Aluminum parts replacement

[Trent W]

the W design looks nice

Thanks, was going to just rivet the GT emblem back on but thought I should make it more personal with my Inital haha.

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[Sal33n]

Trent, I would love to see you do a write-up on how you relocated the battery and washer fluid to the trunk.

 

[RitzGT]

5.0L coyote ----> ecoboost will shave some weight

<ducking>

But seriously....for those of us who are into fabrication (I do more gun things than car things), it would be cool to see the progress of what you're doing as you go.

Best,

 

[Trent W]

Also, bending aluminum obviously exceeds it's yield strength. You may want to think about it what happens (also fatigue-wise) with it's structure when that happens and how far away you're going to be from UTS...

KZ any other tips? At least testing wise. I think mesuring the flex when installed on the car is a pretty good indicator. Anything else I could check?

 

[2017 GT]

I had my 88 LX at 2640lbs, It is mind boggling to me that the S550 is so heavy. I built my own race seats in that car. Exact copy of a Jegs seat. With covers it was sweet. I was obsessed with the weight loss. Crash bars in the doors were 17lbs ea. I had a cage in it so the other stuff could go. Id go with Chrome molly for the K member, or even TI. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Trent W]

Need more, Kinda disappointed how high this is considering how much work Ive done so far. Guess I need to get back to work

 

[Zerobar78]

For the strut brace have you thought about using a chamfered plate in the middle section? When done right they're light yet strong.

 

[Joe 5.0]

How about replacing body panels? I'm sure you can find carbon fiber front fenders, as well as a carbon fiber trunk lid.

 

[Falcon01]

If you're going for a lot of weight reduction, I'd start taking out some airbags. For example, if you don't have rear seats, you don't need the rear side airbags, you can get away with front side airbags, steering wheel and dashboard and 2 knee airbags. That should save a decent amount of weight, but your SRS (airbag) light come on. Does anyone ever sit in the passenger seat? You should try and replace the glove box door with a custom one. They're really heavy as they have a built in compressor and airbag from what I've seen. Nice job and good luck! If you have a GT premium, take out the passenger and driver seat motors and replace it with the mechanical ones. They should be much lighter. Hell, replace the seats with racing seats. That does take away an airbag from each side though.

 

[2morrow]

opcorn:

 

[Chameleon]

If you're going for a lot of weight reduction, I'd start taking out some airbags. For example, if you don't have rear seats, you don't need the rear side airbags, you can get away with front side airbags, steering wheel and dashboard and 2 knee airbags. That should save a decent amount of weight, but your SRS (airbag) light come on. Does anyone ever sit in the passenger seat? You should try and replace the glove box door with a custom one. They're really heavy as they have a built in compressor and airbag from what I've seen. Nice job and good luck! If you have a GT premium, take out the passenger and driver seat motors and replace it with the mechanical ones. They should be much lighter. Hell, replace the seats with racing seats. That does take away an airbag from each side though.

That's one thing I will absolutely leave in.

 

[Trent W]

For the strut brace have you thought about using a chamfered plate in the middle section? When done right they're light yet strong.

Yeah essentially that W plate i riveted on is pretty much the same principal as a chamfered plate. The strut tower brace I'm doing another... Version 3 haha I'm having a blast tweeking my designs every time I'm out in the garage. Its a fun hobby!

 

[Trent W]

Trent, I would love to see you do a write-up on how you relocated the battery and washer fluid to the trunk.

Yeah I need to i'll try and post one up one day when I get some time away from my job its been killing me lately. 2ga wire is adequte but it slowed down the starter motor. I tried using 6ga battery cable at first :frusty: Would barely turn the motor over. AFTER i went back and calculated cranking amps! would have helped if i did that before I got the cable. I would recommend 0ga wire. its over sized but shouldn't have line loss and wont lag the starter motor. "Universal" kits are kinda pricey but would recommend if you are going to the track because you need it to pass safety. They require an enclosure and also a disconnect for you to race. My way is MUCH cheaper but you wont be able to go to the track if they start poking around too much.

 

[Falcon01]

That's one thing I will absolutely leave in.

For what reason? Airbags are great and they save lives and they are absolutely necessary. But, they are very heavy and not useful if they're supposed to protect rear seat passengers when you don't have a rear seat.

 

[joedrt73]

Looking for some advice on what parts I could safely replace by fabbing my own with aluminum. I want to dramatically reduce my weight to around 3300lbs. suggestions on my next project would be helpful.

Parts i've already done:
front and rear crash bars (aluminum)
Hood insulation
sound tube
engine covers
cat back exhaust
Rear seat delete and seatbelts
Forged Wheels

Parts I will be purchasing:
aluminum Driveshaft
2pc floating rotors

Parts I "could" replace with aluminum components:
your suggestions I out of ideas? Pics of progress so far

Can you tell me how you located the battery? Like what parts did you buy? Any mods to that wheel well?

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