# R33 Weight Reduction



## Vips (May 13, 2007)

Been a little busy over the last few days. Would have still been if the weather was a bit better today! :chairshot 

I've started removing weight from the fatso sat outside on my driveway. :squintdan 

First the aircon had to go:

Intake piping removed:



Aircon pipes disconnected from firewall:





Aircon Pump, pipes and pulley removed:



The pump bracket to be removed:





Garage defend panel removed to reveal my dodgy oil cooler install. Now to be put right and to remove the the aircon rad:



With the aircon rad gone, I've mounted the oil cooler properly:



Can anyone tell me what the electric fan is for? I've never heard it turn on, even in traffic, and with my complete lack of aircon use, I wouldn't have known if it was explicitly for that. Seems to be a two stage fan. If it's for the engine coolant rad, then I'll replace it with a lightweight spal fan, and if it was for the aircon, then it'll be gone! 

Right, onto weighing the aircon system:

Aircon rad:



Aircon pump:



Aircon pump bracket:



The rest of the parts, pipes, bolts etc:



Here's the grand total with a breakdown of the system:

Aircon Rad 3.5Kg
Aircon Pump 5.4Kg
Aircon Bracket 1.7Kg
Aircon Pipes, Bolts... 1.7Kg

Total: 12.3Kg


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## Vips (May 13, 2007)

After seeing how little the aircon system weighs, I was on the hunt to remove as much as possible:

Here's a bracket within the boot, which looked very heavy and I was very tempted to remove it but I'm pretty sure it's a structural reinforcement, so I'll leave it alone:



As you can see from the picture, I've got some rust to treat after the spare wheel had been chafing against the metal with some water from a leak. The leaks been sealed, which was from a rear light cluster, and from the grommet for the fluid lines supplied to the attessa system.

Next I started with the interior, and so the speakers have been binned, together with an unused bracket under the rear passenger side of the shelf. Then I started what turned out to be quite time consuming... sound deadening :chairshot The metal panel between the rear seats and boot was also removed.





Once it was all removed, I patched the holes using thinner sound deadening and went over all the fresh metal nicks using some paint:



Once everything was put back together, I went onto weigh everything:

Roll of sound insulation mat against the back seat:



Metal panel between the rear seats and boot:



A box full of the bolts, speakers, an unused bracket and the plastic ducts under the carpet:



Jack and bracket:



I figured I pay the RAC enough, so I can do without the spare wheel:



Bag of rusty tools and a pipe?



And finally the sound deadening. I've not removed all of it yet, as there's a little I couldn't reach under the dash, and some under the battery, but here's the total so far:



So here are the totals:

Spare wheel 16.4Kg
Old rusted tools 1.2Kg
Jack inc. Bracket 2.5Kg
Sound insulation mat 1.0Kg
Metal panel 2.9Kg
Speakers, bracket and ducting 3.2Kg
Sound deadening 5.5Kg

Making the total of this session 32.7Kg and accumulated total of 45Kg. 

I'm still yet to weigh the extra sound deadening which I installed when I first got the car. 

The next reduction should be the battery holder...

Any other suggestions?


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## tuRBy (Feb 8, 2006)

good thread ! nice to see some data to back it up on weight saved...

how about rear seat belts? hicas ? lighter battery ?

not sure how much the stock seats weigh? but i have bucket seats that are 6kg each


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## Listerofsmeg (Jul 4, 2006)

good effort buddy, ive done all this myself as well. Weighed most of it, but didnt document as you have. 

in terms of other stuff to remove, i took out the jack and its brace as well, thats a couple of KGs, replaced the battery with a 6.8kg one (replaceing a 16kgs one) i think the hicas rack weighed around 5kgs, replacement bar was 2ish, and the rear wiper was also ditched, which, when you include the motor etc was another 3 

plenty of other stuff to be removed from mine like front door cards and speakers, window motors perhaps etc...


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## Listerofsmeg (Jul 4, 2006)

would be interested to see how much yours comes out at on the weighbridge when your finished. After i had installed my cage (30kgs) it came in at 1480 without driver and 1/4 tank, 60kgs down on a stock reading i took witht the same fuel.


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## paul cawson (Jul 3, 2003)

The electric fan is there to cool the AC condensor so that can go


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## plumwerks (Dec 15, 2006)

The electric fan is for both ac and engine,apparently if the temp goes above a certain point if cuts in,same for the ac once past a preset point it runs on low speed constant,cant remember the exact temps,but it's in the manual.


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## NISFAN (Oct 11, 2003)

^^^^ Agree on elec fan operation.


Battery holder weighs 2.5 Kg's, but not easy to mount battery without it. The metal under it is not flat.

Interesting to see the various differences between cars. Mine had a full 10Kg's of sound deadening. I noticed that you have less under the front seats, and non on the rear 'firewall'.

How far are you going with this?


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## Vips (May 13, 2007)

Don't plan on going to far with this, as it is my only car at the moment, but in saying that, I don't mind the extra noise and I've never been a fan of creature comforts. The only thing I will be keeping is the stereo, and I'll be getting some lightweight speakers for the front. Possibly try and find some kenwood dual mags which they used to sell back in the day.

