Gentleman- new 'vert owner here-

Mine is an 88. I would like info on reducing weight aside from chucking all interior pieces- without sacrificing structural rigidity. Any replies greatly appreciated!

 

take out ac, power steering (if you have it), all emissions equipment, you can also remove the spare and jack.

 

Thanks, man- in the process of removing all emissions gear- no restrictions in FL. But the a/c- not sure I can see that go- it's friggin hot here! I did save about 10lbs just from removing the stock stereo- a double din cd/am/fm/cassete monster unit and the headrest speakers and amps. And fix-a-flat does weigh less than even my aluminum jack and spare.

 

good luck having fix-a-flat help you when one of your tires disentigrates...I don't know why people go through that kind of trouble when they're not racing. I mean...even my ultra-light project will have a spare and jack except when I autoX or drag it...and if you're so into racing that you constantly need to be at the lowest weight possible, even a can of fix-a-flat is too heavy.

 

i have just recently purchased an 88 vert. it's a coochie getter!!! it's the only silver/clear coated 1 in jersey! 17 inch giavannas k&r intake. lowered 1 inch tinted windows monster pipes! it's Baad!!!!! you'll probably see me in your town soon!!!

 

True point, Mak. Maybe I will yank the emissions, and power steering and leave it at that.

 

Don't even bother trying to make a vert fast. They are slugs. You can make it not as slow by doing free mods, which are still hardly worth it. Don't start ripping out the a/c and blower motor etc that you may end up regrettting later. The gearing, transmission all suck not to mention it is a tank with a wimpy engine (sorry na guys). Save your time and money and put it elsewhwere, and if you want to put it in the car to make it faster, put the TII drivetrain in. It is easy and can be done fairly cheap. At least cheaper than throwing away money towards the na engine for very minimal gains. I have one and I love it but it is slow *** pig (but not for long)

 

first off verts are not slow and what are you holding onto your a/c for it is a convertible

 

Verts are slugs. And holding onto the AC with a vert is a good idea, leave the top down, and the sun heats up those seats REAL quick, and sometimes it's so hot that the wind doesn't help you none anyway.

 

ive got a factory turbo and auto 'vert..
there not as heavy as people think, but there are indeed heavy..
being auto mine is a slug off the line, but once mooving its resonably quick (std) but its not exatly nimble by any means.

I'm in the middle of a whole heap of mods(ecu exhaust, hiflow turbo, boost controoler) and they respone greatly.

I've taken some weight out ( emiisions gear, air pump, AFM, std coils, std stereo gear, lighter battery) but i have a subbox and after market stereo that would of easy brought the weight back to around stock.

I have to keep the auto due to having a bad arm/wrist though even the auto is getting modded soon!!, but if you did a turbo swap with the 5sp you wouldn't regret it one bit.
I couldn't even imagine driving a N/A vert and is i said even std turbo 'vert is only "resonbly" quick.
but once a turbo swap is done it is easy to get power gains..

if you do the swap i would use a aftermarcket stand alone ECU from the start, it will make life easy for you when you do any mods, i highly recomend the microtech LTX-8 (look in the microtech ECU forum)

if you cant afford the swap, i would do the exhaust loose the gear that you have already mentioned and just go cruising and not worry so much about speed.. untill you can save up some funds.


Here is some pics of my vert

 

They are pathetically slow. I don't bother racing anyone cuz it is embarrassing and I know just about anything with 4 wheels can smoke me, at least for now. I would never give up the ac in my vert because 90'+ weather sucks being exposed to with the top down and especially with the top up if you have no ac. Black roof, black leather interior make for not so friendly hot days in the summer, not that I get many in SF but I do drive other places.

 

Nothing like sucking off another 10-15 HP by putting on 17" wheels...

 

And 'verts really are not that slow...

typically 8 - 8.5 second 0-60s and 16 sec 1/4 miles are common; which puts it very mid pack with even many of todays modern cars.

 

funnie, i don't find my vert all that slow, its fast enough to blow off the little stock riced out civics with out much of a challange (sp?). for the slowest fc made, 13 years old and 170k on the orginal engine, i think my little "heavy pig" vert can still haul ***. with 17's on it

-Shawn

 

el- the other guys pointed out why I am keeping the a/c- I live in friggin florida, for one.

Ad- I will have to envy your turbo 'vert, since they didn't make it to our shores.

And yes, less slow is good- I never had any misconceptions about racing my vert- I am not that naive. I would, however, like my car to be a little faster, and removing items to save weight is free, just a little wrench time involved.

Thanks for your input, guys.

 

thanks we didnt get them here either its a japanese domestic model thats been imported into Aus who says we drive on the wrong side of the road!
I couln't live withough my a/c either.. though its just as much to demist the windscreen quickly in winter as it is keeping cool in summer.

 

Ad- I sure wish I could import one myself- alas- I haven't the fundage. Maybe a TII conversion "down the track" as they say. I have 125000 on the odo and it may be time soon for a new powerplant.

 

well, I am also a vert owner. My baby is a 1991 Vert and it hauls ***. I have Magnaflow str8 back dual exhaust and the almighty t2 motor. it was sort of a pain for the swap to get the motor but the process is not hard. go for the turbo and guaranteed to beat a lot on the road. I have won many races with little mods to the car including taking out new acuras and hondas. So don't give up, just go first for the motor then exhaust then K&n intake kit and motor work. seems like a lot but not really

 

Thanks- Rex. We are both lucky as hell there are no emissions here in sunny FL!!

 

verts are not slow, or at least mine isnt. mods shmods. i have yet to loose to any N/A. yea i dumped about 30K into my car and i know that would take a turbo farther, so please dont bother telling me that. unless its an automatic, a 5spd vert isnt' really that much slower than a 5spd coupe. ive hit 150 mph in my car and have trashed other N/A's with mods. im NOT saying that my car is the fastest, just that verts arent that slow and it IS worth modding a vert if that is what you like.

http://www.geocities.com/b_timberlake/90RX7.html

 

If your trying to lighten your car there are a couple of easy things that you could do.
1.Start off with getting an alluminum GCU hood.
2.There are 5 tow hooks on your car, you don't need all of them.
3. Change the insulation in your car the stock insulation is extremly heavy.

 

k, the spare and the jack can go...fix-a-flat is fine to run around with, how often have any of your cars disintegrated a tire? go on a trip and take the spare, otherwise it's dead weight which any FC could do without, specially the vert. chuck the airpump, the stock seats, all heat shields (I'd keep them on a stock exhaust, ditch them w/ anything aftermarket). Keep the beautiful and light 'vert wheels - this should drop you some serious weight and make the car more responsive to any motor/suspension mods you perform. 'verts may start OUT slow, bu they don't have to be I wouldn't touch the sound deadening in a 'vert bc they will be even louder w/ the top down and we all know an NA w/ a full exhaust isn't quiet. Go with a single exhaust to drop more weight...Apexi's single N1 is beautiful, cheap, light and performs!!

 

Bruce- the verts come stock with an aluminum hood. That, the aluminum jack & spare and the headlamps with plastic lenses were all an attempt by mazda (in vain) to lighten the load of the heavy vert.
I am going to remove the aforementioned tow hooks as soon as I finish posting this (;

 

Yes, no A/C IN FL SUCKS! I have been driving my TII without A/C, and my windows didnt work for a while, so all I had was sunroof, UGH! I just got an a/c belt so hopefully it will work, just got to get my car running again..