My 1971 911S was lean to begin with: sitting at a fighting weight of 2052 lbs. But I wanted more speed. Horsepower isn't the only way to the checkered flag. And so began the January weight loss.
At first, I could not really think of what to remove/change to really make a difference.
Before I knew it I was finding small changes that added up. It becomes a fun game
but at times expensive. I have realized over my years of racing that there is a dollar cost per pound of weight loss. It is about $100 per pound so removing unneeded pieces is a big plus. That being said during these few weeks I have new parts coming to get to my goal of 1981 lbs. Some are free and some are expensive.
First up was a bit of a cosmetic upgrade that got me thinking of reducing more weight loss. I bought tea strainers for the Carbs and removed the Foam filters and base plates. as seen in the picture above.
2lbs saved! 69lbs to go!
Step 2:
Next I bought 911R door handles. I noticed these on the infamous Larousse 1970 Porsche 911 ST when I was racing against it at Rennsport. Being 1800lbs made it hard to beat....oh ya and Patrick Long driving doesn't hurt either.
1.5 LBS saved 67.5 LBS to go.
Step 3:
Well it was time to replace that old fire bottle. I've got to be able to save weight here!!
I was right. I bought the new Lifeline system and it weighs in a 9LBS vs the 15 LBS of the old system!
This was a $600 fire system and would you look at that it saved me 6lbs, Proves my $100 per lbs
theory.
6lbs saved 61.5 lbs to go.
Step 4:
As much as I like big hips, I knew I needed to reduce weight from the rear end.
On the shelf I had a pair of RSR Bilstein threaded rear shocks. I wanted to upgrade to these as they are a better match for the 31mm TB's on the car now. Also, the Aluminum Bilstein body vs Steel Bilsteins on the car was surely going to save weight. Out they came and low and behold I saved 2 lbs total!
2lbs off 59.5 to go!
Step 5:
I had a 964 Relay plastic box in the engine bay. I'm not sure what it is actually called but it wasn't proper and annoyed me. I installed an original Fuse/relay panel and was able to mount the two MSD coils to it. Switching to the original and removing the small aluminum MSD coil plate saved me just over 1lbs. Looks better and lighter!
1lbs down 58.5lbs to go!
STEP 6:
Well the .5 weight number was bothering me so I had to find something to drop a half a pound. Time to drill out the pedal board. I thought this would be a 5 min job ....2 hours later it was finished 0.5 lbs saved
0.5 lbs saved now only 58lbs to go...lol
Step 7:
Original Odyssey battery 14.4 new Antigravity 480 Crank amps 3.3lbs!
Plus, I'm going to save a bit more weight on the the way the battery is
mounted. I'll talk more about that later.
11lbs saved 47lbs to go
STEP 8:
I started playing around in the front trunk and realized there were a few changes to be made. First off the Fuel filter. I removed the fuel filter bracket plate mounted it with tabs. saved 1bs.
1bs down 46lbs to go
STEP 9:
I thought I need to get rid of the steel hose adapters and upgrade to Aluminum
0.5 lbs saved.
0.5lbs saved 45.5lbs to go
Step 10:
As I was looking at the fuel filter I thought there has to be a lighter filter, there is.
.5 lbs vs 2 lbs
1.5 lbs saved 44 lbs to go
Step 11:
I managed another big drop. Ordered fiberglass tail light housings from EB Motorsports in the UK. Not cheap and holds true to my $100 per pound theory. Managed to lose 5lbs off the rear of the car.
5lbs saved 39lbs to go
STEP 11:
As for doors, mine are gutted with no glass. The rear is lexan and I have 911R quarters
on the way. I just modified the window frames by cutting the bottom third to eliminate
1.5 lbs from the frames them self. The front non-vent glass on the door is being replaced with Lexan as well.
1.5 lbs saved 37.5 lbs to go! more to come when the glass is replace.
STEP 12:
Next up are the head light lenses. I ordered these from EB Motorsports distributed by Rothsport. Again, right around the $100 per lbs cost. I saved 1.2 lbs so rounding it to 1 lbs I'm debating removing the light buckets all together and just keeping the cosmetic lenses and rings?
1 lbs saved 36.5 lbs to go
*in ounces, the plastic compared to glass is 1/2 the weight exactly.
While I was rushing to get ready for Rennsport Reunion VI in the fall, I received/ordered the wrong wheel studs for the rear. I ended up getting turbo 80mm studs . That sounds like no big deal until you realize they are not threaded all the way to the base. There is a extra large shoulder that creates an issue with seating the wheel. I had to add spacers. I didn't think much of it at the time. Under race conditions the tires would give just enough to rub the fenders slightly. The spacers worked but are not ideal. To see the video of Machine-Motorsports racing at RRVI click here
STEP 13:
Fast forward to now. You're thinking "What difference can studs make", right? Well, a lot!
(not the studs but the spacers) Now that I have the right studs I can remove most of the spacers from the car. 4 lbs in total of unsprung weight!
4 LBS Saved 32.5 LBS to go
At this point we are about half way through the diet... check out the next blog for more weight loss advice.