Here's the list of things I did. All weights are net. For instance, I replaced the battery with one of the lightweight AGM types so the weight loss listed is 20 lbs, not 31 lbs:
Removed 1/2 of the secondary grill on the underside of the trunk lid vents - .75 lbs Wing delete - 11 lbs Battery - 20 lbs Hi-torque starter - 7.25 lbs Floor mats - 6 lbs Front license plate bracket - .75 lbs Jack - 6 lbs Lug wrench and bracket - 3 lbs Spare tire -29 lbs Hi-flow cat - 4 lbs Cat heat shield - 2 lbs Exhaust tips - 2.5 lbs RH wiper - 1 lb
Total of 93.25 lbs. Some notes:
Removing the spare and jack basically gives the car two usable trunks. I do have two cans of fix-a-flat on board.
The secondary grill is riveted to the bottom of the deck lid heat vents. I assume it is for cosmetic reasons so you can't see inside the engine bay. If you remove the 1/2 that is closest to the firewall you'd hardly notice the difference.
The new cat is so much smaller than the old one that removing the heat shield seemed logical. It's been off the car for 3 years without any trace of extra heat affecting the underbody.
When I took the RH wiper off I replaced the LH wiper with a 26" unit. It clears about 3/4 of the windshield. I don't know how this would go for state inspections but you'd have two options, put the wiper back on for inspections or, as I did here in Virginia, register the car as a classic. At that point there are no more annual inspections.
It was very simple to screw the front plate directly to the front bumper with a light plastic frame around it. Can't even tell anything is different.
None of these weight loss mods affect the functionality of the car. In other words, you won't even notice them. Well, that's not true, sadly, the wife noticed the extra trunk space on our last weekend jaunt.
The battery is the one thing that you have to watch. In the winter months I have to keep a trickle charger on it or it goes dead in about a week. In the summer I've gone as long a 3 weeks without running the car and it's been OK.
I replaced the exhaust tips with a couple of single outlet chrome pieces that don't stick out as far and look pretty good.
Though it's not on the list I also got ruthless about carrying "stuff". I was able to unload maps, cassettes and other various bits of junk for an additional 5 lb loss.
Also, if the new diet works I might just make it to the 100lb mark.
You got a 26" wiper to fit? I'm using a 24" wiper, and it comes very close to the top left corner of the windshield. But the big wiper sweeps across about 2/3 of the windshield. I like that.
Do you carry passengers very often? The passenger seat weighs about 35-40 lb. The passenger side visor is another pound or so.
I saved 50 lbs.(!) on my '82 BMW 320i just buy swapping the stock low-back seats for Corvette seats. The Fiero seats probably weight as much or more than the BMW seats... The carpet padding weighs a ton. You could remove it & put the carpet back in - would result in a little louder cockpit. Just a couple of things that will make a big difference. ~ Paul aka "Tha Driver"
I dont know about that. Fiero seats in my opinion are very light compared to other seats I have messed with. Now granted you could swap in racing seats and those would be lighter but you would be giving up some creature comfort for sure.
olejoedad, i was not aware that the spare tire was part of the crash protection. That is crazy to think about.
You got a 26" wiper to fit? I'm using a 24" wiper, and it comes very close to the top left corner of the windshield. But the big wiper sweeps across about 2/3 of the windshield. I like that.
Do you carry passengers very often? The passenger seat weighs about 35-40 lb. The passenger side visor is another pound or so.
Have fun!
The 26" wiper blade comes within a 1/4 inch of the top of the windshield molding. I'm happy with the coverage.
I did not know about the spare being part of the crash protection, thanks for that info.
Won't be removing the seat as this is our weekend jaunt vehicle. Same for the soundproofing under the carpet.
I don't think there's much left to remove without impinging on the practicality of the car.
I would like to put more modern wheels on it at some point so maybe I could reduce weight in that area.