I'll try and locate a lightweight spal fan, and replace the fan at the front, as viscous couplings can go at any time.

The battery holder might take a little while to conjure up, and so I'll leave that once I have some better ideas.

I'll weigh that halfords battery soon, and see if I can get a lighter one. I'll be keeping the rear seats, but I have some ideas for making some lightweight versions when I have some more time.

As said before, it's my daily driver, and the only performance mod so far is a full exhaust system, so the power's pretty much basic. 

The difference the 45Kg has made so far is awesome. I'm only gauging the difference using my butt dyno, but the off boost performance is great. My coilovers are quite harsh, and were sitting quite low before, and I wish I would have measured the height before, but I can swear it's gone risen by almost an inch or two!


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## mark_30_30 (Dec 29, 2005)

did you remove the air con condensor from the under the dash? i didn't see a picture of it on the scales.

it would be where these pipes lead to throught the bulkhead:










removing this part would add 4 to 5 kg; at least to your wieght loss total


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## Adam Kindness (Jun 22, 2002)

its only about 3kg...


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## Vips (May 13, 2007)

I've still got the dash to take off to remove some of the sound deadening I couldn't reach and also to fix an annoying clicking noise. While it's all off, I'll be taking out whatever seems unnecessary.

I'm still unsure whether to take the Hicas out yet, as nobody has any concrete figures on the weight saving.

Without going crazy, what weight have you managed to get out of an R33 GT-R?


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## SmigzyGTR (Mar 20, 2006)

Good thread, i'll be keeping an eye on this one.


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## Vips (May 13, 2007)

I've found a what seems to be quite an intriguing way of removing sound deadening:

Stripping Sound Deadener The Easier Way - Skylines Australia

Don't know if anyone has tried this, but it seems to be much less messier and quicker than doing the job with a scraper and a heat gun. Just not sure on dropping the surroundings to such a low temperature???


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## Listerofsmeg (Jul 4, 2006)

Vips said:


> Without going crazy, what weight have you managed to get out of an R33 GT-R?



I havent cut anything off my car and have probably saved 100kgs or so, if not just over. However i have put a 30kg cage back in.


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## Vips (May 13, 2007)

Listerofsmeg said:


> I havent cut anything off my car and have probably saved 100kgs or so, if not just over. However i have put a 30kg cage back in.


So what else had to go to get you to the 100kg mark?

Anyone know who makes the lightest replacement electric fan for the front?


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## Smokey 1 (Nov 1, 2005)

I would have thought that replacing the front seats will save a good bit of weight, If you fit bucket seat you will not use the back seats so they can go, along with the door trims carpet, any thing in the back half of the car really.




Smokey :smokin:


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## Madden (Nov 14, 2004)

I have ditched that electric fan as i thought it was just for the aircon. It havent had it on the car for well over a year and the car has never overheated. Great thread mate keep it coming


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## Listerofsmeg (Jul 4, 2006)

Vips said:


> So what else had to go to get you to the 100kg mark?
> 
> Anyone know who makes the lightest replacement electric fan for the front?



replaced front seats, although i think its questionable how much saving there is due to subframe weight...(call it 6kgs for the pair)
removed hicas rack in favour of a bar (2kg net loss)
removed glove box (3kg)
removed rear wiper and motor assembly (3kg)
replaced Brembos with Ksports saves a few, as did the coilovers (at least 10kgs overall if not more)
FRP bonnet (save at least 5kg over stock)
removed stock spoiler and now have carbon GT (saves another 8kg or so)
Removed ALL boot trim (6-7kg)
Removed jack and mount (2kg)

Total(ish) = 45kgs on top of all the usual stuff.

Still to do:
I still have to remove the front door cards and speakers. (6kg total)
I was considering removing the front crash bar, but i took it off and weighed it (5.5kgs) so decided not to bother!!
Remove aircon condenser under dash (3kg)
"Maybe" cut out the rear wheel well and replace with single ally sheet (could be a fair bit of kg!)


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## Vips (May 13, 2007)

Listerofsmeg said:


> replaced front seats, although i think its questionable how much saving there is due to subframe weight...(call it 6kgs for the pair)
> removed hicas rack in favour of a bar (2kg net loss)
> removed glove box (3kg)
> removed rear wiper and motor assembly (3kg)
> ...


I don't have a rear wiper, so I've got nothing to take off :sadwavey:
All the boot trim is out at the moment, as I'm fixing some rust. The rust killer is eating it all up as I type.

Is yours still a daily driver? if so how do people react when they see a bare shell inside? :runaway:

I've removed some sound deadening when the exhaust was doing my head in when I used the car for commuting:



Makes the total now 47.1Kg. Trying to keep the car as civil looking inside as possible, without the look of an all out racer as the power is pretty much stock!


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## Listerofsmeg (Jul 4, 2006)

tbh my car hasnt seen a road in over 3 months, just waiting for the engine to be completed and fired up hopefully this week. Its not really going to be a daily driver, but it is my only car. Its also my Time Attack car......not overly practical but when the season is finished all the stickers will be coming off and the carpet will get refitted. 

You do get some odd looks, especially with the cage...


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