How much weight can be saved by stripping a Levin BZR

[Tha_INS]

Just wondering as I want to use it as a basis for a track car.....was just wondering if anyone here had any experience with stipping one of these out as the interior does'nt look that heavy at all compared to heavier vehicles(e.g. celicas)?

[Adamal]

It really comes down to how much effort you want to put into stripping it down, and what you want to leave in.

They are lighter than Celicas. I'd say if you REALLY went all out, you may be able to get 100kg out of it?

[crispy'86]

Not totally sure of the kerb weight of the ae101's but there is a saving to be had by simply removing bolt on stuff. In my fxgt race car (has a cage and did have carpet and roof lining still in it) i removed seats, carpet, sound deadening and roof lining. That alone was a saving. Kerb weight without driver is 960kg. I weighed it with me in it, quarter tank of fuel, and was 960kg. So minus about 64kg gives it 896kg. Bear in mind yours maybe less by doing this saying you'd have no rollcage. But as Adamal said it depends how much effort you put into it.

[RomanV]

Gotta get creative! (And/or obsessive compulsive)

Take out the aircon, sound deadening, radio and speakers, passenger/rear seats and rear interior, take out the spring assembly which holds the bootlid up, take out the strut from the engine bay, take out the heater, take out the window winder assemblies and have the windows permanently propped up, take out unnecessary bits from the engine bay, if you have 3 bolts holding something where you only need 2, you know what to do

Hole saw is your friend

[Leon]

Don't take out the heater and ventilation system if you want to be able to pass Schedule A (which requires screen demister). Plus, it seriously sucks to have none.

[Mr Revhead]

Yeah! no demistor sucks arse!
However making a lighter one that just blows on the screen is an option....
But think seriosuly about driver cooling!
And go nuts and get rid of every scrap of the sound deadnening.


Roman is right, get obbsesive compulsive about it!
I want to see you rip the labels of your clothes to save weight



Just don't do anything dumb like swiss cheese your seat mounts

[Dell'Orto]

Drillbits and hole saws are your friends

[Adoom]

Drillbits and hole saws are your friends

How many holes, and in what, can you drill before WOF man fails you?
All I have left to drill holes in THE STARVIA is the door and hatch framing......
Anything else I drill holes in will make an inside/outside hole

[Mr Revhead]

When you start to weaken the crash structure

Pedals, boot/bonnet hinges various brackets etc are good palces to drill.
Seat mounts, fire wall and chassis rails not so good
Drilling comes when you have reached the obsessive compulsive stage

If you are using it for a track dedicated car, strip the doors. Doors are farking heavy! pull everything out and throw it away unless you need it. And if you do need it, maybe you can mod it to make it lighter?

[Dell'Orto]

Have a look on the oldschool forum, at unclejake's Cortina race car...due to class rules of pre 65's he cant make much power, so he's lightened the bejesus out of it

[Mr Revhead]

Can't make much power.... Bet you its a $&#$% load more than stock!

[Dell'Orto]

Hahaha, yeah where much =160 odd hp from a 1500 pre x flow

[RomanV]

His car is freaken sweet.

Holes drilled in EVERYTHING

[GTTpower]

Check out Molex's EP82 for some serious weight reduction

[Tha_INS]

damn...guy got around 100kg out of a already light starlet....theres hope for me yet.

I will probably end up ripping out the removeable stuff I can...this will be my first atempt at building a track car so I want to keep it legal enough so I can drive it there and back home.

[Bling]

aircon will be a good weight to get rid of

[~SlideWays~]

damn...guy got around 100kg out of a already light starlet....theres hope for me yet.

I will probably end up ripping out the removeable stuff I can...this will be my first atempt at building a track car so I want to keep it legal enough so I can drive it there and back home.

I got 100kg out of my ae92 Trueno and still have sunroof/motors/switches and to cut/strip doors.

Its roughly 925kg without passenger seat (because I'd take it out for track days)

Majors were:
Fibreglass bonnet -10kg
Racetech seat -11kg
Sound deadending from firewall/floors and boot -10kg
Carpet binned
Back seat and belts
A/C stuff condenser and under dash radiator jobbie
Lightweight coilovers


Check out the last couple of post in my project thread to give you an idea:
viewtopic.php?t=54042

[molex]

Next month I'll have some photos for inspiration

My starlet has gotten even lighter in some areas and heavier in others (bigger turbo, intercooler etc) I'd say it's somewhere around 730kg dry at the moment. I've got *maybe* another 5-10 KG to come out. Compare that to the dry curb weight of 860kg and I've made some decent progress! I can tell you for a fact that on an early model like mine there really isn't all that much to remove either.

A levin has way more stuff to pull, It will still be heavier than a starlet for sure but you'll be able to remove more weight from the factory spec than me without a doubt.

Another project I'm working on (also an EP starlet) has gone to a whole other level, at a guess I'd say it's 40kg lighter than my EP82. No longer road legal mind you. On that one I started cutting off excessive bolt length Have yet to get out the holesaw, there's definitely some areas that could afford to lose some mass, though nothing you'd want to do on a street legal/road driven car.

[Tha_INS]

Next month I'll have some photos for inspiration

My starlet has gotten even lighter in some areas and heavier in others (bigger turbo, intercooler etc) I'd say it's somewhere around 730kg dry at the moment. I've got *maybe* another 5-10 KG to come out. Compare that to the dry curb weight of 860kg and I've made some decent progress! I can tell you for a fact that on an early model like mine there really isn't all that much to remove either.

A levin has way more stuff to pull, It will still be heavier than a starlet for sure but you'll be able to remove more weight from the factory spec than me without a doubt.

Another project I'm working on (also an EP starlet) has gone to a whole other level, at a guess I'd say it's 40kg lighter than my EP82. No longer road legal mind you. On that one I started cutting off excessive bolt length Have yet to get out the holesaw, there's definitely some areas that could afford to lose some mass, though nothing you'd want to do on a street legal/road driven car.

was just wondering how the ep82 feels like to drive?

I am asking because its seems that since it was stripped it lost even more weight at the back and looking ath your photos its seems to be really front heavy.

I'm just hoping the weight distribution on the levin will be better. has anyone ever weighed a levin at all corners?

cheers for the feedback guys

[Prymal]

Remember you will need to Add weight by addibgn safety gear , and A rollcage ( if your serious ?) so yeah - account for that too ..

My ex flatmates had a stripped out levin track car , just a hack , nothign super special , but was quite a bit lightened .. No sound deadening and every interior plastic bit we could rip out gone was one thing that stood out , because it was a prick to sort out , but it saved probably a good 10 -15 kg by memory . Long time back so im sketchy