[hvymtlmcn]

I agree the alarm will be under more stress with this single sided mount and a fatigue failure is possible. I do like the square slotted bolt and its relatively large contact patch with the housing.
I am willing to take a bit more risk in this case because I am not very concerned about my alarm. I am tempted to remove it entirely.

The stock bracket can be separated into two parts and mounted to the crash structure. This would keep the two attachments to the alarm and use a single bolt to the crash structure.

Drive hard and hope it falls off.Free weight loss with no labor required.

 

[hvymtlmcn]

Finally got my control arms welded and all my parts back from anodizing.Finished putting everything back together during Monaco Indy’s red flags.
Finally the end has come to me complaining nothing fits,everything hits.Did a quick lap around the block and everything felt good.This winters project was getting to 95mm ride height while maintaining correct roll centers and bump steer.Of course I had to put it on the scales since I did a few things to save weight.1668# with about 2 gallons of gas.
Now it’s time to book a track session and have fun.
I do drive it on the street and it’s fine other than a rough ride and I don’t think it would clear a speed bump.Yes I know my cross weight is off I haven’t done final ride ht tweaks yet.

 

[AustinP]

That plastic housing on the alarm siren is not designed to hold it cantilevered like that. That plastic housing will more than likely fail from a fatigue stress. Maybe you could just make a "U-bracket from a piece of aluminum that attaches to both side of the siren and then bolt the bracket to the car with a single bolt.

I agree, my bracket broke even though it was properly bolted on. I noticed a random thunk at that corner, pulled the front pan and found the alarm horn hanging by the wires. I went the easy route and just removed it (and the bracket).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[darkSol]

So what was the final weight differential using the T-45's and uprights? Do you have a breakdown?

 

[hvymtlmcn]

So what was the final weight differential using the T-45's and uprights? Do you have a breakdown?

I am including some pics of my notes,not organized like yours (sorry about that).
The stock front uprights weigh 5#11oz
Elise parts 16mm drop upright weighs 3#6oz
The 40mm drop upright is 3#1.5oz
Looks like each rear upright saves a little less than a pound.
The control arms don’t save a lot of weight except the lower rear arm,they save about 3# each.But wait there’s more just like onTV.Since the toe link no longer bolts to the frame you don’t need that heavy brace. I don’t know what that saves but I bet it’s a lot.

 

[Dr.Hess]

Danica just lost her fake titties.

Danica Patrick on removing her breast implants, being single: ‘When the right guy comes along, I'll know it’

Retired NASCAR driver Danica Patrick, who launched a wine brand, got candid about how she coped with breast implant illness and how she's doing today after surgery.

www.foxnews.com

Now that's a REALLY hard way to lose weight. And as Smith said, it's easier to get the race car driver to lose weight than the race car.

 

[ERP]

I agree, my bracket broke even though it was properly bolted on. I noticed a random thunk at that corner, pulled the front pan and found the alarm horn hanging by the wires.

I corrected my initial install and added half the original bracket.

 

[ERP]

Clam Heat Shield Replacement
This isn't new, but I could not find a good writeup. Stock heat shield weighs 5.0 lbs. New heat shield weighs 1.36 lbs.
Total weight savings 3.64 lbs.

Drill out rivets and break apart the stock heat shield with your hands. I cut around the clam hinge and windshield washer plate and left the stock heat shield between them and the clam.

Cleaning the clam ended up taking longer than installing the heat shield. Lots of oil and exhaust dust. Also the paint had to be scraped up in places to provide a better bonging surface.

Before

After

For the majority of the clam I used the Design Engineering Refect-A-Cool adhesive sheet. It is rated to 400 F of direct head. It was 36" x 48" and I used almost the entire sheet. It is very thin and easy to work with. This coverage only weighs 0.80 lbs.

For extra protection over the exhaust headers I added Design Engineering Adhesive Heat Screen Aluminized Mylar Matting. It is thicker than the other layer and capable of handling 1200 F. This added an additional 0.56 lbs.

I've had my headers wrapped for 5 years now and I've been happy with the engine bay heat reduction it has provided.

The new heat shield is 0.20" thinner than the stock shielding. This means I need new shims with a total thickness of 0.45 inches. I designed and printed them in ABS/Carbon Fiber. I like this material for its strength and resistance to distortion from heat. Four are needed and they weigh 0.06 lbs each. Two of the spacers have a flat bottom (Spacer-1) and the other two (2A & 2B) have a notch in the bottom to fit over the raised sheet metal on the rear frame. Spacer-2A is for the right side and 2B is for the left. You can download a copy of them here: Free CAD Designs, Files & 3D Models | The GrabCAD Community Library

All four spacers. This was an easy project with the clam hinge.

 

[hvymtlmcn]

Clam Heat Shield Replacement
This isn't new, but I could not find a good writeup. Stock heat shield weighs 5.0 lbs. New heat shield weighs 1.36 lbs.
Total weight savings 3.64 lbs.

Drill out rivets and break apart the stock heat shield with your hands. I cut around the clam hinge and windshield washer plate and left the stock heat shield between them and the clam.
View attachment 1317477

Cleaning the clam ended up taking longer than installing the heat shield. Lots of oil and exhaust dust. Also the paint had to be scraped up in places to provide a better bonging surface.

