Lightweight

[DanielForest]

Merci Daniel. Celle de Daniel Vendette est maintenant dans mon garage. Et cet embrayage, c'est réglé? Tu as le bonjour d'Amyot Bachand. Where in Europe for the one piece engine/trunk lid?

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The Abarth X1/9 Prototipo/Stradale Thread

Post all your pictures of the Abarth Prototipo/Stradale here.

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Celle de Daniel, elle est orange?

The transmission is back in place but I still have to put back the starter, the fluids, a few hoses... Next spring.

 

[Bjorn Nilson]

Very good and useful thread. Even if I am not aiming for a complete track car I do my best to reduce the weight as much as possible. The seats and door cards are the next things to be replaced with lighter materials. I like the idea with a hood went but I always need to carry the roof in case of rain. -The weather can be unpredictable here in Sweden. When driving hard on track I also have a cooling issue after the tuned UT engine went in. Probably due to that I've canted the radiator one inch more to make room for the IC heat exchanger. Without a hood vent, would a splitter increase airflow trough heat exchanger and radiator or would it even worsening the situation? If going for a splitter, should it be mounted tight to the (stock) front spoiler or would a 10-15 mm gap be ok?
I have a big 3,5 mm alu plate that would be perfect for a splitter but I would be happy for your advice before cutting it.

 

[Janis]

Very good and useful thread. Even if I am not aiming for a complete track car I do my best to reduce the weight as much as possible. The seats and door cards are the next things to be replaced with lighter materials. I like the idea with a hood went but I always need to carry the roof in case of rain. -The weather can be unpredictable here in Sweden. When driving hard on track I also have a cooling issue after the tuned UT engine went in. Probably due to that I've canted the radiator one inch more to make room for the IC heat exchanger. Without a hood vent, would a splitter increase airflow trough heat exchanger and radiator or would it even worsening the situation? If going for a splitter, should it be mounted tight to the (stock) front spoiler or would a 10-15 mm gap be ok?
I have a big 3,5 mm alu plate that would be perfect for a splitter but I would be happy for your advice before cutting it.

@Brayden_connolly made hood vents in a way that there is still place fir the roof if not mistaken

 

[autox19]

@Brayden_connolly made hood vents in a way that there is still place fir the roof if not mistaken

yup yup. went out the sides into the wheel well.

Odie

 

[carl]

Bjorn, have you removed your dash? It's a very heavy item.
For vanity reasons I added an Autopower rollbar which probably put back most of the weight I had removed.

 

[Bjorn Nilson]

Bjorn, have you removed your dash? It's a very heavy item.
For vanity reasons I added an Autopower rollbar which probably put back most of the weight I had removed.

No I haven't. I bet the dash is heavy and I would have removed it if it was a 100% race car. I want it to look good as well, and I don't think it is street legal here.

 

[Bjorn Nilson]

Talking about weight saving, watch this interesting documentary (eng. sub.). I will definitely look for a way to have the targa roof in carbon fiber. Shouldn't be too costly. The door cards are easy as they can be made of pre-manufactured flat carbon fiber sheets.

 

[Dr.Jeff]

In that previous thread I mentioned earlier there was a long list of specific components and what each one weighed. Some stuff doesn't make that much difference, while others were surprising. I recall the headlight buckets (in addition to the motor assemblies) were quite heavy. Converting to fixed recessed headlights with a clear cover would make for a good weight reduction. As has been mentioned the seats are really heavy. The front and rear deck lids are really heavy. I've held a door that was completely stripped and trimmed compared to a stock one and was shocked at the difference - HUGE weight change. We've had a few discussions about making light weight tops, mainly for the convenience of installing/removing it. But as it was stated all of this needs to be balanced with what you feel is practical for your specific application. One day I'd like to take one of my parts cars and see just how light it can be made, along the lines of Carl's rat X. If I recall the person in the old thread was shooting for around 1200 pounds total weight?

