[bluesting192]

i am going to be purchasing another Escort Gt here in the near future, and i intend on stripping it beyond necessary just to do it. i figure it will be faster, and get better mileage. I'm going to remove interior, sound deadening, dash, all the usual stuff, and maybe a little more than usual.


so my question is what is the most weight you have removed from your escort. were going for high numbers here, not the guys who have taken just the spare, and back seat out... (no offense)



im shooting for removing somewhere between 400-600lbs off of the car. as soon as i get the car i will post a build thread, weights before during and after.

 

[Onegimp]

I never let that fat hoe in the car so I didn't, wait........ wat?

 

[mechmunkee-j]

400 lbs? thats a bit excessive. even if you took out all the ac lines and non essential electrical and sound deadening, you're only going to practically remove 250 lbs. maybe if you hollowed out the doors i guess. let us know how it goes though, im interested.

 

[racerboy]

I've brought my escort pony race car down to below 1700 lbs, from the factory 2250 lbs. (and it still has it's factory dash, radio, a speaker, and a roll bar. pics of the car at my club protege vb gallery:

http://www.clubprotege.com/forum/vbpicgallery.php?do=view&g=728

I gutted most of the car, but I could probly get another 100 lbs off by stipping the undercoating, removing the dash, and gutting my doors, hood, and decklid.

If you want to really lose weight, get some pierce motorsports carbon fiber parts.

 

[bluesting192]

the escort i want is owned by someone i know, they are looking for a newer car, and plan on buying it in the next week or two.... so i should be getting it in a week or two.... and yes it will be "a bit excessive"

 

[Sparky34kv]

Maybe I'm just not seeing it from your perspective, but I have to ask, "Why?". I can understand lowering weight to get better performance out of the car, but gutting it seems extreme. Do you really want to drive to and from work in a shell? Like I said, just wondering why so extreme, for racing or something like that, but not for a daily driver. Please don't take this as criticism, I just wanted to see why so drastic.

 

[LOWETGT]

During the rebuild/body swap, I had to drive it when it was stripped to near nothing. I left the dash, seat, and drivetrain, but removal of anything else would render it undriveable. It seemed faster, but hard to judge with no windshield, doors, or cluster.(this shot still had windshield)

I did cruise with no interior for a short period, no real difference. The weight of the all interior stuff would be less than the weight of a person. I do suppose every bit helps though...

 

[bluesting192]

Maybe I'm just not seeing it from your perspective, but I have to ask, "Why?". I can understand lowering weight to get better performance out of the car, but gutting it seems extreme. Do you really want to drive to and from work in a shell? Like I said, just wondering why so extreme, for racing or something like that, but not for a daily driver. Please don't take this as criticism, I just wanted to see why so drastic.

well quite honestly i want the car for some of the parts, a friend could use a couple body parts off of it, and the paint color is the same.... and well i just want to see how fast i can get a stock escort gt... it has a header and i will install at least a cone filter

i intend to go extreme on cutting off metal and other unnecessary things.... i want to go extreme with what i cut off of it, well because i have some free time, and it wont take that long to cut it up... it will have all of the stock body panels on it, and most likely some form of windows the rest will pretty much be thinned down. it wont really be a "daily driver" since i have a really nice 95 gt. i have had 12 cars in the past 4 years and 8 of them have been escorts. i really just want a cheap hobby, and some fun a fellow feoa member who will be sharing in the fun, and using some color matched parts is "kunar".

i have a mustang that is fast to beat on, but nobody ever tries to race because they know it is a mustang and fast... so i would like to build a fast N/A Escort GT... so i can surprise a few people. everyone goes turbo, and i just dont want to deal with the tuning, and all the extra parts... just trying to thin out a pig.. when i have a 200lb person with me i can tell a huge difference, id like to know what the opposite of that is...

i plan to remove the engine and trans, therefore it will be cut up and taken to the scrapyard.... so while im at it i intend on making a convertible out of it...

there will be an awesome build thread...

this is all pending the purchase of this escort gt that ive had my eye on

and sorry for the long post

 

[480zx2]

I like the cut of your jib bluesting192.

I actually had a friend in high school that did this to his old Escort. Took the doors and hood off and even turned it into a convertible. It didn't look pretty but it sure was fun.

 

[96_2dr_panel]

That'll get rid of a couple hundred pounds.

 

[LOWETGT]

Not to threadjack, but how well did the windows work without the framed portion of the door and track?

 

[bluesting192]

i plan on cutting the top off, but i think it will effect the aerodynamics too much to be helpful. i just want to do it for the looks, and well... to have a convertible.. haha

 

[PEEWEE91]

i plan on cutting the top off, but i think it will effect the aerodynamics too much to be helpful. i just want to do it for the looks, and well... to have a convertible.. haha

trust me, convertibles arent all that great.

 

[96_2dr_panel]

No they are not, unless you have a garage, and I don't. I would never do this to a daily driver. I have 2 cars so it's a project.


The windows work alright. If you want to roll them up say driving down the highway in a rainstorm, you should have no problems. The window leans in a little while rolling it up, but the part of the door frame that I left holds the window just fine. And the windows don't flex and bend and blow around driving down the highway. It's all pretty static.

 

[red97lxscort]

Not sure if it helps, but I cut quite abit out of my 3rd gen. of course the rear seats, insulation, package tray, but also the cut the metal out of the doors and bolted the windows, took out the front bumper support, cf hood, headliner, all trim pieces, I did leave the dash..and I'm very glad I did since I do still plan to drive it quite a bit with my kiddo.

 

[HyBrad]

If you want to lose some SERIOUS weight.. you can yank the engine, transmission, rear disc brakes, oh yeah.. and the clutch... and the front grille... and send it all to me.

That will probably shave 1000-1200lbs off...

 

[skinnywhite]

If you want to lose some SERIOUS weight.. you can yank the engine, transmission, rear disc brakes, oh yeah.. and the clutch... and the front grille... and send it all to me.

That will probably shave 1000-1200lbs off...

lmao

 

[Klaphunk]

I've seen people shave the carpet to lose that extra few pounds....lol

I remember reading some where about an airline looking to save money on fuel. long story short the answer they came up with was removing magazines.

for an all out weight redux id start here. complete removal of the a/c,n removal of the p/s(looped lines), gut the trunk! gut the backseat! remove the rear section of carpet(if trying to remain stock looking), clean out the extra door metal, look for any brackets or pieces of metal that arent needed!! headliner, rear defronster(i took mine out its not to bad), remove the interior fan setup, passenger seat(unless u drive some one around), smaller battery(tractor battery), hood/ trunk supports, passenger side mirror isnt required either, rear deck carpet, radio/speakers, find a plastic gastank

that should get you to yer goal

 

[bluesting192]

it turns out i didnt buy the extra car... ill have some updates for you guys in the summer, ill get another one to do this to... ive got it figured out exactly what i want to do.