Weight Reduction v.1.4.2

OKAY!  So first update in 4 months!  There has been a little bit of work done in the mean time, but for the most part, I've been taking some time off and relaxing.  But now, it's back to the grind of making big improvements.


The biggest thing I will be doing over the next month or so is improving weight distribution.  I'm removing as much weight from in front and behind the respective axles and moving it to more closely over the rear axle.

The biggest goal is to get as much weight off of the front of the car as possible.  The Evo's are generally nose heavy and the bad weight distribution.  At the end of the 2011 season, the car weighed in at 2609lbs with a 63/37 front/rear split.

I took to stripping down the front end and removing anything that is no needed for the vehicle to run.  I pulled off the stock radiator fan which has a large steel housing weighing in a 8lbs. 


I have wired up the stock A/C fan, which weighs in at a lighter 3.5lbs, to run off a switch.  This is a fair amount of weight right off of the nose about 1ft forward of the front axle.

At the same time, I removed both horn assemblies and the resulting hardware left from other part removal.  The horns took an additional 1lb of the front of the car.

The next thing to do before putting the front end back together will be to hole-saw the lower portion of the radiator core support.  This section is crimp welded so it is not easily removed.  So instead, I will be lightening it.  It's made of fairly thick steel, given that is is also used as crash bracing along with the front crash beam (removed).

With the fan wired up, I needed somewhere to put the switch.  So I decided to add a nice aluminum switch panel to the center of the dash beam.  I knew there was a reason I kept these brackets bolted there!  The bracket assembly is actually very light.  It is stamped sheet metal and weighs under .5lbs.  But it does a great job of holding the factory gauges and the new switch panel.  When I swap to fuel cell, a pump kill switch will be added here as well.

The next pieces to be taken off a high point of the vehicle was to remove the EGR and Evap hoses from the top of the engine.  A block-off plate was sourced from Modern Automotive Performance in Plymouth MN.  The EGR valve was easily removed and replaced.  The solenoids (EGR and Evap) are located on the back side of the intake manifold and can both be removed.  Next the Evap hose routing on the back side of the intake along with their metal brackets are taken off.   A few vacuum caps are needed for the removed hoses, and some slight rerouting.

These totaled a little over a pound when all removed from one of the highest points on the engine.  There is obviously little need for emissions on a full on race car.  The next step from there was to remove the rest of the emissions equipment from the drivers rear of the vehicle.  The charcoal canister and purge solenoid serve no purpose now.  6 bolts and a few clips and the you have a fair amount of weight off of the far drivers rear corner.











While I was back there, I removed the rear crash beam which takes 17lbs off the far end of the car.  I am trying to move weight to the rear of the car, but having it more centered over the rear axle improve moment of inertia.  This weight will also be located lower after relocation.




Next update will include me sorting out a mess of wiring by just hacking them all out :)

-Mike