19bonestock88's 2004 Saturn "Ion Green Line" build...

[freebeard]

My thoughts on embedding wire across the flutes. Half buried under tape or fully wrapped.

[19bonestock88]

That’s not a bad idea, I just ran the wire inside the flute

[19bonestock88]

Made a little more progress in the car this weekend, in addition to the engine work in the other thread. Removed rear bumper and finished smoothing in my aero panels with foil tape. Also finally have metal step drills so I may revisit that particular weight reduction method while everything is apart

[19bonestock88]

Oh wow, so I forgot to keep the EM community in the loop in this project. I just got her running and driving on the new engine, bodywork is painted except the roof, still getting used to the new feeling of the car, so much has changed it feels way different than before.

To recap:
Spare tire well and rear crash bar deleted, trunk floor remade with coroplast…
New diffuser made which is now free standing
Lead acid battery replaced with 6.6lb LiFeMnPO4 pack from batteryspace, eliminating 8+feet of 2ga cable

Engine has aluminum flywheel and balance shaft delete and solid transmission mounts to reduce wheel hop on launch

Estimated 50lb gone, maybe more? Hopefully lower drag (hard to quantify since so much has changed and I’m still on the 225 width 16 inch track tires), perhaps an additional 10-15hp (needs tune)

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

I don't remember having ever seen an aluminium flywheel in the cars I was more familiar with.

[19bonestock88]

It’s an aftermarket piece meant to increase engine response, and boy does it lol

[19bonestock88]

So I did get a certified weight on the car at a cat scale last week. With a quarter tank of fuel (same as all the other times it has been weighed) and approximately 20lb of tools and travel gear with me, the car scaled out at 2480lb, so 2460 empty. Short of more major surgery I’m about out of things to remove for further gains, and furthering the aero by adding belly pans and such will add some back. Ideas that I’m missing? I’d still like to hit the 2400 mark

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by 19bonestock88

It’s an aftermarket piece meant to increase engine response, and boy does it lol

Even though a heavier flywheel would be supposed to compensate for some lack of balance in most engines, how does this aluminium flywheel compare to the stock one when it comes to NVH?

[19bonestock88]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

Even though a heavier flywheel would be supposed to compensate for some lack of balance in most engines, how does this aluminium flywheel compare to the stock one when it comes to NVH?

I’ll be honest, I did so much at once it’s hard to say. In addition to the lightweight flywheel I also did the balance shaft delete and filled a set of new transmission mounts with window weld. You feel absolutely everything in this car now

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by 19bonestock88

You feel absolutely everything in this car now

I can relate to this so much.