[Sven7]

As the owner of an '81 convertible I ask you to please not kill that beautiful Westy! Make reversible mods wherever possible.

If the interior is already stripped (and I hope you either kept it or sold it to an enthusiast) you could get lexan windows made and pick up some lightweight wheels. You can lose the bumpers and save some real weight, take out any A/C system it had (the compressors are heavy) and remove the spare tire.

It sounds like you do a bit of highway driving, in which case doing some aeromods would really help, possibly even more than weight reduction. GTI valences are supposed to be the most aerodynamic of the mk1 air dams, so try to get one of those from a junkyard. If you've already built a smooth belly pan I'd start on a Kammback or boat tail built off of the hatch. If you can't attach one without drilling consider building it off of a strap-on bicycle rack.

If you're looking for other ways to save weight search VWVortex for Mk1 racecar build threads. There are probably several to peruse.

Don't cut!