Post exact weights of weight reduction you have done!
To remove the door beams:
To start out, you will need to remove the glass track along with the window motors and windows to get the beams out. Start out by removing the plasic door skin. Then remove the plastic baggie with all the black gooey stuff off. Take all the bolts off the window motor and the set screw to hold the bottom of the static glass. To remove the glass you will pull the rubber on the top of the door sideways and it will reveal a screw holding the little metal barrier between the movable window and the static window (For the rear doors). Once you take this screw out the metal barrier should be able to slide down and you can remove the smaller static window. Once that is out you can remove the bolts holding the sliding glass from the motor and remove that glass. The rest of the stuff will just pull out now.
The glue stuff between the beams and the door shells doesnt really hold them in it is more of a barrier so the doors are held more by the beams and make sure they dont rattle I presume. You can remove that with a flexible knife (They sell things that are kinda like half a hacksaw which uses a regular hacksaw blade so it can bend easily).
The beams are held by 4 or 5 spot welds on each side. If you look at the door shell you will see these... just kinda follow the beams and feel where they meet up with the door and you should see these little spot welds. Buy a spotweld drill bit and drill them all out. Be careful not to push REAL hard because you could go to far but it would be incredibly dificult to do that so I wouldnt worry too much... just take your time.
Once the door beams are loose you should be able to fanagle the beams out. You may also need to make a tiny notch to bend 1/2" spot near the top right of the inside door shell just to help squeeze out the bigger beam. You wont ever see this little cut and I needed to make it to squeeze the beams out. I will take some pictures of what I mean tomorrow so you can get an idea.
Once you get the beams out just replace all the guts of the door, put the plastic baggie back and the plastic interior trim and the door wont even look touched... the only difference will be the 15 lbs per door you tossed
Also, this is probably incredibly unsafe as you will notice once done that door wont stop any kind of impact now. If a car should sideswipe the doors they will instantly buckle providing zero resistance. I have a cage protecting me but most people wont....
To start out, you will need to remove the glass track along with the window motors and windows to get the beams out. Start out by removing the plasic door skin. Then remove the plastic baggie with all the black gooey stuff off. Take all the bolts off the window motor and the set screw to hold the bottom of the static glass. To remove the glass you will pull the rubber on the top of the door sideways and it will reveal a screw holding the little metal barrier between the movable window and the static window (For the rear doors). Once you take this screw out the metal barrier should be able to slide down and you can remove the smaller static window. Once that is out you can remove the bolts holding the sliding glass from the motor and remove that glass. The rest of the stuff will just pull out now.
The glue stuff between the beams and the door shells doesnt really hold them in it is more of a barrier so the doors are held more by the beams and make sure they dont rattle I presume. You can remove that with a flexible knife (They sell things that are kinda like half a hacksaw which uses a regular hacksaw blade so it can bend easily).
The beams are held by 4 or 5 spot welds on each side. If you look at the door shell you will see these... just kinda follow the beams and feel where they meet up with the door and you should see these little spot welds. Buy a spotweld drill bit and drill them all out. Be careful not to push REAL hard because you could go to far but it would be incredibly dificult to do that so I wouldnt worry too much... just take your time.
Once the door beams are loose you should be able to fanagle the beams out. You may also need to make a tiny notch to bend 1/2" spot near the top right of the inside door shell just to help squeeze out the bigger beam. You wont ever see this little cut and I needed to make it to squeeze the beams out. I will take some pictures of what I mean tomorrow so you can get an idea.
Once you get the beams out just replace all the guts of the door, put the plastic baggie back and the plastic interior trim and the door wont even look touched... the only difference will be the 15 lbs per door you tossed
Also, this is probably incredibly unsafe as you will notice once done that door wont stop any kind of impact now. If a car should sideswipe the doors they will instantly buckle providing zero resistance. I have a cage protecting me but most people wont....
Last edited by TrinaBabe; Aug 23, 2006 at 09:09 PM.
does your car still run?
