Easy weight reduction. (remove window stopper blocks)
 

This is something that might be overlooked if you're trying to reduce weight in your vehicle but if you have pretty much any 4 door car this is a good way to get rid of at least 4lbs or more.

You've probably noticed that the back windows of most cars won't roll down fully in some cars this is because of the shape or angle of the door not allowing the glass to fit fully inside the door but in other cars this is because of a stopper block that keeps the windows from making it all the way down. Supposedly this is a safety feature so if you follow the instructions is this and someone falls out your window because of it I am not responsible.

Anyway what you want to do first is a little research on your car to find out if you have a removable stopper or not. If you do keep reading, if you don't know if you do keep reading, if you don't have a stopper sorry this won't help you any.

Next you need to either find out how to remove it online and know what to do or find out how to remove it by taking stuff out of your car until the back window disappears into the door (hint, you'll find what you're looking for in the back door).

Start by removing the door cards every car is a little different but usually there are a few bolts or screws and a bunch or plastic fasteners holding it on. Once that's off you'll have to pull the vapor barrier out of the way I just pull it gently till the adhesive lets go then you can just reseal it when you finish. Now there should be two bolts holding the stopper in so just take them out and then pull the stopper out. At this point you'll want to CAREFULLY roll the window down to make sure it works and won't scratch the glass or anything. If you have no issues with the test roll the window up and down a few more times just to be safe then put everything back together and carefully test it again. If you have no issues then you're done.

Here is a 2 part video that shows how to do this on a cavalier or sunfire you could use it as a reference for the steps in this post if you want.

Part 1
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jBNg4KWSS7k

Part 2
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0b__jI4b55M

i don't have one.

This is a terrible idea for many obvious reasons.

.....and how much does a window stopper weigh?

Mcrews Mine were about 3.5 lbs a piece they are surprisingly heavy. I know that's not much but it doesn't reduce functionality and I had no use for them they don't affect road noise at all. They were just adding weight for no important purpose and were essentially just dead weight.

Topcat why exactly is this such a bad idea? My front windows roll all the way down. Should I fabricate a stopper for those? I don't know anyone who would be inclined to jump out of the back window because it has an extra 3 inches opened up.

Seriously though there are plenty of cars with back windows that roll all the way down. Jeeps drive around with no top or doors. Plenty of people have done this before without any issue. I actually am interested to hear why you believe this is such a bad idea.

$40 Battery swap
 

My lead acid waz dead so I went on Egay and found a 12v 20ah battery designed for alarm systems and I gave it a try. I worked well on my civic and should work on most 4 cylinder cars, They also have a larger one that is 12v 30ah if you live in cold climates. going from a 35lb lead acid to a 14lb AGM should make a small difference in stop and go traffic because less force is required to get the car going again from a dead stopp.$40 Lightweight battery - YouTube

Just do what I did and remove the starter. :thumbup:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1413328478

i checked the vid and ebay. prices are as stated. i am interested in how long they live under the heat/cold/vibes. i will be needing a battery soon so would like updates.

What about removing all the crap for the rear windows and glue them in the up position? Remove the regulator, motor, gearing, stopper? That ought to save 10-15 lbs a door.

Replace the rear windows with sheet metal? :)

Reshape the rear roof for better aero?

Empty the ashtray?

If you remove those stoppers, better make sure the windows don't hit something else and damage themselves, or it, on their way down. Or fall out of the guide channel, which may not go down all the way.

This all seems like nibbling around the edges. Even if you car weighs only 2,500 pounds, removing a few dozen pounds of weight seems to be nearly worthless.

Yes, the weight savings seem small. On the other hand, the medical motto "do no harm" seems to apply to ecomodding. I hate to think I work hard on a mod and it makes FE worse. It seems at least that this mod should not hurt FE.

I am working on adding a mid belly pan now. I have a spare hood from a former minor collision with just some cosmetic damage and it is free. I plan to use it for the mid pan and add coroplast that I have to the front and rear of it in channels mounted on the leading and trailing edge of the hood. The hood has structure in it so I won't have to add any substructure to support the coroplast. It will attach with 4 nuts fro easy removal and cleaning. The hood is steel and initially weighed 59 pounds, I was concerned that maybe the weight gain of any belly pan might not offset the potential gains in FE. I lightened the hood to 54# and removed some exhaust weights to get me down to 49#. Deleting 4# of window blocks would get me to 45#, which is similar to what others have added including their aluminum support structures(well maybe on the 3rd version,lol)
I plan to mount it backwards. The mounting is symmetrical so I can mount it either way.
I have read here that flat may not be ideal or desirable so the hood has a nice taper to it. Any advice from the areo wizards?

Also, I hate that my rear windows only go down halfway. I have a friend that owns an auto glass shop, but I wouldn't have thought to ask him about this, so thanks to the OP for the the suggestion. I will have him take a look with me.

BTW, being steel with all the 1.125 holes in the inner liner and painted black on the inside should help with the heat dissipation. I am covering the single exhaust pipe just after the cats. I put on a new exhaust clamp and tack welded it too.

No one has mentioned any concern over potential CO poisoning by adding a full belly pan to older vehicles. I got a household battery operated Carbon Monoxide detector just to be safe for $20 to use inside the cockpit.

Rolling your windows down any more than an inch or two will really hurt your FE.

My BAD, My Panther rear windows do go all the way down, they have a rear window lockout control button. It is my 94 impala SS rear windows that don't go all the way down

Not when you have crank windows. There no motor regulator or wiring in my doors.:)

I don't know about other makes, but on most GM vehicles the weight differences would be almost nothing anymore. Power window regulators(inc motor) are as light or lighter than their manual counter part. The mechanisms in the manual window regulators are often still made with 1/8" or thicker steel. I think it's because they are going to see higher input torque at times, when they can build the regulator for the power window, to handle a specific input. Popeye has to make sure his manual window is all the way up, and will get pissed if the regulator failed on him

:eek: You, sir (or madam), have a very nice taste in vehicles.