How much weight did you lose? I have a spare bonnet that i was considering removing all the webbing/strengthening from but i'm not sure if its worth the effort It won't be as light as a fibreglass one but i can't afford one of those anyway! Just want to know if its worth the effort and risk of screwing up a *rare* Montana Green Pearl bonnet Cheers James
list it on ebay as ***rare montana green pearl** and then with the money you get buy a fibreglass one and go on holiday with the left over money??
As a stand alone measure it is not worth it but if part of a weight reduction programme on the entire car then yes. On the other hand, if you`re bored ... why not, take some pictures and show us how you get on.
The whole car is stripped, with one (maybe two if i'm feeling sociable!) seats and not much else and i'm planning on further lightening as soon as i have the funds (perspex windows etc.) May get hold of a shagged bonnet as a trial run first!
Hi Standard MK2 bonnet weighs approx 14kgs of which a good few kgs is in the skin. You can get fiberglass bonnets off german ebay for about 90-100 euros. The weight saving is enormous as a good 10-11 kgs will be saved. A mk2 tailgate weighs approx 9kgs and alot of that weight is in metal behind what you see on the outside of the car. On a budget i would get a fibre bonnet and go to work on the tailgate with a grinder. I am going mad with a weight loss program as it is free horsepower. If you have the time and space to do it then it really is worth it. It is astonishing how much weight is tied up in odd bits, here and there, and with some sweat, concussion, and various cutting tools the kgs mount up very quickly. C
James - in that case go for it .. Carlos - agreed, I`ve had the interior in / out of my Mk2 over the last three years and just that makes a noticeable difference.
Hiya If you want to search goodies on ebay.de then do this..... go to ebay.de Close down the pop up box that wobbles on about what country you are from and in, if it pops up. then go to the category box and select Auto & Motorrad: teile dont enter anything into the search box and just press Finden when the page refreshes look down the left of the page and there will be a sub-catagory called Auto-Motorsport select the auto-motorsport category and after the page has refreshed type GFK into the search box. Browse through and pick but make sure they will post outside of germany. You can also search for golf goodies in the motorsport section by typing Golf 2 or golf 1 into the search box or variations on those themes. They say Golf 2 and not Mk2 Golf. If you don't type anything into the search box then you will see lots of motorsport stuff. Carlos
Hiya Just a little more on weight saving on an early mk2......... Take the bumpers off and pop the plastic off the metal work. Hacksaw or grind for england and weigh what comes out. Make some sheet metal brackets, drill some holes, find some self tappers and re-mount. To rehang if the bumper plastic has sheared off where the bumpers slot onto the round wing hangers it is a case of drilling a large hole in the outer plastic and a small hole on the inside. You can put a bolt a bolt through the bumber and the round hanger and with some creativity and washers it will stay put. The large hole allows you to get a socket into the bumper. You can then plug the hole with a neat rubber grommet so drill to suit. If I remember I lost 20kgs or more just from the bumpers and the sun roof mechanism. It's probably an equal share of weight so you could loose about 10kgs on the bumbers. When done you will have a front bumber weighing approx 4-4.5kgs and a rear at about 3-3.5kgs. C
I cut the majority of the webbing out of mine, just left the outer frame. TBH it didn't save a lot of weight, the skin is quite thick. I'll be replacing mine with a fibreglass one this year.
Thread resurrection ! I`m thinking of doing this to my bonnet, would like a fibreglass one, but other things need doing first. As an `easy` gain of a few kg`s, I was going to cut out the middle webbing and just leave the outside part in place where it joins the skin. Did you end up doing this and were there any issues? ie `vibration` of the outer skin at high speed ?
I decided against it as the weight of material there just didn't seem worth it, i'm going to just make myself a really budget fibreglass one instead as a tester and go from there, probably a attempt a simple carbon one (sans vent holes etc.) if it goes well
i'd say save the sweat & tears & get a fibreglass job. all the weight in the skin & its a crap job. difference between a glass one & lightened one is huge
It's difficult to take the inner braces out without damaging the outer paint too, if you use a grinder. Probably not worth the hassle.
lol,I did mine when I was off sick with chickenpox (i'm not 12 honest!) got really bored and didn't have a grinder so I attacked it with a drill and a hairdryer! getting frame of the seam sealer off is a PITA, just ended up with very slightly lighter and more wobbly bonnet! I took out the inner part and swiss-cheesed the rest, I'd guess it was around 2-3 kg lighter. got a carbon/fibreglass one in the end and even though its got a full fibreglass frame moulded from the OE one and OE latch, i'd say its less than half the weight of even the lightened version. it also as stiff as the original steel one.