Originally Posted by TrinaBabe
EXTERIOR / BODY
Door Crash Beams (All 4 doors) 45
Front bumper support 13.4
OEM Rear Doors with everything aside from plastic 46
OEM Rear Door Glass Only 6
Front headlight Assemblies (Both HID) 15
OEM Hood 18.5
OEM Trunk (No wing) 22.5
Rear bumper support 17.1
Rear Wing 7
Rear wiper assembly 5
Under Car Brackets, hangers and braces 7
Front motormount subframe beam 8
INTERIOR
Blower motor 6.8
Driver side airbag 5
Firewall Sound Deadening 14.2
Floor Mats 5
Front Seatbelts/mounts/bolts 10
Heater/AC Core 7.2
Metal steering column insert 1
Misc under dash Brackets/ducting 3
Passenger side airbag 6.1
Rear Seat / SeatBack 21
Rear Seatbelt stuff 10
Rear Speakers 8
Rear Seat Area Sound Deadening 6.5
Stock seats -> Summit seats (2) 35
Trunk Stuff / Carpeting / Wood / Spare / Jack 41
SUSPENSION / BRAKES
Brake dust shields 1.5
DC Sports Front Strut Tower Brace 5
DMS suspension 58
Front strut tower brace 8
HKS RS Suspension 48
Stock Rotors -> PF 2-piece rotors (Both front) 4
Stock Suspension 64.6
ENGINE / UNDERHOOD
3" SS turbo-back exhaust system (Aftermarket) -> side exit exhaust 40
A/C Fan 6.4
AC Bracket 4
Catalytic Convertor 10.5
Compressor 14.1
Condensor w/ lines 9.8
Evap / Purge Stuff 9
FMIC Sprayer (Empty) 5.4
FMIC Sprayer (Full) 11.5
Intake Bracket & EGR 5
Intake Manifold (Stock) 7
Refrigerant 3.5
Stock Battery / Bracket -> Lightweight 18
Stock intake -> short metal intake w/ filter 4
Here is a better list for ya... I will update it periodically if I find new stuff. Otherwise if someone sends me thier info I can add it:
Door Crash Beams (All 4 doors) 45
Front bumper support 13.4
OEM Rear Doors with everything aside from plastic 46
OEM Rear Door Glass Only 6
Front headlight Assemblies (Both HID) 15
OEM Hood 18.5
OEM Trunk (No wing) 22.5
Rear bumper support 17.1
Rear Wing 7
Rear wiper assembly 5
Under Car Brackets, hangers and braces 7
Front motormount subframe beam 8
INTERIOR
Blower motor 6.8
Driver side airbag 5
Firewall Sound Deadening 14.2
Floor Mats 5
Front Seatbelts/mounts/bolts 10
Heater/AC Core 7.2
Metal steering column insert 1
Misc under dash Brackets/ducting 3
Passenger side airbag 6.1
Rear Seat / SeatBack 21
Rear Seatbelt stuff 10
Rear Speakers 8
Rear Seat Area Sound Deadening 6.5
Stock seats -> Summit seats (2) 35
Trunk Stuff / Carpeting / Wood / Spare / Jack 41
SUSPENSION / BRAKES
Brake dust shields 1.5
DC Sports Front Strut Tower Brace 5
DMS suspension 58
Front strut tower brace 8
HKS RS Suspension 48
Stock Rotors -> PF 2-piece rotors (Both front) 4
Stock Suspension 64.6
ENGINE / UNDERHOOD
3" SS turbo-back exhaust system (Aftermarket) -> side exit exhaust 40
A/C Fan 6.4
AC Bracket 4
Catalytic Convertor 10.5
Compressor 14.1
Condensor w/ lines 9.8
Evap / Purge Stuff 9
FMIC Sprayer (Empty) 5.4
FMIC Sprayer (Full) 11.5
Intake Bracket & EGR 5
Intake Manifold (Stock) 7
Refrigerant 3.5
Stock Battery / Bracket -> Lightweight 18
Stock intake -> short metal intake w/ filter 4
Here is a better list for ya... I will update it periodically if I find new stuff. Otherwise if someone sends me thier info I can add it:
I would guess they are both steel.... they are crash beams, not door stiffeners. I assume they use them to get a better crash rating.
I finally weighed them out... with the window motors and the door beams (Not the door plastic shells) they are 20.8 lbs. Ill weigh the plastic door shells tonight and see what they weigh.
I finally weighed them out... with the window motors and the door beams (Not the door plastic shells) they are 20.8 lbs. Ill weigh the plastic door shells tonight and see what they weigh.
Originally Posted by TrinaBabe
Drilling holes will reduce weight but it is a very long and tedious process which really doesnt add up to that much weight. If you do start drilling holes I would shove a screw driver in each hole and bend the metal slightly to make it stiffer.
but this tool will prob do a better job then a screwdriver. if you can spare the $17
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalo...eflangtool.php
but like you said...very time consuming..little weight loss...and now you just presented new places for moisture, dirt and other junk to get in. I myself would say try this last as a last resort...but if you need that last bit......
Sorry here is a pic of a door with no beam in it (I also did cut alot of the sheetmetal out but you wouldnt need to. Once you drill the spot welds out you would just need to make a slight notch to remove all the beams from the rear (Or simply cut the rear beams with a dremel or grinder). You also need to take a blade of somesort to cut the foam glue stuff behind the beams. You can see the foam stuff that is left on the door in the pic.