 

[carl]

Other than holding gauges, the dashboard assembly doesn't do much. I bet it would not be hard to make a lightweight fiberglass replica and install some 124 gauges in. Even the glove box cover weighs a ton.

 

[Janis]

It is most likely not street legal here in EU, BUT if MOT inspector doesnt’t know how it was originally and You make it look like from factory then it is street legal

 

[Dr.Jeff]

Other than holding gauges, the dashboard assembly doesn't do much. I bet it would not be hard to make a lightweight fiberglass replica and install some 124 gauges in. Even the glove box cover weighs a ton.

True. I've been trying to envision something like this. Maybe made from aluminum? Fiberglass would be an excellent choice, but I hate working with it and therefore not good at it. I like some of the flat panels made to hold the gauges (couple examples below). And I like the classic look of the "domed" hood over the gauge area (more examples). So maybe something that combines these.

But I think the rest of the dash area should also get covered just to hide all the holes and seams - perhaps just a flat aluminum skin over it. I really like this one in a X - pretty sure this is from one of our members, but sorry I can't remember who:

I wonder if you could cover the various holes in the bare dash with something aluminum tape, add a thin layer of the light padding (like upholstery shops use under the top layer) directly over the stripped dash, then cover it with a headliner or similar material....without having to make any cover panels.

@mkmini, that last one might get past the inspection like you say. It looks good enough to maybe be original. Fortunately many places in the US don't have to get any inspections for older cars.

 

[carl]

It really does depend on what your local authorities require. Here in Virginia, if you get an antique car plate they don't want to ever see your car so you can do pretty much whatever you want.

 

[bjwhite]

Why would any inspection care about what you've done with the dash and door cards?

 

[Janis]

Because dash and door cards absorbs a bit an impacts and hides sharp edges where injures is more dangerous

 

[bjwhite]

Because dash and door cards absorbs a bit an impacts and hides sharp edges where injures is more dangerous

For a new car? Sure. For a 40-45 year old car? uhh.

 

[MikeHynes]

It really does depend on what your local authorities require. Here in Virginia, if you get an antique car plate they don't want to ever see your car so you can do pretty much whatever you want.

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Carl, you've got to replace those decadent wind-up window winder uppers with a strap with a snap. Think of the weight savings!
And, if you want to save some extra weight on the doors - remove the side intrusion beam

 

[Dr.Jeff]

replace those decadent wind-up window winder uppers with a strap with a snap

Or the Abarth method:

 

[Dr.Jeff]

Earlier we were talking about custom minimal dashes. I happened upon another example with a design that looks clean, light, and functional (although the finish could be nicer):

It also has the "slider" window lifts.

 

[carl]

That whole pull up window thing is not my thing. I'll stick with those very heavy window cranks. If I was truly gutting the doors I would take out the safety beam but then I'd have to add a side intrusion bar to my rollbar and it would weigh even more! Removing the door glass would save a ton of weight but as I mentioned, I have to keep the car outside. Plus I do like driving it on coldish days which is why I put the heater back in.

I am thinking of moving the starter motor to the front trunk to get better weight balance but there might be problems with that!
I have thought of tossing the passenger seat since no one has ever ridden with me but these seats don't weigh much.

 

[Dr.Jeff]

I am thinking of moving the starter motor to the front trunk to get better weight balance but there might be problems with that!

But then again, Fiat put the radiator in the front with really long tubes to connect it. So a long shaft from the starter may not be much different.
However a gear reduction starter is lighter than the stock one. And really expensive.

I agree about the window winders vs sliders. Maybe if the windows were lightweight plexi then the slider might work. But I think the glass is too heavy to use sliders.
I wonder if the side windows could be made part of the top. So when the top is on you also have windows. But when the top is off you don't have windows. However that would require some sort of hoist to get it on and off the car, like a removable hardtop for a 124 Spider.

If I ever get around to building the 'Outlaw X' then I might consider removing all of the glass; completely eliminate the rear window and side windows, and replace the windshield with a 'frameless' half height plexi screen. The whole thing might look sort of like this: