosis mode, and then back to user mode to clear the airbag fault you might be getting after unplugging the side-impact seat airbag and driving with the car..
How to Change to Self-Diagnosis Mode:
1. Turn Ignition switch from OFF to ON.
2. Within 1 second after air bag warning lamp is on for 7 seconds and turns off, turn OFF ignition switch
3. After ignition switch is turned off, wait for more than 3 seconds.
4. Repeat steps 1 to 3 twice. (perform 3 times in total)
5. Turn ignition switch ON again (turn to Diagnosis Mode.)
Turn to USER mode
1. Turn Ignition switch to OFF to ON.
2. Within 1 second after airbag warning lamp is on for 7 seconds and turns off, turn off the ignition switch.
3. After ignition switch is turned OFF, wait for more than 3 seconds.
4. Repeat steps 1 to 3 twice (perform 3 times in total)
5. Turn ignition switch ON again (Turn to User Mode)
Be safe!
Update: I spent most of this weekend working on the G. I completely removed all interior including seats, console, all panels(except doors, thats next weekend).
Gavin, I think you will be happy to hear that there is more tar in one side of the front passenger area then there is in the entire trunk! Theres alot of it! I didn't have a chance to weigh my gains this weekend but I will surely do it soon.
A couple of other things I wanted to note. My car being an 04, I wanted to verify that you had the same panels as me. Theres a metal panel being held in by 15+ GOLD Philipps Head/10mm bolts directly below the rear-side window(on both sides). You have to remove the speaker bracket to fully remove it. Basically it separates the interior from the outer body panel. As far as I can tell there is no real purpose other than noise reduction. The weight could be estimated at 3 pounds each, with .75 lbs for the 15+ screws from both sides. Total weight saved is near 7lbs.
Another thing I noted is how RIDICULOUSLY HEAVY the drivers seat is. The seat must weigh near 80lbs. I had a pretty hard time getting it out and putting it back in. The passenger seat is around 45-50lbs. In all of my weight saving work so far. The best $ to lbs. ratio has got to be racing seats. A good seat can weight 20 lbs. I'd like to find another mod that costs under $1000 and saves 100lbs.
You'll also be interested in knowing that theres a fair amount of tar underneath the dash(radio area) and against the firewall. I'm sure once we get done with the interior and the doors we can start on the dash. There seems to be another 10lbs or so of what I can easily see. Theres no doubt that most of the firewall is covered to cut down engine noise. I'll look through the service manual to try and gauge the effort needed to remove most of the dash. If anything I should get to it late May or June sometime.
Heres a short list of things I've removed so far,
Trunk tar - 15lbs
Rear seat tar - 10lbs
Lower child seat brackets - 6lbs
Upper child seat brackets - 2lbs
Both side access panels and screws(^see above^) - 7lbs
All front sound deadening - 30lbs
Washer fluid reservoir - 10lbs
Useless material(under rear seat/sparetire/dash/firewall/carpet) 10lbs
Misc bolts and hardware - 2lbs
TOTAL ---------------------- 93lbs.
100 for estimates sake
Future plans:
Racing Seats - 100lbs
New Deck, remove amp - 20lbs
CF Trunk - 20lbs(currently have spoiler)
Braille Battery - 30lbs
Lightweight flywheel - 20lbs
Sunroof removal - 50lbs????
240 lbs.
Temporary savings:
Spare and jack - 50lbs
Rear seat - 40lbs
Floor + trunk mats - 20lbs
110lbs
The estimated weight for my car is 3400lbs. In street form my car will be 3060lbs. In track form it will be 2950lbs.
3400lbs and 230hp = 14.7lbs per hp
2950 and 230hp = 12.8lbs per hp
As far as weight goes I have been conservative in my estimates, I would rather be lighter than I expected than heavier.
For now I'm looking for a place that will weigh a vehicle. I can go to a dump, get out and ask them how much it weighs. Also another possibility is a weigh station, don't know if they would help at all. I'd be interested if anyone else had some ideas.
For now I'm well on my way to my goal of less than 3000lbs and I expect to achieve it by March 2008.
Entailed in that goal is maintaining all functionality and stock appearance. I don't want my car too look faster, I want it to be faster, lighter and more agile while retaining comfort(Not ride quality)
Expect updates every weekend.
Peace,
Zac
P.S. One of my favorite things about doing all of this is how familiar I'm getting with the car. I had the entire car apart. Glove box out, center console, carpet, seat belts, seats, rear panels, rear deck... EVERYTHING. I had my car from empty to back together in under 1 hour. Everything went in smooth. This really helps me with any kind of installs or repair work I would have to do. Regardless with what you're dealing with, understanding the underlying infrastructure is always an advantage.
For the Airbag Reseting procedure…You must first change the SRS system to self-diagnosis mode, and then back to user mode to clear the airbag fault you might be getting after unplugging the side-impact seat airbag and driving with the car..
