Low Budget Weight Reduction
 

Ok I'm on a very, very low budget right now, mainly because I'm a high school student, but I still need to go fast. I think I'm gonna have to lose some weight in my '90 LX. Where in my car is all this sound material that I can take out? Also any other ideas? I'm not really looking to spend money so please don't tell me I need a K-member and stuff like that. I'm really broke and looking for some speed.

i probably dropped over 100 lbs and spent 50 bucks

UPR a/c delete, removed front sway bar, removed rear seats/carpet, spare tire, jack etc

i plan on taking out the smog pump, power steering and whatever else i can find pretty soon

all that for nothing :) of course If i remove the p/s pump, ill need a new belt, but that's about it....

If you remove the p/s pump, don't you need a manual rack? I know there are differences in the two, internally, but I don't know exactly what?
As for the original question, I also removed the carpet and carpet padding. There is sound deadning insulation behind the plastic molding in the back side of the car. Mine wieghs 3450 w/ me sitting in it. But I weigh almost 300 lbs.:( I know, I know, Jenny Craig Blah Blah Blah!!!

Caymon

I hear ya bro. I'm right over 300...

About the rack, I'm pretty sure you don't need to change the rack, it will just be alot easier to turn with a manual rack than it would with a "power" rack w/ the pump removed.

Don't forget the dog bone on the rear end.

yeah what the hell is this dog bone thing that everyone talks about? ive heard it before but im not clear on what it is.

It is bolted on the bottom of the rearend housing. It is directly under drive shaft bolts and it is held on by 2 bolts and weighs alot. And really useless..

The dogbone was used to take out driveline vibrations. It was suppose to help with stock gears, most people toss them after installing new gears.

I pulled 380 lbs off my mustang, here is the list:

Removed front bumper and supports
Removed light bar and remounted fogs
removed skirt around lower engine bay
Removed a/c radiator
removed all a/c hoses
removed a/c compressor
removed all tubes and hoses for heater core
removed hood heatshield pad
battery to the trunk
stripped cruise components
Stripped airbag sensors and airbag and brackets
stock EEC-4 removed with all relays and 25 lbs of wiring
Pulled all soundproofing except under carpet
Removed frame for dashboard (doesnt need it)
pulled entire fan and heater tract assembly including parts in dash
Installed 130 cfm pc fan hooked to central vents with tube pickup off headers
disabled rear defroster assembly and pulled all relays and wiring
hooked foglights to headlight switch
Pulled radio support bracket
Pulled shifter boot plate
cut all wiring to console
Replaced armrest unit with 90' convertible plate
removed back seat support frame flipdowns
removed back seat support bars
removed rear bumper I-beam and supports
removed rear axle damper
removed pinion snubber strike plate
removed spare tire + jack + iron (never came with one)
removed tire well plate
removed front bumper and support beams

-315 pounds + tire/jack/iron (65 lbs?) and still going

the a/c elimanator bracket is the only thing that costs money but not if you are killing the ps too

have fun. By the way, the extra noise is negligible and the ride quality is so much better with that extra weight gone

Up date your starter to a 92-93 style. Thats a few pounds plus header clearence. But it now costs you for a new starter.

Is that a direct bolt in? What are the differences? Are there any downfalls to doing this? Considering my weight, I am trying everything possible to get rid of all unnecessary weight.

Caymon

When my starter went i picked up a gear reduction starter off a 94 f-150 with a 5.0 for $5 from a junkyard and it had been rebuilt less than 5 months earlier going by the sticker from precision on the side (Precision also has a lifetime warranty on there domestic starters) . It turns the motor over alot faster and it is alot easier to put on and off because of the size difference and definately is lighter.

hope this helps

The starter is a direct bolt in but you have to change a few wires. Its really simple. All you do is swap over the big wire from the solinoid so it is hot all the time. Then you have to add a 10-12 gauge wire that goes from the where the starter lead was down to the starter solinoid. Now when you try to start the car it pulls in the usually solinoid and also pulls in the starter solinoid.

Just make sure you use good wire and connectors on that jumper wire on the solenoid because you dont wanna get stranded somewhere cause of something stupid. I speak from experience. Luckly i thought of that and held the wire on the connector while someone started it. At first i though i had a dead short somewhere but the jumper wire broke right at the connector. You have to remember it gets hot down there with those headers right there and on my car i have the trans lines going right by there too.

Drag stang , what do you mean by jumper wire ? I didn't use a jumper wire on mine. I added a wire, and moved the large wire from one side of the fender solinoid to the other, thats it.

I used a wire to jump the solenoid on the starter since there is already a seperate solenoid for the stock starter. Im just kinda doing the same thing with that wire as if you were to jump a solenoid with a screwdriver under the hood to start the car.

I was just wondering. When I talked with the guys that make the aftermaket starters (can't remember their name) they said I had mine wired wrong. At the time I had a delayed start. I changed things around to the way I have it now, and everything is perfect. This is also the way the factory did it in 92-93.

So you leave everything the same as it was, but add a short 3-4" jumper from lug on the starter to the solinoid on the starter. Correct ?

Yep, thats all i did...works great...once i put some quaility wire on it.