S2 Coupe Weight

[whakiewes]

Airbags are relatively simple. Unplug the battery, let the resistors and such drain, then unbolt. They say to wait 30 minutes or so after unplugging the battery, but I have never had a problem.

AC is also not bad. Freon as in the bad CFC stuff is no longer used. The biggest issue to watch what you remove. There are two sides, high pressure and low pressure. High pressure is under a lot of pressure and can be bad if you remove the wrong parts to quickly. Make sure you remove the low pressure side first and you will be fine. There are a ton of AC parts that most people over look. An entire AC system can easily be worth over 100 lbs if you remove the condensor, compressor, charcoal tank, lines, etc. The aux. radiator doesn't weigh much. I wouldn't see much benefit of removing it unless you went with a larger radiator or front mount radiator. The best way to improve the handling of your CQ/S2 would be to remove as much off the front. The engine sits a mile ahead of the front axle leading to a lot of understeer. The AC as pointed at is at the upmost point. Lightening up the front bumper support for the US spec cars takes out a lot of the mass as well. The entire S2 parts should add a good 60lbs over the 7a, but its much closer to the front axle. I don't see it hurting handling much. Moving the battery to the rear would help in shifting the mass as well. Thats about 40-50lbs over the front as well. In my quick thinking, I can see getting the weight down to a good 51/49ish with some work. US spec plastic lights are alot lighter than the European glass counterparts as well.

Wes

[Keeper of The Kitten]

Don't forget that the aux rad might not weigh much empty, but fill it with water (as per normal running conditions) and it does amount to a significant chunk of weight, and it's about as far forward as any removable lump!

__MDC__

[Keeper of The Kitten]

BTW referring to removal of ProConTen, what are the implications of doing that? Those cables are connected to the seat belt tensioners and I wonder just how much of a reduction in the performance of those parts would occur?

__MDC__

[dm80]

What are the implications of removing the aux radiator. I've noticed mines has been removed on my 3B. Won't this cause problems on a blistering hot day? Well as blistering as it gets in Costa del Fife

[Chris5044]

@ keeper of kitten ..... yeah remember a cubic metre of water weighs a tonne ... with that in rad ... defo better reduction...

@dm80 .. dunno exactly how much it affects from experience... but advice from others said it didnt make a difference...

and in scotland .... u should nt have any worries lol


oh ps: I removed whole water bottle and washer system for lights .. dunno how much it weighed but no water to get in there now.. and the bottle was massive!! ....

anyone know how to remove the carbon filter for exhaust (located in engine bar on right when facing engine)... is it safe to do so...
I have a 3b with decatted zaust

[mcandmar]

Dont think it matters, the seat belts lock anyway under sudden G force like regular belts in any other car, they just have the added feature of locking when the proconten cable moves, i.e. when you hit something, hard!

Its a big fat steel cable so it has to be pretty heavy, i am told i have to remove it or modify it to fix a 6speeder into my cq.

Mark.

BTW referring to removal of ProConTen, what are the implications of doing that? Those cables are connected to the seat belt tensioners and I wonder just how much of a reduction in the performance of those parts would occur?

__MDC__

[HPmuirt]

US spec plastic lights are alot lighter than the European glass counterparts as well.

Wes

To which lights are you referring? I assume you mean either headlights or foglights?

Cheers n

Si

[S2central.net]

anyone know how to remove the carbon filter for exhaust (located in engine bar on right when facing engine)... is it safe to do so...
I have a 3b with decatted zaust

Was it you asking me this at the garage meet ? Sorry if I've confused you with someone else - so many faces and names to align !!!

I think the question refers to the carbon activated filter that processes petrol fumes that otherwise accumulate in the tank. In the old days, these fumes were allowed to just vent to atmosphere, but recent safety regulations stipulate that the fuel systems had to be sealed to a) reduce emissions and b) prevent spills if car is overturned in an accident.

So basically our cars have a wonderful little control system known broadly as 'EVAP' which has the tank vapours processed by a carbon activated filter (which is admittedly in a stupid place on the 3B). These treated vapours are then ingested by the engine under vacuum - the ECU is in control of the EVAP valve (N80) which serves this purpose. Most of us will never have seen N80 cos it is very well hidden below the throttle body hose.

Two suggestion for you -

1. Get the carbon filter and associated plumbing from an ABY to fit your 3B. The location for the ABY filter is behind the front right inner wing - therefor much lower than the 3B location which helps with weight and asthetics

2. Rip the whole lot out and rig up a system which allows your tank fumes to vent to atmosphere - but this has obvious drawbacks for a road car. If you do this, you will need to retain the ECU's connection to N80 and simply blank off the pipe where it tries to suck treated vapours into the engine. If you disconnect N80 you will raise a fault condition on the ECU, but I honestly don't know if that one affects performance in any way.


Hope that helps,

Paul

[Chris5044]

ok .. yep it was me at garage meet

[4WheelDrifter]

I showed Chris roughly how to remove the carbon canister. It also tidies up a bit of the pipework.
Btw here's a few weights you can remove from the 3B Coupé highlighted here. Figures are off the top of my head.
Carbon canister - 1.4 kg.
Aux radiator - 3 kg.
Headlight washer bottle - 7 kg.

[Mikes2]

Its a big fat steel cable so it has to be pretty heavy, i am told i have to remove it or modify it to fix a 6speeder into my cq.

Mark.

6 speed ABY cars up until 1995 MY had ProCon Ten so could you not use it as fitted.

[tom_dot_com]

WHats the difference

Apart from the little things (servo vs normal power steering etc) what actually makes the aby 100kg heavier than the 3b? None of the differences I have heard of could account of such a major weight difference?

[NoNonsense]

Apart from the little things (servo vs normal power steering etc) what actually makes the aby 100kg heavier than the 3b? None of the differences I have heard of could account of such a major weight difference?

The ProconTen and the 6-speed add about 35lb and 40lbs, respectively. I dunno about the rest...that a pretty big difference.
What about sunroof'd cars and power window cars versus the sans sunroof and manual crank windows? That's a nice difference right there.

[rotoryboy]

And the fact the ABY has 2 heavy cats aswell

[S2 Ant]

Get rid of that dual mass flywheel to make a good saving as well!!