I myself have a yellow 85 fiero se 5spd 4 cyl. I was wondering how do you lighten a fiero without removing the engine and the spare tire. I have noticed the doors are extremely heavy for a small car I have come to many dead ends trying to lighten my car. so now i need help :-) thanx for any input.!!
I've seen a similar post before...try the search. The general thought is that it is a pretty hard to do and maintain safety and comfort. If it is for an all out race car, scrap the a/c, stereo, heater, vents, sound deadining, carpet and any power accesories you don't need.
You can also replace existing items with lighter versions. Racing bucket seats will shead some pounds. a light-weight radiator will also, but thats a lot of $/pounds saved. Fixed headlights will save weight over mechanical ones. www.normsfiberglass.com Has complete front end kits that weigh only slightly more than just the stock hood.
Leightweight wheels will offer a big performance increse.
The doors are so heavy for safety reasons. The reinforcement saves your life in a T-bone, and without it, you have a little plastic and metal between you and the open road.
What is this car going to be used for, street or track?
By far the most cost effective thing is to swap a spare tire, jack and lug wrench for a cell phone. Second you can miniature size the battery. Beyond that it starts to get tough and expensive.
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08:38 PM
TaurusThug Member
Posts: 4271 From: Simpsonville, SC Registered: Aug 2003
A car with too much rear weight bias is a bad thing. I forgot to mention relocating the battery for better distribution. Maybe one of the v8 guys can chime in and say if they've had any problems from the added weight in the back.
An '85 coupe with 4cyl and 5spd is not going to weigh 2800lb. The curb weight for that drivetrain combo should be around 2600lb, depending on options.
If you remove 70-80lb from the front, and relocate the battery, you get roughly a 50/50 weight reduction... and a car that's 70-80 lb lighter. In a 2600 lb car, that's about a 3% improvement in every aspect of performance (acceleration, braking, cornering, and fuel economy).
The interior carpet is pretty heavy. I haven't put it on a scale, but the carpet on each side feels to be around 20-25 lb. If you feel up to the task, you could replace it with some aircraft carpet (a few ounces per square foot) and shave off (rough guess) about 30-40 lb. There's also a piece of rubberized mat glued to the firewall underneath the carpet. I haven't weighed that piece either, but it seems to be around 15 lb. Just keep in mind that if you remove it, interior noise (from the engine compartment) will increase.
The center console, namely the front piece around the heater/AC controls and radio and the rear piece between the seats, is pretty heavy too. If you could make or find a fiberglass console, you could save some weight there.
It's been already mentioned, but the Fiero seats are pretty heavy too. Some lightweight bucket seats could shave off a few more pounds.
You could also look into lightweight wheels. They not only reduce total vehicle weight, but also would reduce unsprung weight, improving handling. I haven't looked around much, but I found some Kosei K1 Racer 15x7" rims at TireRack that only weigh 13.5 lb each and only cost $129 each. And I believe 8Shark Engineering sells some 13x8" rims that only weigh 8 lb each.
The pop-up headlight assemblies, with bulb installed, weigh about 10 lb each according to my bathroom scale. That's not including the headlight doors. Replacing them with fixed headlights will save you some weight. While you're at it, you could cut out the sheet metal "buckets" under the headlights to shave off a couple more pounds. As far as I can tell, the buckets don't do anything for the structural integrity of the frame.
Is your steering stabilizer worn out? If so, it's just dead weight. If lack of steering damping doesn't bother you, then you can remove it and shave off a couple pounds.
The basic idea here is that there isn't a "silver bullet" so to speak that will suddenly make your Fiero 300 lb lighter. There are a bunch of little things you can do that can add up to alot of reduced weight. Just make sure that you don't reduce the crashworthiness of the car in the process. Risking getting turned into hamburger meat just to remove a couple 10 lb door braces is insane.
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12:30 AM
Francis T Member
Posts: 6620 From: spotsylvania va. usa Registered: Oct 2003
Next time you go to a full-serve gas station ask the attendant to put 'racing air' in the tires. It has a high helium content thus making the car lighter.
I did that to a rather dim girl I worked with once. Boy, was she pissed the next day. She said she the guy was laughing so hard he couldn't fill her tank.
get a held motorsports slalom front suspension. and some of their other items, also if you have a pre 88, the 88 cradle is a little lighter, but not much.
If you still have it, you can ditch the engine bay insulation. It doesn't save that much on weight, but it is useless. It is close to 20 years old, soaked in oil and other crap, and creates a fire hazard. Ditching it will make your car just that little bit lighter, make it look a whole lot better, and will make it a bit safer.
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02:23 PM
Scott-Wa Member
Posts: 5392 From: Tacoma, WA, USA Registered: Mar 2002
get a held motorsports slalom front suspension. and some of their other items, also if you have a pre 88, the 88 cradle is a little lighter, but not much.
-Fish
Have you weighed this suspension and compared weight to stock components being replaced?
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03:48 PM
longjonsilver Member
Posts: 1114 From: Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia Registered: Nov 2001
moving the battery will only change the weight distribution 2% (or 4% depending on how you figure). lets make some down and dirty calculations. 2500 lb car 50lb battery - battery is therefore 2% of car weight. by moving from original position (close to real weels) to front position in spare tire (close to front wheels) changes the original 44/56 distribution to 44+2/56-2 or 46/54 - a big difference for such little work. i moved mine into the spare tire and rebended the spare hold down rod to clamp the battery too. - however the wire is now heaver - dont know how much tho jon
------------------ Im the original owner of a white 84 2M4 purchased Dec 10, 1983. "It is better to remain quiet and have people think you are a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt" - Abe Lincoln
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05:47 PM
Unsafe At Any Speed Member
Posts: 2299 From: Cheyenne, WY Registered: Feb 2003
