Shedding weight

[Cleggy the Spyder Man]

So that weight of 575kg was with the callipers fitted?

mmm that is lighter than I thought, and lighter than has been posted in these forums in the past - tbh it does not really matter what you start from, it matters what you shed  

So loosing the weight of an average person (70-80kg I guess) would be a good goal to aim for I guess

Ok so I have 50 kilos to loose  

[originalgeezer]

Diet is certainly the best      

That said I am Sixteen Stone and staying it    

So I may have to follow the Clarkson Principals - more power  

[Steven (WE51STE)]

I would have to agree.

Diet is the most cost effective way of loosing weight.

Regards,

Steve

[Norman Verona]

Cleggy, sorry mate but you haven't got it yet. Saving is about every gram. You don't ask what the carpets weigh, they weigh something so get rid.

The screen is not only about weight, it reduces the frontal area by about 1/3rd.

All of the above suggesteions will reduce weight.

However, haveing got mine from 585 bto 507 I can tell you that it gets very expensive per kg for the last 10 or 20 kgs.

I've even spent the day cutting off excess bolt lengths, how sad is that? Oh, and don't forget that I also drilled holes in everything I could.

Now, where is that diet sheet......

[Rory's Dad]

I agree with you about keeping the screen - I've changed back from aero but do get rid of the heater - you don't need it.  Our Westy is missing the plastic cover over the pedals and the heat from the engine inflates my trouser legs with hot air from the engine bay - mmm luverly    

Cutting the end off bolts is silly IMO and the ends will go rusty (sorry Norm!)

Rory's Dad

[Leon B]

575kg with all that gear on?  Are you sure those scales were accurate?  Seems a tab on the light side to me

[Mark (smokey mow)]

575kg with all that gear on?  Are you sure those scales were accurate?  Seems a tab on the light side to me

You think that's light?  When weighed at SVA last month my Mazda SDV recorded 435Kg on the scales with a full tank of fuel, screen, carpets and padded seats   I think their calibration was wayoff but I didn't like to question VOSA so I just accepted it  

[Leon B]

now that definatey is wrong!!

I had my old VX, aeroscreened, no heater, race seats, no carpets car weighed at Brands and it came out at 575kg with 3/4 tank of fuel.  These scales were definately right as I weighed myself on them too.

[red hot]

all this because my 1800 zetec frightened you ...Get rid of the wind screen

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman)]

Cutting the end off bolts is silly IMO

Not half as silly as you'll feel in casualty if you have any hot water/hot oil in the engine bay dramas with that cover left off.

(And I've been guilty of riding round without it in the past, too).

[StuartMackay]

Fit a hand throttle and get rid of your legs!  

Definitely aeroscreen it, its like having 20 extra bhp when the windbreak is gone. Also not so much turbulence in cockpit compared to running with screen without sidescreens  

[Rory's Dad]

Cutting the end off bolts is silly IMO

Not half as silly as you'll feel in casualty if you have any hot water/hot oil in the engine bay dramas with that cover left off.

(And I've been guilty of riding round without it in the past, too).

Agreed  

What's worse is that I have a plastic cover - just haven't fitted it yet.  As the weather improves it might get a bit too hot but I ceratinly needed it this morning.

Rory's Dad

[JeffC]

my westy Duratec was 568kg and dont think that had anything special done to it, pretty much standard , 4pots, no heater, rac bar , aeroscreen did have 13" image wheels but with 888 toyos, would get a huge saving swapping to ACB10 tyres as 888s weigh more than the QE2         windscreen is very heavy and I was disgusted at the lack of performance in 5th gear when I fitted one after years of an aeroscreen  

running is the answer for weight loss, prob is now Ive lost so much now im looking unwell and  im struggling to put it back on now  

upside is Kart is getting quicker without spending money  

[Norman Verona]

I'm not sure what comments are for me.

Cutting the end of bolts with the nut on is standard practice when reducing weight on race cars. Unless the metal is galvanised and is standard high tensile then no additional rust problems.

Mine is a Caterham with a BDR engine. The block is a crossflow. The crank and rods are from solid billet steel but the flywheel is the lightest that can be safely fitted. The bell housing is ali as is the gearbox casing. The whole body is carbon fibre as are the seats (low back Tillets). Everything that doesn't serve a purpose or is not on the car for reliability has been removed. There are lots of other bits and pieces that I can't remember off the top of my head, like the ali rad, the Avo shocks, the ali wheels (4.6 kgs front, 5.7 rears).

I've even made my own loom from thinwall wire and left out all the surplus wiring and the heavy fuse box and relays. It has a lightweight fuse box and heavy duty light switches.

The engine is a special Roger King unit which is unique. It's rated at 220 bhp at the flywheel.  The box is ultra close ratio BGH and the diff is 4.44:1

If I'd have had an ali block I would have saved 18kgs but Roger can't get the pistons he wanted for the ali block, only his sleeved xflow bore.

All in all, I've spent over £40k on this car and when I floor it coming out of roundabouts I just know it was all worth it.

[congorobot]

QUOTE

You could ditch the number plate for a sticker one on the bonnet

Don't forget a stick on rear plate as well if you are chasing grams!

Also if you get rid of the screen you can also ditch the wiper motor assembly. Must be a couple of kilograms there as well.  

QUOTE

Saving is about every gram

Thats why I am off out to the garage to pull my toe-nails off. I will expect any passenger to do the same!