The front door beams are tougher. You need to remove the door lock and let it hang in there. Drill all the spot welds and it is still in there pretty good. Once you get the door beam (There is only one in the front doors) so it wiggles you need to cut the beam somewhere with either a grinder or a dremel to get it out (Unless you want to cut the whole side of the door off). Ill see if I can find some pics of what I mean but at least here is a pic of a front door with some of the weight cleaned out.
http://www.thedrunken.com/pics/100_4146.JPG
The front door beams are tougher. You need to remove the door lock and let it hang in there. Drill all the spot welds and it is still in there pretty good. Once you get the door beam (There is only one in the front doors) so it wiggles you need to cut the beam somewhere with either a grinder or a dremel to get it out (Unless you want to cut the whole side of the door off). Ill see if I can find some pics of what I mean but at least here is a pic of a front door with some of the weight cleaned out.
http://www.thedrunken.com/pics/100_4146.JPG
Also the front dashbar is quit heavy but if you remove it you will need to either create a new one to keep the front tied together well and to hold the steering column up. I replaced mine with a chromoly tube with my roll cage but you could do it without a cage and no one would ever see it. I didnt weigh it before I hacked it apart but it was definately around 20lbs+
To remove the door beams:
To start out, you will need to remove the glass track along with the window motors and windows to get the beams out. Start out by removing the plasic door skin. Then remove the plastic baggie with all the black gooey stuff off. Take all the bolts off the window motor and the set screw to hold the bottom of the static glass. To remove the glass you will pull the rubber on the top of the door sideways and it will reveal a screw holding the little metal barrier between the movable window and the static window (For the rear doors). Once you take this screw out the metal barrier should be able to slide down and you can remove the smaller static window. Once that is out you can remove the bolts holding the sliding glass from the motor and remove that glass. The rest of the stuff will just pull out now.
The glue stuff between the beams and the door shells doesnt really hold them in it is more of a barrier so the doors are held more by the beams and make sure they dont rattle I presume. You can remove that with a flexible knife (They sell things that are kinda like half a hacksaw which uses a regular hacksaw blade so it can bend easily).
The beams are held by 4 or 5 spot welds on each side. If you look at the door shell you will see these... just kinda follow the beams and feel where they meet up with the door and you should see these little spot welds. Buy a spotweld drill bit and drill them all out. Be careful not to push REAL hard because you could go to far but it would be incredibly dificult to do that so I wouldnt worry too much... just take your time.
Once the door beams are loose you should be able to fanagle the beams out. You may also need to make a tiny notch to bend 1/2" spot near the top right of the inside door shell just to help squeeze out the bigger beam. You wont ever see this little cut and I needed to make it to squeeze the beams out. I will take some pictures of what I mean tomorrow so you can get an idea.
Once you get the beams out just replace all the guts of the door, put the plastic baggie back and the plastic interior trim and the door wont even look touched... the only difference will be the 15 lbs per door you tossed
Also, this is probably incredibly unsafe as you will notice once done that door wont stop any kind of impact now. If a car should sideswipe the doors they will instantly buckle providing zero resistance. I have a cage protecting me but most people wont....
To start out, you will need to remove the glass track along with the window motors and windows to get the beams out. Start out by removing the plasic door skin. Then remove the plastic baggie with all the black gooey stuff off. Take all the bolts off the window motor and the set screw to hold the bottom of the static glass. To remove the glass you will pull the rubber on the top of the door sideways and it will reveal a screw holding the little metal barrier between the movable window and the static window (For the rear doors). Once you take this screw out the metal barrier should be able to slide down and you can remove the smaller static window. Once that is out you can remove the bolts holding the sliding glass from the motor and remove that glass. The rest of the stuff will just pull out now.
The glue stuff between the beams and the door shells doesnt really hold them in it is more of a barrier so the doors are held more by the beams and make sure they dont rattle I presume. You can remove that with a flexible knife (They sell things that are kinda like half a hacksaw which uses a regular hacksaw blade so it can bend easily).
The beams are held by 4 or 5 spot welds on each side. If you look at the door shell you will see these... just kinda follow the beams and feel where they meet up with the door and you should see these little spot welds. Buy a spotweld drill bit and drill them all out. Be careful not to push REAL hard because you could go to far but it would be incredibly dificult to do that so I wouldnt worry too much... just take your time.
Once the door beams are loose you should be able to fanagle the beams out. You may also need to make a tiny notch to bend 1/2" spot near the top right of the inside door shell just to help squeeze out the bigger beam. You wont ever see this little cut and I needed to make it to squeeze the beams out. I will take some pictures of what I mean tomorrow so you can get an idea.
Once you get the beams out just replace all the guts of the door, put the plastic baggie back and the plastic interior trim and the door wont even look touched... the only difference will be the 15 lbs per door you tossed
Also, this is probably incredibly unsafe as you will notice once done that door wont stop any kind of impact now. If a car should sideswipe the doors they will instantly buckle providing zero resistance. I have a cage protecting me but most people wont....
very good write up. but wouldent removing all this stuff make the car more flexable?? like handle wrose around turns and what not???? get what im saying? the car can flex more. or am i retarted. lol