Realistic stripped Mk2 weights

If it's not structural, engine or braking you could always just lose it Might leak a bit tho

 

Yeah, but in shells like those - there isnt much that isnt structural really.

Unless you spaceframe it, and jus have an outer skin that looks like a mk2

 

Yeh ive been in realy stripped race cars, its funny every gram off counts & all the non structual stuff like door inners etc has all been attacked with the hole driller jobbie, like being in a big bit of cheeze tiny race batteries, single wiper on a tiny motor, no underseal, lightweight exhausts etc etc.

Didnt really want to go mega silly with ireversable stripping as I was planning on eventually re-saleing it as a standard car with standard engine when I move on & sell the bits seperatly as track cars tend to be worth naff all, but hey plans change & we shall see.


Thing is ive got to think of somat to make my overall car a bit lighter coz im not exactly light myself- tipped the scales at a fraction off 16 stone last time I looked not really billy bunter coz I am a lanky sod but yes I do like perhaps too many pies oh and GVK- ive full head of hair too

Yeh I bet the Eibach ARBs add a fair bit too coz they are right heavy buggers, least its down low I suppose & jetex stainless zort is not that light either.

Had a good chinwag to a chap with a properly stripped Mk1 track car, grp bonnet plexi glass, the dash & buckets as the only interior etc etc, & weight is high end of 600kgs when un-fueled I think, anyway he said the most dramatic difference he felt- even upping the engine to 2L was ditching all the glass (except front screen naturally) for plexis, I really couldnt think it would make that sort of diference, but there ya go.





Edited by: iguana

 

I have still to really use my mk2 16v track car - its just been sitting getting rusty

My plan was to put it on a serious diet (possibly extreme!). Going by the idea that all the wee bits will add up, I reckon some savings to be had from:

seats
carpets
sill trims
footwell trims
rear wiper
rear wiper motor
front passenger side wiper
wiper linkage ?
tailgate gas struts
all door trims
all sound deadening
glove box and as much of dash as possible
under bonnet sound deadening
washer bottle
headcloth/lining
rear pillar plastic covers
number plates
number plate lights
tailgate wiring
ice and front & rear speakers
centre console
fag lighter / ashtray
redundant switches
sunvisors (replace with sticker)
headlights?


also:

change remote/electric door mirrors for very simple lightweight ones
change big bumpers for small ones
replace glass with perspex



take a hole cutter to:

tailgate frame
door frames
rear seat area
bonnet
front wing (where show cars have louvres)
landing panel

Reckom there's more to add. Just can't think at the moment.


In case anyone is wondering how much their car weighs, there will be a public weighbridge within 30 miles of you somewhere.
Edited by: mincecfc2

 

Big bumper people could always get GSF pattern bumpers.

 

don't forget to remove the sunroof



once my car is running again i'll get it to a weigh bridge,

gary, along with a large dump i normally run my petrol tank in the red at curby

1990: ChrisP also recommended GSF bumpers to me as they weigh next to nothing compared to a VW one, i've replaced the rear on mine as the VW one was broken but still have the heavy VW front
Edited by: steve r

 

Yep, the GSF big bumpers are very light/flimsy compared to a genuine VAG - my front one is a lightweight GSF race type bumper

 

So is mine...

 

Hope i dont offend anyone but a diet can help

When i 1st had my golf i was 11.75 stone but now i am 14+ stone

 

very similar results from my astra as people have posted so far.

Bulkhead soundproofing 5kg
Bonnet carpet 1kg
removing power steering rack pump and pipes, fitting manual rack 10kg
carpet underlay & ducts4kg
carpet 2kg
Door cards 4.8kg
Rear bench and backrest 17kg
Rear seat belts2kg
Parcel shelf and supports 4kg
Plastic trim and fittings (entire car combined) 10kg
Roof lining 4kg
tar Sound proof matting 7kg
tilt slide sun roof 17kg
engine bay odds and sods, second horn, baffles, brackets, trim 5kg

thats aobut a 100 right there, and only the stuff i can remember.

 

Thats what i was just about to suggest

 

A subject close to my heart - wieght loss in a Golf.

I'm building a Golf for sprinting/hillclimbs, so far the weight loss is 72.5kgs and I've only just started The car now runs with one standard front seat until the new ones arrive. The passenger seat wieghed an unhealthy 22kg, the remaining 50kg came from the rear seats, all the interior trim, sound proofing, the bottom half of the dash, centre console, central locking, speakers, parcel shelf etc.
70kg is the wieght of a passenger, and you'll have noticed your own car is slower with 2 people up. so I'm effectively driving the car at it's "empty" weight !

still to go is the window mechanisms, sunroof, all the glass (replaced with perspex) drivers seat, bonnet & boot are being replaced with fibreglass ones. I may be an optimist but I'm aiming for 800kg or under

The glass makes makes a big difference to the handling of the car, remove a lot of weight high up in the car and you lower the centre of gravity, thus it corners faster, simple.

I have a contact who has a fibreglass boot & bonnet for sale if you're interested...

 

Do mk1s make a lighter car after stripping and caging? or doesnt it
amount to much.

 

MK1's are much lighter to start with, about 150 kg from memory, but have some dissadvantages;
- the brakes are left hand drive converted to right on Mk1, the Mk2 starts as right hand drive, much better brake feel.
- No crumple zones on a MK1 if you stuff it...
- The Mk2 was the first golf to get decent rust protection, wax everywhere, arch liners etc. so is alot easier to find a better example

However a lot of hard core Mk1 racers out there, but it's generally accepted that it costs more to track a Mk1 than a late mk2.

 

If you stuff a mk1 it's game over.

If you stuff a mk2 you can re-build it really easily and cheaply.

 

OK the brakes I can deal with, I'm used to polos so I guess I could
just run twin M/Cs and bin that link crap. (maybe later though)

Cage will help with the rolling it issue but I doubt it'll save my ass
completly (probably at the first corner)

My mk1 gets lighter all the time I use it as a garden shed, by the time
I have the engine built it'll make Caterham superlights look tubby I
reckon.

 

Servos are for people with weak legs. Get the master cylinder mounted on
the driver's side and forget the servo if you're that bothered about the
brake linkage.

 

I've got weak right knee from dropping a polo on it the irony
hurts more than the injury though....

I'll be doing a thread on the no servo conversion when the time
comes, but for now whats the deal? Any fabrication, what MC etc..

 

You can get a kit from Rally design Jake.

Twin M/C's pedal box, resovoirs etc...