Southern Belle

Started by Petrus, December 19, 2018, 19:35

0 Members and 4 Guests are viewing this topic.

Petrus

Quote from: J88TEO on December 11, 2022, 19:34I am very tempted to import one from Japan!

Stopped myself from that may times; pay enough taxes on all sort unavoidable.

Came one up in France.

Fingers crossed all goes well-

Petrus

#751
After a rocky start the parcel has now been processed in Madrid distribution centre. Because of X-mas scheduled to be delivered Tuesday. Fitting planned for Wednesday. Hope I did not jinx it now  ::)
Will dig the decat pipe out Sunday/Monday.





Just this week Amuse has published that they are stopping with the Titanium R1 product lines, So a blíng collectors item :-)

Petrus

#752
Looks light and  8)





Seriously, it is seriously light. Weighs less than the rvs decat pipe.
The set weighs júst shy of 8 kg. 

Ardent

Good demo of the lightness.

Petrus

#754
Quote from: Ardent on December 27, 2022, 13:14Good demo of the lightness.

Hilárious btw.: That is how Í intended the photo. How Í see it. How my son sees it, my childhood friend in the Netherlands sees it, the mechanic in the garage sees it.
The fémale friends however, see it as me being the six million $ man  :))  :))
It really is binary.
But hey best not make them any the wiser no  8)  but more probably théy let me thínk so...

Petrus

#755
Yesterday it went a bit unfriendly with the three amigos. Had to find a new bolt so completed it this morning.
The end ´tip´ looked ludicrous so cut it off.

With the decat pipe and OEM cat pipe next to eachother the restriction in the flex 2-1 part of the latter is strikingly obvious. Small wonder the engine/car feels throttled with it mounted versus decat.

When warm the sound is just right.
Less loud than the cat + just repacked DIY absorbtion damper. 
No drone on the highway.
Does respond a lót better. Tried it up to 190 km/h.









Yes, I did make a video at 1 m. behind the car to record the sound but have lost the plot of youtube so can´t upload/link. Sorry.

Ardent

Vid can be watched here.  8)

Amuse Titanium zorst

Petrus

Jason to the rescue. Double like!

Petrus

Quote from: Petrus on December 28, 2022, 11:14

Btw @Ardent  and @Dev this looks só  8)  that I whish I could take photos like you guys and capture it as I séé it.
It is totally as I like (some) things; hidden bling.
I´d have a proper photo of it as screen saver. My current one is not family friendly  :-[

Ardent


Petrus

Rather an unexpected development is that J-spec has the B-pillar uprights of the soft top frame in stock!  :o
Makes sense as for track days/racing it is just about a mandatory thing to delete the soft top and fit the hard top.´
For mé with 300 sunny days/year the delete is a feasable thing for regular use ánd I already have the tonneau cover apart from a hard top so... ordered a set.
Should be over 20 kilo of lightness added in one go and high up too 8)


Petrus

Written 21 Okt 2018:

QuoteWhat I am  :o about is the weight of the exhaust system:
Stock muffler weights close to 13 kilo. Stock midpipe weights 7.3kg and the stock manifold 5.85kg. Say 26 kilo.
The midpipe with cat is not thát heavy and not a lot can be saved there, but the muffler...
A JDM street legal titanium cat back is as silent as stock and weighs 3,5 kilo. Ok, the cost is silly but it does proove a point.
As the muffler sits high and what´s more BEHIND the rear axle any weight shed there is also ´re-loading´ the front.
I am só looking at this.


4 years  :o and several cunning exhaust plans  ::)  later, I have the system I wanted  8) 

Petrus

#762
The stripped off soft top brackets have been prepared for shipping tomorrow. All well and good and a very fast solution to add significant lightness but... as always the anticipation creates an itch needing a scratch  :o
 
Thus retequerethinking a Lexan windschreen  ::) 
Buying a pro made one is not happening because of the aditional costs for shipping and import so looking at diy agaín. Should have opportunity to start up things coming week. Would like to have it fitted late March/ early April.

The Plan:
- drop by at Mati´s and call the window fitters
- have Mati cut and finish a replica in 5 mm Lexan
- mask and spray paint the black edge myself
- have Samuel make a sticker copy in mirror image of the Toyota glass homolation marking
- prepare sand bags to hold the Lexan in place while the pu sets
- call the local windscreen repair at home service to do the replacing and transfer the mirror bung



Petrus

Read up some threads on Lotus fora. Seems that the ones who mounted in kit are ok.

The weight saving is consistent
Stock glass = 24 lbs
Speedglass = 11 lbs
and the MR2 one is definitely not smaller thus 13 lbs; nearly 6 kilos seems reasonable to expect.

Was blown away by the $$ they mentioned. I hope to be ready under 250€ hence my observation about vfm weight saving.

The softtop brackets should now be knocking at the doors of Spanish customs.

Petrus

Still too ccccóld to faff with plastisc so what dó you do??