How to Change to Self-Diagnosis Mode:
1. Turn Ignition switch from OFF to ON.
2. Within 1 second after air bag warning lamp is on for 7 seconds and turns off, turn OFF ignition switch
3. After ignition switch is turned off, wait for more than 3 seconds.
4. Repeat steps 1 to 3 twice. (perform 3 times in total)
5. Turn ignition switch ON again (turn to Diagnosis Mode.)
Turn to USER mode
1. Turn Ignition switch to OFF to ON.
2. Within 1 second after airbag warning lamp is on for 7 seconds and turns off, turn off the ignition switch.
3. After ignition switch is turned OFF, wait for more than 3 seconds.
4. Repeat steps 1 to 3 twice (perform 3 times in total)
5. Turn ignition switch ON again (Turn to User Mode)
Be safe!
Update: I spent most of this weekend working on the G. I completely removed all interior including seats, console, all panels(except doors, thats next weekend
). Gavin, I think you will be happy to hear that there is more tar in one side of the front passenger area then there is in the entire trunk! Theres alot of it! I didn't have a chance to weigh my gains this weekend but I will surely do it soon.
A couple of other things I wanted to note. My car being an 04, I wanted to verify that you had the same panels as me. Theres a metal panel being held in by 15+ GOLD Philipps Head/10mm bolts directly below the rear-side window(on both sides). You have to remove the speaker bracket to fully remove it. Basically it separates the interior from the outer body panel. As far as I can tell there is no real purpose other than noise reduction. The weight could be estimated at 3 pounds each, with .75 lbs for the 15+ screws from both sides. Total weight saved is near 7lbs.
Another thing I noted is how RIDICULOUSLY HEAVY the drivers seat is. The seat must weigh near 80lbs. I had a pretty hard time getting it out and putting it back in. The passenger seat is around 45-50lbs. In all of my weight saving work so far. The best $ to lbs. ratio has got to be racing seats. A good seat can weight 20 lbs. I'd like to find another mod that costs under $1000 and saves 100lbs.
You'll also be interested in knowing that theres a fair amount of tar underneath the dash(radio area) and against the firewall. I'm sure once we get done with the interior and the doors we can start on the dash. There seems to be another 10lbs or so of what I can easily see. Theres no doubt that most of the firewall is covered to cut down engine noise. I'll look through the service manual to try and gauge the effort needed to remove most of the dash. If anything I should get to it late May or June sometime.
Heres a short list of things I've removed so far,
Trunk tar - 15lbs
Rear seat tar - 10lbs
Lower child seat brackets - 6lbs
Upper child seat brackets - 2lbs
Both side access panels and screws(^see above^) - 7lbs
All front sound deadening - 30lbs
Washer fluid reservoir - 10lbs
Useless material(under rear seat/sparetire/dash/firewall/carpet) 10lbs
Misc bolts and hardware - 2lbs
TOTAL ---------------------- 93lbs.
100 for estimates sake
Future plans:
Racing Seats - 100lbs
New Deck, remove amp - 20lbs
CF Trunk - 20lbs(currently have spoiler)
Braille Battery - 30lbs
Lightweight flywheel - 20lbs
Sunroof removal - 50lbs????
240 lbs.
Temporary savings:
Spare and jack - 50lbs
Rear seat - 40lbs
Floor + trunk mats - 20lbs
110lbs
The estimated weight for my car is 3400lbs. In street form my car will be 3060lbs. In track form it will be 2950lbs.
3400lbs and 230hp = 14.7lbs per hp
2950 and 230hp = 12.8lbs per hp
As far as weight goes I have been conservative in my estimates, I would rather be lighter than I expected than heavier.
For now I'm looking for a place that will weigh a vehicle. I can go to a dump, get out and ask them how much it weighs. Also another possibility is a weigh station, don't know if they would help at all. I'd be interested if anyone else had some ideas.
For now I'm well on my way to my goal of less than 3000lbs and I expect to achieve it by March 2008.
Entailed in that goal is maintaining all functionality and stock appearance. I don't want my car too look faster, I want it to be faster, lighter and more agile while retaining comfort(Not ride quality)
Expect updates every weekend.
Peace,
Zac
P.S. One of my favorite things about doing all of this is how familiar I'm getting with the car. I had the entire car apart. Glove box out, center console, carpet, seat belts, seats, rear panels, rear deck... EVERYTHING. I had my car from empty to back together in under 1 hour. Everything went in smooth. This really helps me with any kind of installs or repair work I would have to do. Regardless with what you're dealing with, understanding the underlying infrastructure is always an advantage.
Last edited by ZXERT; 04-23-2007 at 01:51 PM.
04-24-2007, 08:39 PM
#68
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Update:
Tar offical weigh in... 9.35lbs (Included Trunk and Rear Seat)
Just finished up what I had left to do in the trunk and weighed it today. Like 5 minutes ago really. Now I have to break out the cleaner and wipe all the residue all up out of the car.
Oh and incase anyone didn't know, I went AutoXing last weekend. Theres a link floating around somewhere. There it is. I am hoping to continue this project but it seems now that spring came I'm busy every weekend tracking the G, going to meets, and doing other type of guy stuff.
:-P
Gavin
Tar offical weigh in... 9.35lbs (Included Trunk and Rear Seat)
Just finished up what I had left to do in the trunk and weighed it today. Like 5 minutes ago really. Now I have to break out the cleaner and wipe all the residue all up out of the car.
Oh and incase anyone didn't know, I went AutoXing last weekend. Theres a link floating around somewhere. There it is. I am hoping to continue this project but it seems now that spring came I'm busy every weekend tracking the G, going to meets, and doing other type of guy stuff.
:-P
Gavin
04-26-2007, 07:12 PM
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Update: I feel Queezy today 
I think its from inhaling to many solovant fumes. The trunk is comming along slowly...
Crappy weather this weekend will probably prevent me from doing anything. But I may work on the car in between showers.
I think its from inhaling to many solovant fumes. The trunk is comming along slowly...Crappy weather this weekend will probably prevent me from doing anything. But I may work on the car in between showers.
Last edited by GWord256; 04-26-2007 at 07:15 PM.
05-05-2007, 05:17 PM
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Update: So remember way back when I took out the child seat hooks? Well if you don't, I did. And it looked something like this afterwards.
So I was wondering what the heck I'm going to do with that hole. I pondered and pondered. I though about making a patch. I do think it turned out nicely. Take a look.
Looks good
I'm satisfied.
Take a look at the pix below. I think they are worth the time to download I just didn't want to make them load up with this thread to help save some people time.
http://gavinhawk.boldlygoingnowhere....0507%20024.jpg
http://gavinhawk.boldlygoingnowhere....0507%20025.jpg
http://gavinhawk.boldlygoingnowhere....0507%20027.jpg
http://gavinhawk.boldlygoingnowhere....0507%20028.jpg
http://gavinhawk.boldlygoingnowhere....0507%20029.jpg
http://gavinhawk.boldlygoingnowhere....0507%20030.jpg
Now I just need to figure out what to do with the holes in the headliner. I can't find a matching color. A Black patch is way to dark and a white patch is way to light. I think in the end I'll use white for the lack of a better color. If you know some good fabric stores in the south shore area PM me.
So I was wondering what the heck I'm going to do with that hole. I pondered and pondered. I though about making a patch. I do think it turned out nicely. Take a look.
Looks good
I'm satisfied.Take a look at the pix below. I think they are worth the time to download I just didn't want to make them load up with this thread to help save some people time.
http://gavinhawk.boldlygoingnowhere....0507%20024.jpg
http://gavinhawk.boldlygoingnowhere....0507%20025.jpg
http://gavinhawk.boldlygoingnowhere....0507%20027.jpg
http://gavinhawk.boldlygoingnowhere....0507%20028.jpg
http://gavinhawk.boldlygoingnowhere....0507%20029.jpg
http://gavinhawk.boldlygoingnowhere....0507%20030.jpg
Now I just need to figure out what to do with the holes in the headliner. I can't find a matching color. A Black patch is way to dark and a white patch is way to light. I think in the end I'll use white for the lack of a better color. If you know some good fabric stores in the south shore area PM me.
05-07-2007, 09:54 PM
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For what it's worth, I put together a spreadsheet for calculating SAE and drag corrected whp from RPM data as would be collected from an OBD2 reader. It follows from the math that 100 lbs is worth about 5 hp at the wheels.
Also, I am significantly faster in autox when I run a full tank of gas as I'm able to better put the power down; however, I do strip the trunk a bit - not to the degree that's been described here, though.
Also, I am significantly faster in autox when I run a full tank of gas as I'm able to better put the power down; however, I do strip the trunk a bit - not to the degree that's been described here, though.
05-18-2007, 07:05 PM
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: (
Well, I guess you need time to make sure all those nuclear plants don't have a meltdown.
Did you debadge your rear? It looks like it, from your avatar pic...
Well, I guess you need time to make sure all those nuclear plants don't have a meltdown.
Did you debadge your rear? It looks like it, from your avatar pic...
05-31-2007, 12:10 AM
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All,
I was on site at Scotts, a company that makes Plant growth products such as soil and plant food. I was asking around to see if they had a scale to weigh trucks before they head out. I was told they did and that I could use it.
Heres the result:
Stock 2004 G35 6mt weights in at 3,422 lbs.
My coupe with a little more than half a tank of gas, weights in at 3,400lbs.
The scale weights in 10 pound increments. It weighed me as 200lbs, even though I'm low 190s.
I estimated 8-10 gallons of gas between 64-80
Its safe to say I have between 60 and 90 pounds removed.
This also shows that my esitmated weight removal of 93lbs in the previous post was VERY accurate.
I was on site at Scotts, a company that makes Plant growth products such as soil and plant food. I was asking around to see if they had a scale to weigh trucks before they head out. I was told they did and that I could use it.
Heres the result:
Stock 2004 G35 6mt weights in at 3,422 lbs.
My coupe with a little more than half a tank of gas, weights in at 3,400lbs.
The scale weights in 10 pound increments. It weighed me as 200lbs, even though I'm low 190s.
I estimated 8-10 gallons of gas between 64-80
Its safe to say I have between 60 and 90 pounds removed.
This also shows that my esitmated weight removal of 93lbs in the previous post was VERY accurate.