Before
View attachment 1317479

After
View attachment 1317480

For the majority of the clam I used the Design Engineering Refect-A-Cool adhesive sheet. It is rated to 400 F of direct head. It was 36" x 48" and I used almost the entire sheet. It is very thin and easy to work with. This coverage only weighs 0.80 lbs.
View attachment 1317481

For extra protection over the exhaust headers I added Design Engineering Adhesive Heat Screen Aluminized Mylar Matting. It is thicker than the other layer and capable of handling 1200 F. This added an additional 0.56 lbs.
View attachment 1317482

I've had my headers wrapped for 5 years now and I've been happy with the engine bay heat reduction it has provided.
View attachment 1317483

The new heat shield is 0.20" thinner than the stock shielding. This means I need new shims with a total thickness of 0.45 inches. I designed and printed them in ABS/Carbon Fiber. I like this material for its strength and resistance to distortion from heat. Four are needed and they weigh 0.06 lbs each. You can download a copy of one here: Free CAD Designs, Files & 3D Models | The GrabCAD Community Library
View attachment 1317489

All four spacers. This was an easy project with the clam hinge.
View attachment 1317490

Fantastic write up and very informative. I did not realize the heat shield weighed so much. I will be doing your mods this winter for sure. I would like a set of your abs carbon fiber shims. I make a lot of lightweight billet parts for our cars so maybe we could do a swap.
There is a simple way you can reduce engine bay temps even more. The screens on the stock side pods are too restrictive and don’t flow much air.
Replacing them with a course mesh will let in a lot more air. I think I have enough left over to do a pair of pods if you’re interested.Thanks again for an innovative and informative write up.

 

[itsagoodday]

Subed for great info!

 

[BryanPendleton]

This is like one of my favorite threads for sure. My problem is I am just getting started with my near stock Elise, so I already have a back log of upgrade parts stacking up in the garage, but I enjoy driving the car so much, I just don't want to take it "off the road" at this time.

 

[ERP]

Replacing the aluminum gas cover with printed plastic.
The stock aluminum cover, door and hardware weigh 0.61 lbs
ABS/Carbon printed door, cover, steel pin and aluminum hardware weigh 0.15 lbs
A savings of 0.46 lbs

Both models can be found here: Free CAD Designs, Files & 3D Models | The GrabCAD Community Library

This is a straight forward upgrade if you have a clam hinge.
I also purchased aluminum flat head screws to replace the stock steel screws.
A 1/8" diameter, 1.75" long steel rod is needed to connect the door to the ring with a press fit.
3D printing typically undersize the holes. I drilled out the hole of the door with a 1/8" drill bit and the ring with a 7/64" bit and lightly hammered the pin through both parts.

The door is flat but the ring is curved. The FDM printer I used produced concentric build lines on the top of the ring. I like the look but the ring is not smooth.

I added internal ribs for extra support.

 

[hvymtlmcn]

Replacing the aluminum gas cover with printed plastic.
The stock aluminum cover, door and hardware weigh 0.61 lbs
ABS/Carbon printed door, cover, steel pin and aluminum hardware weigh 0.15 lbs
A savings of 0.46 lbs

Both models can be found here: Free CAD Designs, Files & 3D Models | The GrabCAD Community Library

This is a straight forward upgrade if you have a clam hinge.
I also purchased aluminum flat head screws to replace the stock steel screws.
A 1/8" diameter, 1.75" long steel rod is needed to connect the door to the ring with a press fit.
3D printing typically undersize the holes. I drilled out the hole of the door with a 1/8" drill bit and the ring with a 7/64" bit and lightly hammered the pin through both parts.
View attachment 1317875
The door is flat but the ring is curved. The FDM printer I used produced concentric build lines on the top of the ring. I like the look but the ring is not smooth.
View attachment 1317876
I added internal ribs for extra support.
View attachment 1317877

Saving almost a 1/2 # is really impressive it looks good but I’m not sure if I like the rings.Could they be eliminated?

 

[ERP]

The rings could be eliminated with post processing. I find it difficult to sand ABS from a FDM print. It needs to be worked slowly to get good results. Spraying with a sandable primer then painted would work. It could also be printed with a SLA printer which would reduce the build lines and is easier to sand to a nice finish, but would likely be slightly heavier.

 

[hvymtlmcn]

This may be the most expensive couple of pounds I have ever saved. I have a Top Speed Titanium muffler and the brackets holding the exhaust tips keep braking.It was a through the diffuser exit which I never liked. The exhaust tips were not supported securely,so off they came.$500 worth of cutting and welding later and now it exits the license plate holder.So now it’s over 2# lighter,exits where I wanted and shouldn’t break again.This stupid $1600 muffler really pissed me off.That’s why I cut it into pieces even though I wasn’t sure it would work.Thanks to a great welding shop (Ramsey welding) it came out great.So this wasn’t about saving weight it was just me being wicked pissed as we say here in New England.So now I have better aero and possibly the worlds lightest muffler 5#11oz

 

[hvymtlmcn]

This is what my muffler looked like before it pissed me off.

 

[snowrx]

You can get rid off minor lines on printed ABS parts by sealing them in a bowl with some acetone in the bottom, The acetone vapor will dissolve and flow out the surface if left for the proper period of time. After the proper period of time? If you ignore it and there's enough acetone, your part goes to goop.

 

[hvymtlmcn]

You can get rid off minor lines on printed ABS parts by sealing them in a bowl with some acetone in the bottom, The acetone vapor will dissolve and flow out the surface if left for the proper period of time. After the proper period of time? If you ignore it and there's enough acetone, your part goes to goop.
View attachment 1318424
View attachment 1318426

Well that’s clever but the surface is uneven and I wouldn’t want that on my car.