The relativity of fastener weight;  https://itafasteners.com/weight-chart.php

Nevertheless, saw some cheap reduced head aluminum ones so ordered two bags of 40 pcs with some nuts. Although it adds up quickly, would not know where to find thát many on the ZZW30 but I will swap out anywhichone I see. May will add a whole pound of lightness there  :))


Petrus

#765
While the first bags are still under way, had a dedicated look at which/how many M6 would be candidates for alu replacements. Have ordered another bag (40 pcs) of 10 mm. long ones.

Not seen many M8 candidates. A pity because those are double the weight of M6 but one must be aware that M8 is used because M6 does not suffice so some caution with aluminium replacements is needed.

Petrus

Found some M8s which could be replaced by alumium ones, so 20 under way.

I calculate that in all about 1 kg can be deleted.  Cost wise it is worthwhile but a bit silly nonetheless. Doing it for the heck of it only realy.

Ardent

"Doing it for the heck of it only realy."

I will happily delete if required. Or not object if it's done automatically.



Petrus

Quote from: Ardent on March  3, 2023, 21:59"Doing it for the heck of it only realy."


Ok, I admit; álso because I want to beat 900 kg tanked up; the F1 starting weight  :))

Ardent

You're going the wrong way.
You need to be adding mass to emulate f1.
 8)
You cannot view this attachment.

Petrus

Quote from: Ardent on March  4, 2023, 08:09You're going the wrong way.
You need to be adding mass to emulate f1.

It is stunning yes, The minimum weight is 905 kg with full fuel.
Had a bit of a ´moment´.
Richelle´s dad came over to stay two weeks for #1 son´s birthday. So an extra room had to be readied to perfection. Not just rendering walls and painting but Richelle also had a major clear out.
After that my tonneau was missing  :o
It was nowhere to be found.
Just ÓNE option remained: In Jolly, the 340. That however is stored for the winter, packed in like ... something very well packed in for the winter.
ALso, if it was not in there, it would have been thrown out. I have managed to contain my stress about that but mán was I gutted about just tye anticipation of being gutted about the possibility.
I may have above avarage gumption, but nothng human is alien to me  :-*
Today fínally collected courage and YESSS!!!!!
Phew.
That thing means súch a lót of different aspects. From the romantics, the making, the functionality, the über 8)  uniqueness to currently the 20 kg lightness of the hood delete.
Phew2

Seems the cold spell is ending. The alu M6/M8 in underway, anti seize already in*, the tonneau found. Yeeehaaaa!!!!

* was a small parcel at the gas station and Richelle had opened it, wondered about what on éarth ´anti seize paste´ was. I said special sex lubricant. You should have seen her face  :))

Ardent

Phew indeed on the T cover.

Petrus

#772
Replaced a few:
An M6 x 10 mm aluminium Allen mushroom head is 5 gramms lighter than the 15 mm steel OEM one.

Ok, in itself a lot per screw but still ´only´ 5 gramm deleted per screw, but even just 20 alu vs steel OEM in a small plastic bag is quite a notable difference in the hand.
Just wave your outstretched hand with a milk carton in it. Thát is the effect in kinetic energy on the car.

Thus will keep replacing whenever I get somewhere in/on the car. Also looking forward to the M8 ones as those should tick off double the M6 gains 👍

Feel more confident that I use alu mounting paste btw. Not just because of galvanic corrosion but also it screws in just a bit tighter. It is only alumium vs steel after all. 

Bottom line my opinion remains the same: Although relatively cheap lightness adding, it is a lot of faffing for say 1 kg. But in my defence; every next kg gets less easy to delete.  When not just for the heck of it, not really worth it imo.

p,s, the resident female wondered what I was doing with car/screws/micro scales. When #1 son ordered the screw she had looked at the ceiling.  So I handed her a plastic bag with a dozen replaced OEM screws. Then a bag with ditto replacements. She was surprised, almost shocked. Now, it fééls more shocking than it is in total  because the difference is indeed 5 to 1.  It is just not thát many screws. But, she is impressed. Nice bonus indeed.

Petrus

#773
And indeed 10 gram per M8.
Ok, so only 100 gram but then only 10 bolts.
Again, the 200 gram sofar is only 200 gram but when in a plastic bag the factor makes for a spectacular difference in the hand.
Why 5 when aluminium is 1/3 the weight?
Well, the screws/nuts/bolts are airgun fitted in the factory and all are overly long plus several have an extra tapered beginning. Also may have twó rings and lastly the mushroom Allen heads are smaller.

Sofar not a single rusted fitting. Several were however tight/seizing with whitish deposit. Glad I am using the mounting paste making the alu ones slíííde in.
Also happy with the black anodizing;  does not stand out.

Right going to play some more with ´lightening bolts´.





Petrus

#774
Got to just over 300 gramms.
Will need some more M8 and awaiting more M6 but I doubt I wll get to 500 gramm as I am on the coutious side.
Still, the replaced bolts in a plastic bag feels quite satifying.

Meanwhile the weather is improving mah´velously so planing to delete the soft top in two weeks when #1 son is here again.
No doubt refitting will involve some replacing of screws too.

Tags: