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weight reduction and questions

2K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  SteveZ31 
#1 ·
has anyone heard of doing any type of weight reduction since our zs are so heavy? and what is the weight of our cars for the diff years?
i have an 87 and it say 3600 but ive heard 3300 also how much hp do the stock z come with and whats the diff in hp between the 84-86 to 87 89?
 
#3 ·
As mentioned search as these are all basic questions but I'll help a little. I'm guessing your 3600lbs figure is from the door jam tag, correct? This is the weight of the car fully loaded with passengers and luggage. To get a more correct weight take that number and set it aside. Next look on the inside of your consol lid, there it states how much weight can be placed inside the car. I believe it's 150 per passenger and another 120 for luggage. What ever the number is subtract from the GVWR number from the door jam. This should give you a weight somewhere in the 3200lbs range. As stu85na mentioned there is only a 5hp difference between the 84-86 and 87-89 so no big performance difference. Weight reduction is easy to do but you have to chose what you are willing to live without. Common removed items are a/c, power steering, power antenna, sound deading material, replace seats with racing seats, remove heating system. You can go even further by cutting off the t-top roof and welding on a slick top roof, replace all the power options with manual options, etc. Honestly it would just be easier to drop in a turbo motor rather than removing a bunch of items from the car.
 
#4 ·
Quote:
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Author: 280z/300zx
Date: Oct 18, 2:05pm

Honestly it would just be easier to drop in a turbo motor rather than removing a bunch of items from the car.

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Or do both!
 
#5 ·
Yah you could do both but then you'll end up with a race car more than a nice powerful daily driver. I guess it depends on what you want. Personally on a 300zx as far as I would go would be a removing a/c and cruise control as I could care less for either option. Other than that my main priority would be starting off with an 84-86 slick top model not only for the weight but the handling issue as well since the slick top provides better rigidity for the body. If you want a light weight turbo Z get a first gen Z and drop in a 280zx turbo motor. Now you are talking power and light weight. A 400hp first gen will definetly be faster than a 400hp Z31 due to weight, even with a weight reduced Z31 body. The only effective way to drop serious amounts of weight from the z31 is to strip it, other than that you'll only drop about 200lbs while still keeping it nice for a daily driver.
 
#7 ·
Good example steve. Getting a 300zx down to under 2900lbs makes for a not so nice daily driver. It's much easier to just turn up the boost. Still, that means your 87 gutted is only 200lbs lighter than my 84 slick top full trim. I'm sure if I removed some simple things like the spare tire, tools, a/c, cruise control I could have my 84 down into the 2900lbs range. That won't happen anyway considering my 280z is much faster and much lighter at 2580lbs.
 
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