Started removing interior....

[SHOblime]

Hey I just started removing my interior today. I'm removing everything in the back, leaving only the driver's seat for now (getting 2 new lighter front seats) removing power windows in the back, removing all the trim except for the power window/doors/handle/speaker area from the front doors, removing all carpets/sound deadening/trunk stuff/rear seat..... I might even remove one side mirror **must save weight!!** I even lost a few pounds off myself the past few weeks....

 

[SHO--ripper]

Race SHO?
Sounds like you need to add some weight by unnatural aspiration

 

[tripleblack90]

i am also in the beginning stages of turning mine into a drag/track car, as soon as i find a daily driver with good gas mileage, im going to take out my interior and begin the transformation, my first step is trying to buy the track version, <10lb carbon fiber hood in the group buy, btw, anyone know how much the interior pieces weigh all together?

 

[SHOblime]

She'll be seeing boost at the end of summer, that's all I'm at liberty to say okay okay I'll tell you this.... 8 psi, no ic just homemade h20 injection....

 

[92inPA]

Stripping the interior can turn into a huge project. It's way more than just removing carpeting and seats. http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/810875/1

 

[tripleblack90]

that guy lost 528 pounds from his car, and rule of thumb is every 100 pounds = .1 off the quarter

 

[SHO Continental]

where did his spare tire well go?

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

that guy lost 528 pounds from his car,

After everything was said and done, yes. He really lost quite a bit more, assuming his final weight includes the cage.

 

[Lance Cheney]

where did his spare tire well go?

I want to know how he got the floor so clean. Looks nice -- but like a lot of work (lots of wire wheel work & some good paint?). I know Glen said he was having a hard time finding paint that would stick well to the floor...

Now he just needs to get the motor up to 250whp ;-)

-Lance

 

[PAracer]

I've had the chance to put a few miles on that car. What a blast! IIRC, the quoted weight loss is before the roll bar. In reality, the bar isn't all that heavy (~50lbs. 1.75" .120 wall DOM). It sure does stiffen up the chassis, though. The car still has the original sunroof (functional) and the dashboard. If a skin were added to cover the sunroof, and the dash were removed, there could be another 100 lbs. or so to lose.

Removing the tar wasn't fun or quick, but it's not that difficult. A heat gun and putty knife took car of most of it. Then a scrub with WD-40 to clean the remains. A coat of primer and dove grey finished it off.

 

[92inPA]

No way is the roll bar 50 lbs!!! 20 lbs at most. It's only .095" wall, thus meeting EMRA rules.

Painting the floor is like any other paint job, it's all in the preperation.

Some of those photos are rather old. I will try to post new ones someday soon. Have added some more fun stuff.

Who needs a spare tire? That's just wasted weight.

My 92 will never see a drag strip, but you can try to catch it at Putnam Park this summer, at the SHO convention in Indy. If you come to the convention, be sure to stop by and say hello.

 

[SHOblime]

I'm also removing the spare tire and tire well, I plan on using fibergass rather than metal, however. Fiberglass is even lighter, with the structural enhancements I won't need trunk floor....

 

[tripleblack90]

i dont know if anyone on here has done it before, but, how much weight would you save by removing the stock gas tank and putting in a smaller fuel cell, this is a question for track car owners, i dont know anyone would want a daily driver with a 5 gallon tank

 

[SHO92]

You wouldn't save much weight, if any. You'd also lose the fairly ideal mounting of the stock tank. The stock tank is mounted low as possible and its between the axles. A fuel cell would be mounted in the trunk, directly over the axle at best, hanging off the back of it at worst. And it would be higher up, raising the center of gravity, gas is not light either.

 

[tripleblack90]

i was just wonderin cuz i saw a picture of a sho with a fuel cell in the trunk

 

[SHOblime]

A fuel cell low and towards the front, with a box where the rear seat was would be pretty ideal, slight forward of rear suspension (it's not an axle, silly....) it would be out of the way and a little forward, actually moving the weight backward would help with weight distribution, not sure I'd want it all in the tail, but still moving some weight down/back would be nice...I could settle for a 10 gallon tank, by the way. I don't like running fuel down that much, anyway. I rarely go anywhere i'd need the extra 7 gallons...

 

[SHO92]

The stock fuel tank is still lower then a fuel cell would be. Having a fuel cell just sitting in the back seat area would probably not be legal in any racing class either. You are usually required to have a firewall of some sort between the passengers compartment and the fuel cell. There is also a reason why DOT says that the fuel tank on passenger cars must be inside of the front and rear AXLE LINE. When rear ended, it provides more of a crumple zone. A fuel cell in the trunk would probably need to be caged in, like what Bondurant did on their Contours. That DOT law is one of the reasons why the new GM RWD program has been canceled. In Australia where the car is originally from, they don't have that law and the fuel tank is under the trunk. The GTOs have a vertical fuel tank because that was the only place to relocate it to. Many mags have complained about that fuel tank causing a handling problem do to the high center of gravity that results.

IMO, K.I.S.S. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

 

[Shoaz]

The fuel cell in the Bondurant SHOs is under the trunk (behind the rear axle line) and has a cage around it. This is causing me a little difficulty with the Pumpkin since most race rules require fuel cells to be located within 12" of the original fuel tank location.

From an engineering perspective I agree that this is a nasty place to put a fuel cell as far as handling goes. Hopefully we'll see next month as I hope to have this beast on the track a couple of times in May. Bondurant's track is very twisty and doesn't have a lot of fast corners. This setup may have worked okay for them, but how well it will work in general remains to be seen. I'd like to know some of the rationale's behind certain things on these cars, with the fuel cell placement being one of them. Makes for an easier install, for certain, and it does keep the fuel cell as far from the cabin as possible. It could be that those reasons drove rather than the handling issues.

 

[3.8Lwagon]

if you actualy need a fuel cell you probly need a roll cage any ways so why not mudify the floor pan to allow for a fuel cell under the car?

 

[SHOblime]

if you actualy need a fuel cell you probly need a roll cage any ways so why not mudify the floor pan to allow for a fuel cell under the car?

....which is exactly what I was suggesting....