I was lucky enough to have ordered my 85 SE V6 with the V6, the WS6 suspension...and basically nothing else....The car weighed approx' 2580 to begin....Since, I have added the 86-88 GT rear bodywork, the 88 rear subframe, 3.4 F-body long-block, Getrag 5 spd......Plus some ignition spares and a tool box up front, so now it weighs 2640 with half a tank. Oh yeah, I removed those vent grills (Which also keep leaves out of the engine bay) and the trunk blower/tubes.....And to improve weight distribution I moved the battery up front, under the spare...(Weight dist' 44/56)...
I knew about the tire being part of the crash structure.....But what effect would the battery have being "Inside" the spare wheel?
[This message has been edited by cvxjet (edited 10-04-2017).]
The way the battery box is made and mounted, and covered by the flipped over spare, I'm thinking that there is going to be little change in the cars crashworthiness.
Hmm, maybe I should add a rubber flap to act as a splash guard to cover my battery......
other thoughts: Remove / replace muffler? Go single outlet? Remove washer fluid reservoir? Flush mount headlights remove buckets and motors. Need the heater? If not remove core and lines. A/C?
[This message has been edited by 2.5 (edited 10-04-2017).]
My thoughts also. I think its funny that people had to have the "light weight" Formulas with crank windows, manual mirrors, no a/c....but the owner weighs 250 pounds lol
The point of the post is that there are things you can do to reduce weight WITHOUT affecting comfort or practicality.
None of these things has affected the comfort level and the least practical thing I've done is the battery replacement. But since the car is a semi-garage queen it's no big deal to keep it on a trickle charger in the cold weather.
The spare tire? That's a call each person would have to make for themselves.
BTW, with the "Bright Line" diet the two of us are down over 40 lbs.
About the same as removing the passenger seat, so there.
Thanks for bringing that up. I do have new wheels on the bucket list but I'm very happy with the new Bridgestone 15" tires and plan to keep them.
I'd like to get some 5 spoke mag type wheels a lot like the Pony Wheels I had on my '91 5.0 Mustang. Classic look, not fussy because,some of the new wheels are just too busy for my taste.
Truthfully the whole wheel thing is a bit confusing. I guess that's why it comes up on a regular basis around here.
Since I have an '88 I know I need to consider the rear wheel offset.
So do I look for matching wheels but with different offsets front and back?
Or, as some members suggest, getting 4 wheels with the same offset but basically split the difference?
But in all honesty, how does that look?
And of course, how much lighter would 5 spoke mags be compared to the OE basket weave wheels?
I think its funny that people had to have the "light weight" Formulas with crank windows, manual mirrors, no a/c....but the owner weighs 250 pounds lol
Exactly my thoughts!
I'm not suggesting this is the case here, but... it always astonishes me when I read of herculean efforts to improve a car's performance and/or MPG by an owner who is himself a hundred pounds (or more!) overweight.
[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 10-08-2017).]
Ray, I don't know what body style you drive, and this might not be relevant, but if you have a fastback, convert it to a notchie. Instant savings of about 200 lbs.
Well, for the record I'm 66 years old, 6'3", 203 lbs, LDL of 180 and a resting heart beat of 44. Hope that straightens out the weight loss issue.
Ray, over the years I've seen a lot of images posted here where the PFF members were a little, ummm... "beefy" shall we say. Glad to hear (for your heath's sake) that you're not one of them!
While caring for my bed bound wife I was stuck in this house 24/7/365. I slowly gained weight over a 10 year period and got up to 225.
After she died I did a good job by getting down to 210. Gotta look good if you're getting back int he dating game, right?
Got remarried in 2011 to a good woman who had been in a similar situation. She too had slowly gained some weight and hadn't been able to shake it.
Then, about a year ago she discovered "Bright Line Eating". Basically, no sugar and no flour. There's other stuff, along the lines of AA I guess you'd say.
She lost 33 lbs and dropped her LDL from 260 to 210. The docs were impressed.
Of course, as any guy knows, if the cook goes on a diet so do you. That's how I lost the rest of the weight.
