Going to gut my E30

[kendogg]

Lightening the car would make them relatively "stiffer" for the weight than what they were before. So you'd be making it better off. [Springs for a 325i would be stiffer than similar springs for a 318is...]

Charlie makes a solid point in that our pal bought a stripped-out E30 street/track car and getting it back to his desired condition is a PITA... but then again the PO removed wiring harnesses, etc.

Do what you want, you're an adult, but consider the value in weight of removing some things that might be of value to a buyer.

See, thats what I was thinking. I was under the assumption that later 318is aftermarket springs/struts were the same for 325's?? I know early model M10 318's were different, but my suspension came out of a '91 318is, sorry if I didn't specify.

I'll retain most of the interior parts to be able to put it back to a daily drivable car when I do infact sell it. You people must think there is no place to sell an E30 outside of these forum walls/Spec E30 candidates (no offense intended towards you lance, you've actually been helpful).

[kendogg]

you've done 2 HPDEs and you want to lighten the car? i would suggest you put the effort into a few more HPDEs. also, you asked posted here so you asked for opinions. no need to get defensive.

Oh I plan on doing more HPDE's, don't you worry. I posted looking for information on what specifically I'm looking to do. I'm about this close from asking a moderator to delete this thread entirely, as I've gotten very, very little information pertaining to the original post, and plenty of OT comments/banter/bitching.

[JoeyJoeJ0]

Strip whatever you personally dont want in the car. I know exactly what your doing and my good friend is doing the same thing. right now there is nothing in his interior except a half cage, bucket seat, harness, and the dash. No a/c, no stereo equipment, no heater.

[rwh11385]

But he'll also be making it taller.

higher? (roll center correct term? - Puhn has lost out to econ books as of recent)

oh yeah. overlooked that - but would it even be of significance? (depends on the weight of course)

[matt]

Lightening the car would make them relatively "stiffer" for the weight than what they were before. So you'd be making it better off.

But he'll also be making it taller.

[kishg]

you've done 2 HPDEs and you want to lighten the car? i would suggest you put the effort into a few more HPDEs. also, you asked posted here so you asked for opinions. no need to get defensive.

[rwh11385]

That could be an issue, as I don't want to buy new springs for this car. They're Eibach's that came out of Geoff's 318is when I parted that out. Think they'll be too soft (I already think they're too soft, but will they be way too soft for an even lighter car??)

Lightening the car would make them relatively "stiffer" for the weight than what they were before. So you'd be making it better off. [Springs for a 325i would be stiffer than similar springs for a 318is...]

Charlie makes a solid point in that our pal bought a stripped-out E30 street/track car and getting it back to his desired condition is a PITA... but then again the PO removed wiring harnesses, etc.

Do what you want, you're an adult, but consider the value in weight of removing some things that might be of value to a buyer.

[kendogg]

BOTH his cars. lol.

And don't think I don't appreciate it.

Kenny, you'll probably need new springs when we finish with stripping it....

That could be an issue, as I don't want to buy new springs for this car. They're Eibach's that came out of Geoff's 318is when I parted that out. Think they'll be too soft (I already think they're too soft, but will they be way too soft for an even lighter car??)

[Mastrcruse]

Mastrcruse - I know exactly what I want. I posted it in the first post of this thread. I never mentioned racing.

So what does this mean then?

The car is my track rat, and will occasionally be driven on the street.

I just don't understand what you want? Weight reduction on a a pure street car is pretty pointless but if its going to see some track time then sure get some of the heavy stuff out but you are still going to drive this occasionally on the street.

So this is your car, from what I am getting from your posts. Its your second car that is going to be a street but trackable car. You are going to strip it like it was a race car but not going to race it EVAR! So that makes it like anyone else that goes to the track for a little fun w/ their DD's but yours just doesn't have an interior.

[matt]

Reliable enough that I've done a full season of autox and 2 HPDE's so far with not a single breakdown, issue, etc. Reliable enough that Matt takes it for a few weeks when his car was down.

BOTH his cars. lol.

And don't think I don't appreciate it.

Kenny, you'll probably need new springs when we finish with stripping it....

[Charlie]

Actually, if you really want to save weight. Go rent a good sawzall & build an "e production" e30.

Here's some inspiration:



-Charlie

[Charlie]

I would find a ruleset to guide me (such as SpecE30, ITx, BMWCCA, etc) and preserve the cars' sales appeal to racers while getting what I want. Personally, I'm following SpecE30. The rules are brief and many go fast parts are specified by manufacturer and part number making for easy search, buy, install. Not to mention the possible benefit of running the same courses as the series and being able to compare to qualifying times of the racers. :up:

Save your breath dude, a couple of people have already given him this advice. Rather than be left with a car that could be sold as a good "starter" for Spec e30 or ITS, he wants to be left with a $400 craigslist special. Personally, I'd suggest some chrome fender & door trim.

