Accel Junky's Magnetic Build Thread

[Accel Junky]

My brother finished 3D printing a gas pedal spacer for me in ABS plastic. It's 1in thick. I should have it next weekend to test out.

 

[CPais]

Interesting mods, I like your dedication to saving weight.

 

[LILIKE16ST]

i have a question about your weight. What options does your car have? Does it have recaros? moonroof? I was just curious as to the options yours has to have the weight of 2761 with a full tank. Ford claims the curb weight to be 2720 range for a base car. I wonder how Ford gets these curb weight numbers and how much fuel is in the tank when they do? I was curious because I bought mine with no moonroof or recaros to save money and save weight and I was under the impression mine started out int he 2720 range. I am into weight savings too (albeit not as dedicated as you are lol). I have also deleted my muffler but deleted the resonator too and went with a single 4 inch rolled angle cut tip I prefer the single tip and it fills the valence out nicely. I weighed my muffler in at 17 lbs and the resonator at 7 lbs. I assume the tip plus the small amount of piping that was put in place of the two would be no more than handful of pounds combined. Combined they were 24 lbs of weight add a few back from the tip and piping I'd say savings were between 15-20 and closer to 20. I thought the car was much too quiet too and some may not like the sound of deleting both but I love it I think it sounds amazing and very aggressive I get a lot of compliments and it's still not too loud or annoying IMHO. I prefer both deleted..just food for thought for even better (little louder and more aggressive) sound and more weight savings.

As for the lightweight battery I have an 11.5 lbs braille that I had purchased for my old SVT I had but never used I'm going to install it very soon and I have a set of matte black 15x8 pro race 1.2 about to go on too. I weighed them at 15.4 lbs each..not too bad for a strong wheel that's 8 inch width in this price range and in this crap bolt pattern. I thought about the conversion but I don't race competitively or anything just spirited daily driving so I went ahead and decided to stick with the same bolt pattern. I really like these pro race 1.2 they are nice wheels I can't wait till my tires get here so I can put them on.

I plan to be in the low 2600 lbs range without driver with a full tank of gas in the end...maybe even less than 2600. The end goal is to be under 2800 with me in it...I am going to start by taking 50 lbs or better off my 260 lbs self haha. By the time I get done weight reducting myself and the car that's the end goal I think it shouldn't be too hard to attain this. It would be helpful to know your options on your car and weather or not you have a moonroof and/or the recaros because I know both of these together probably add a good 30 or more lbs over a base car I would think. Thanks and keep up the good work!

Michael

 

[Accel Junky]

Interesting mods, I like your dedication to saving weight.

i have a question about your weight. What options does your car have? Does it have recaros? moonroof? I was just curious as to the options yours has to have the weight of 2761 with a full tank. Ford claims the curb weight to be 2720 range for a base car. I wonder how Ford gets these curb weight numbers and how much fuel is in the tank when they do? I was curious because I bought mine with no moonroof or recaros to save money and save weight and I was under the impression mine started out int he 2720 range. I am into weight savings too (albeit not as dedicated as you are lol). I have also deleted my muffler but deleted the resonator too and went with a single 4 inch rolled angle cut tip I prefer the single tip and it fills the valence out nicely. I weighed my muffler in at 17 lbs and the resonator at 7 lbs. I assume the tip plus the small amount of piping that was put in place of the two would be no more than handful of pounds combined. Combined they were 24 lbs of weight add a few back from the tip and piping I'd say savings were between 15-20 and closer to 20. I thought the car was much too quiet too and some may not like the sound of deleting both but I love it I think it sounds amazing and very aggressive I get a lot of compliments and it's still not too loud or annoying IMHO. I prefer both deleted..just food for thought for even better (little louder and more aggressive) sound and more weight savings.

As for the lightweight battery I have an 11.5 lbs braille that I had purchased for my old SVT I had but never used I'm going to install it very soon and I have a set of matte black 15x8 pro race 1.2 about to go on too. I weighed them at 15.4 lbs each..not too bad for a strong wheel that's 8 inch width in this price range and in this crap bolt pattern. I thought about the conversion but I don't race competitively or anything just spirited daily driving so I went ahead and decided to stick with the same bolt pattern. I really like these pro race 1.2 they are nice wheels I can't wait till my tires get here so I can put them on.

I plan to be in the low 2600 lbs range without driver with a full tank of gas in the end...maybe even less than 2600. The end goal is to be under 2800 with me in it...I am going to start by taking 50 lbs or better off my 260 lbs self haha. By the time I get done weight reducting myself and the car that's the end goal I think it shouldn't be too hard to attain this. It would be helpful to know your options on your car and weather or not you have a moonroof and/or the recaros because I know both of these together probably add a good 30 or more lbs over a base car I would think. Thanks and keep up the good work!

Michael

The car has the Recaros, sunroof, heated seats, navigation. I think that is pretty much loaded. I could easily believe 2720 if I didn't have the sunroof and Recaros. I think the 2720 would be the most basic configuration with full fluids. I don't think US manufacturers use any ballast or driver weight in the curb weight numbers.

I'm with you, I think 20lbs sounds about right for the net savings of a muffler/resonator delete. I may try deleting my resonator too. It's a bit droney right now and sounds good out back but I can't hear it well inside the car or with the windows down. Not much character. So I may try that next.

I think 2600lbs is totally doable. I believe I'm down close to 2700 now with just what I've done so far. I could see losing 30-40 lbs with the lightest wheel options and another 20 lbs with Wilwood brakes in the front. That would just leave another 40-50lbs to find and that would be without even touching the passenger seat, rear seat, spare/jack/trunk floor/trunk cover.

 

[Accel Junky]

Oops double post...

 

[LILIKE16ST]

The car has the Recaros, sunroof, heated seats, navigation. I think that is pretty much loaded. I could easily believe 2720 if I didn't have the sunroof and Recaros. I think the 2720 would be the most basic configuration with full fluids. I don't think US manufacturers use any ballast or driver weight in the curb weight numbers.

I'm with you, I think 20lbs sounds about right for the net savings of a muffler/resonator delete. I may try deleting my resonator too. It's a bit droney right now and sounds good out back but I can't hear it well inside the car or with the windows down. Not much character. So I may try that next.

I think 2600lbs is totally doable. I believe I'm down close to 2700 now with just what I've done so far. I could see losing 30-40 lbs with the lightest wheel options and another 20 lbs with Wilwood brakes in the front. That would just leave another 40-50lbs to find and that would be without even touching the passenger seat, rear seat, spare/jack/trunk floor/trunk cover.

I ditched my full size spare and jack within a week or two of having the car. I didn't actually weight those items...but the tire weighs 17 lbs according to tire rack and the steel wheels weigh 20 so that's just over 37 lbs plus whatever the jack weighs so my estimation of 40 lbs lost with that seems pretty accurate. I lost another 20 with the exhaust mod, now I'm in the process of losing about 24-25 lbs total "unsprung" weight on my wheel/tire setup (15x8 td pr1.2s with 195/55/15 bfg sc2 tires (which are 21 lbs, 1 lbs heavier than my stock 205/40/17 pilot sport as3 tires)) and my 11.5 lbs braille battery should lose another 18.5 lbs or so based on the weight of the stock battery being 30 lbs or so. That should put me close to 105 lbs total weight lost so I'm thinking I'll be in the low 2600 range by that point being as I am in a base car with no moonroof or heated recaros.

I still have a couple of mods that can lose weight such as catless downpipe, carbon fiber hood (for looks and some weight loss) an aluminum flywheel (when I replace the clutch) and possibly some lightweight fixed back corbeau seats. With those mods I could be in the mid 2500 lbs range easily I would think. I think a set of the fx1 seats could lose 20-30 lbs total depending on what the base seats weigh in at. I'm not 100% sure I want to do that mod because of just overall comfort and stuff since this is my daily. However some of these fixed backs look to be pretty comfortable and I've heard they are too, plus they can hold you in better when driving spiritedly. I'm also not sure I want to have a catless downpipe combined with a straight piped catback in which I already have. I don't mind it being a little louder than it is as long as it isn't just insane crazy loud where the cops will be all over me. When I do go catless in the future I may have to throw on a muffler which will offset the weight loss from ditching the cat. But if it's not too loud for me I'll just leave it straight through. I won't go catless downpipe until I do an x37 turbo upgrade in the future though.

Either way just the aluminum flywheel, the CF hood (preferably with some sort of heat extractors) would put me at or below 2600 lbs which is the goal. That's a pretty light car in today's standards. I'm loving this car and even being mostly stock minus a tune and drop in the weight gives it a decent power to weight ratio and it will surprise some people for sure! Good luck with your build! I'll stay tuned...

Michael

 

[LILIKE16ST]

I do NOT want to lose the back seat and I do NOT want to lose the AC....so if I can get at or below 2600 with these still in place I'll be happy.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Did anyone ever actually weigh the front stock, and/or Recaros to see what they are mass wise (with base attached, since most aftermarket seats need their own Planted base anyway if you do not make up FIXED, welded-in bases for side mount shell seats)?

There are some REALLY light options out there for shell seats IF one wants to spend a good chunk of the cost of a new FiST, AND you are small in size (Sparco S-Light, under 12 lbs. each, but about $4000.00 EACH with shipping, {YES, I said $4K EACH, a virtual bargain!! } and made for those under 180 lbs./under 6' tall).

Combine these with some light alloy side mounts and I will bet you can save a nice chunk of weight over the stockers, let alone the Recaros everyone loves so much.
Lightweight CO$T$!!

 

[Accel Junky]

I do NOT want to lose the back seat and I do NOT want to lose the AC....so if I can get at or below 2600 with these still in place I'll be happy.

I'm pretty confident with your list of potential modes that you'll hit that goal!

Did anyone ever actually weigh the front stock, and/or Recaros to see what they are mass wise (with base attached, since most aftermarket seats need their own Planted base anyway if you do not make up FIXED, welded-in bases for side mount shell seats)?

There are some REALLY light options out there for shell seats IF one wants to spend a good chunk of the cost of a new FiST, AND you are small in size (Sparco S-Light, under 12 lbs. each, but about $4000.00 EACH with shipping, {YES, I said $4K EACH, a virtual bargain!! } and made for those under 180 lbs./under 6' tall).

Combine these with some light alloy side mounts and I will bet you can save a nice chunk of weight over the stockers, let alone the Recaros everyone loves so much.
Lightweight CO$T$!!

I want to say the stock Recaros are like 50lbs each. So definitely some weight could be saved there. Probably not cheap to get 2 nice track seats. Plus I'm daily driving this thing so I'm tempted to keep it somewhat tame on the interior.

 

[Accel Junky]

Some updates today:

First, I did the free intake mod using just a utility razor:

Then I worked on my brake duct project. 2 subwoofer port tubes, 8 feet of Nomex brake hosing (11 ft ordered), a few aluminum flanges, and some clamps and zip-ties. I deleted the fog lights and deleted the brake dust shields and hardware. All in, the weight removed was about spot on with the weight of the duct job. About 2.5 pounds out and 2 pounds back in. I'm a little worried about the aluminum flange at the end of the ducting making contact with the CV boots if it moves around or zip-ties break...so I'll have to monitor everything as time goes on. The ducting is pointed at the back of the brake rotor about where the bottom inside edge of the caliper is on each side. Hopefully that will cool both the caliper and the rotor a bit.

 

[LILIKE16ST]

sweet fog light delete/brake duct mod that's awesome man! I love the way my fog lights look (matching silverstar zxe in heads and fogs and eventually real hid in both) otherwise i'd do this same mod. I don't track mine, but I do spirited backroad runs around here and more air to the brakes never hurt anyone in any driving situation to be honest. Really good job with it!

 

[shouldbeasy]

Very clean mod!

What sort of weight did that add / subtract from the car?

 

[Accel Junky]

sweet fog light delete/brake duct mod that's awesome man! I love the way my fog lights look (matching silverstar zxe in heads and fogs and eventually real hid in both) otherwise i'd do this same mod. I don't track mine, but I do spirited backroad runs around here and more air to the brakes never hurt anyone in any driving situation to be honest. Really good job with it!

Thanks! I think in your case maybe some of the deflectors would be a good middle ground for brake cooling.

Very clean mod!

What sort of weight did that add / subtract from the car?

Thanks! The weight was basically a wash. The fogs, brake dust shields, and hardware were 2.61 lbs. The brake ducting materials were just under 2lbs before the 4 hose clamps and zip ties. So I would say no gain, no loss.

 

[warhawk03]

Awesome work on the brake ducting. Are you planning to put a mesh screen on the inlets at all?

 

[Accel Junky]

Awesome work on the brake ducting. Are you planning to put a mesh screen on the inlets at all?

Thanks! At the moment not planning on it but if I could find a plastic ring with a honeycomb insert maybe I could adhere that over the front of the inlets to also help cover up the screws that I needed to secure them.

 

[Accel Junky]

I just weighed the car again after all of these initial free/low cost weight reduction items. Same thing, full tank of gas no items in the car that were not present at delivery:

2761 starting down to 2714. 47lbs lost.

With all the other weight savings measured, this leaves the muffler delete at around -15lbs which is about where I expected it to be.

Front weight bias has reduced a smidge and same for left side bias.

 

[Accel Junky]

More updates! Woohoo!

My brother was in town and brought me the 3D printed pedal spacer he made for me. I ordered some hardware from McMaster Carr but that is the only cost I have in this mod. About $10 and I have tons of extra bulk hardware leftover.

The pedal spacer is about 35-36mm thick. Supposed to be 30mm but came out taller for some reason. In any case it is just about perfect for the street and has definitely transformed street driving. The heel-toe action is actually doable now on the street and the pedal position feels a little more comfortable to me. A worthwhile change for $0.30 in plastic.

 

[Strife]

Some after market wheels, obviously depending on which you choose, have the potential to save you some significant weight.

 

[Accel Junky]

Some after market wheels, obviously depending on which you choose, have the potential to save you some significant weight.

Definitely on my to-do list. Trying to decide whether to go all out and do the hub pattern re-drill and get the lightest stuff for the money (6UL I guess?) or to stay with the stock lug pattern to reduce costs but give up a little weight savings.

I'm also curious which coilovers are lighter than stock. That's usually another place to save some weight while getting the handling and appearance improvements. Some of the cheaper options seem to have steel bodies but I know the typical Chinese/Taiwan remarketed coilovers are aluminum construction.

Right now I'm still trying to do the cheapest or free mods just to improve track reliability and performance without touching the engine.

 

[M-Sport fan]

^^^The stainless steel body dampers are probably a little less weight than the stockers, but still not as light as aluminum alloy bodied dampers (and generally more coin as well).