-Charlie

[Scotaku]

Ease up there, Ken. You're getting sound advice for helping keep the car in condition that makes it attractive to a buyer when you do move on. There are always racers looking for a prepared or nearly prepared car to hop into. If you compromise your car doing 'what you want' you force those racers to consider fixing the faults with your car or buying another. Then there are the buyers not looking for a track car but an around town daily driver... your car will be competing with relatively plush used Hyundais with radios and air conditioning. You're being encouraged to think ahead to the day you part with the car.

I would find a ruleset to guide me (such as SpecE30, ITx, BMWCCA, etc) and preserve the cars' sales appeal to racers while getting what I want. Personally, I'm following SpecE30. The rules are brief and many go fast parts are specified by manufacturer and part number making for easy search, buy, install. Not to mention the possible benefit of running the same courses as the series and being able to compare to qualifying times of the racers. :up:

[kendogg]

I think some of the intent was to suggest that if you 'build' the car close to a race car spec, then when you do decide to move on to the world of E36 it will be an easier sell.
But, you seem to be arrogant and narrow minded on your focus, so do what you want. :???:

Thanks!!! ;)

I'm not sure I get why you want to strip this thing out so bad if you're just doing HPDE and autocross. It's going to throw it into a non-competitive class for autocross, and HPDE is about learning to be a better driver, not build a faster car. I'm not opposed to someone messing with their car to make it better, but I don't see the point of expending the energy when you're not on a path to make it a race car and you plan on getting rid of it anyway.

It's already non-competitive in it's class in autox, adding the swaybars bumped me up into a class where I'm not very competitive at the moment. I don't do autox to compete in my class though, I do it to compete with myself, and of course, there is always a little friendly competition, especially between Matt and I ;)

I put the car together as inexpensively as possible in the beginning, components-wise. there as ALOT of maintenance to do when putting the pieces back together, as well as alot of missing parts., etc. Long story. Basically - I feel I'm getting close to the limits of the car, and since I can't quite afford to get a E36 and do what I want to it yet, I want to try to squeeze a little bit more performance out of this car for as little money as possible before I upgrade cars entirely. 115 into 10a at Road Atlanta just isn't enough to satisfy me :)

To address the original question, if you're going to remove weight you should focus on removing as much weight up high vs just stuff at floorpan height. The oem seats are grossly heavy. The sunroof and it's cartridge, power or not, are heavy. I didn't pull the trunk tar nor the crap under the rear seat because I want some weight back there to help balance the car. The dash doesn't weigh that much and probably isn't worth the effort. The a/c evaporator is the part under the dash and I left it in because it quite honestly isn't worth the effort to rip it out if you're not removing the heater. The oem exhaust system is heavy and can be improved upon if you haven't already. Glass is very heavy, and if I didn't have a rule set to follow I'd replace all but the front with plexi. As for the rear windows, you'd need to block them up somehow and it may end up weighing as much as simply using manual cranks (power regulators can probably be altered to manual, depending on the year).

Thanks!!!

[ddavidv]

I think some of the intent was to suggest that if you 'build' the car close to a race car spec, then when you do decide to move on to the world of E36 it will be an easier sell.
But, you seem to be arrogant and narrow minded on your focus, so do what you want. :???:
I'm not sure I get why you want to strip this thing out so bad if you're just doing HPDE and autocross. It's going to throw it into a non-competitive class for autocross, and HPDE is about learning to be a better driver, not build a faster car. I'm not opposed to someone messing with their car to make it better, but I don't see the point of expending the energy when you're not on a path to make it a race car and you plan on getting rid of it anyway.
To address the original question, if you're going to remove weight you should focus on removing as much weight up high vs just stuff at floorpan height. The oem seats are grossly heavy. The sunroof and it's cartridge, power or not, are heavy. I didn't pull the trunk tar nor the crap under the rear seat because I want some weight back there to help balance the car. The dash doesn't weigh that much and probably isn't worth the effort. The a/c evaporator is the part under the dash and I left it in because it quite honestly isn't worth the effort to rip it out if you're not removing the heater. The oem exhaust system is heavy and can be improved upon if you haven't already. Glass is very heavy, and if I didn't have a rule set to follow I'd replace all but the front with plexi. As for the rear windows, you'd need to block them up somehow and it may end up weighing as much as simply using manual cranks (power regulators can probably be altered to manual, depending on the year).