Weight saving ideas
 

Ok, can anyone suggest any weight saving ideas that we might not of thought of? Maybe you will think different to how we do?

Thanks!

http://i51.tinypic.com/nz57o7.jpg

- What is that shiny plate meant for in your exhaust manifold? I would also make the is it headers so that they dont penetrude so much out of the frontal area. Also if you make it closer to rear wheels you will get more grip.
- Do the series dictate that the rear wing has to be so high? If not lower the "brakects". Also I would close the gaps between those brakets on the spoiler if it is allowed.
- Can you adjust that front spoiler? It looks like its made from aluminium?, because there is so much rivets...
- Looks like your front brakes are regular steel brakes?
- Looks like you havent milled bolt heads shorter?
- What are those black hoses which go to your cam covers? Anyway you could mill some material off from that big blue anodized aluminium "bolt" Its over 80mm long?
- In my opinion your braided steel hoses could be shortened at least 10% by the look of you pictures.

Those are my suggestions.

If you are serious about weight reduction, you could get another driver that has a smaller frame.
( I'm imagining something like a 98 lb 4'11" woman that likes to race :-) )

I'm sure you have considered that already though. Just thinking out loud.

On one of my bicycles I took off everything that didn't make it go. Off came the smaller chainwheel, front derailleur, kickstand, rack, reflectors... everything except decals and handlebar tape. Look at the bits and think "do they make this thing go?"

Braided steel hose is way heavy and I see tons of the stuff, lots way high on the chassis- consider hardlines for the majority of the length and smaller flexible connectors if nessicary. Things like dry sump lines or fuel lines that run between two components mounted on the block do not require any flex. Also give consideration to routing & mounting to save length. This exercise took about 10 lbs off our road racer.

-Plate on headers is purely cosmetic, so we could lose it although its made from very thin ali so is very very light.
-No rules on height of the wing no, but were looking to move it further back.
-We are changing the front end to have a wing right across the front.
-Yeah front brakes are steel, we plan to skim and drill
-the blue bolt and housing are going they weight 2lbs each! were remaking very light weight versions.
-Good point, hoses can be shortened

Thanks!

Haha good point!

Have to admit since this photo we did that and lost 50lbs of weight. Well worth it

Are the headers angled upwards on purpose, like to produce downforce ?
If not, point them straight aft.

On WW2 fighter planes, using the exhaust cleverly gained them additional speed.
The exhaust is essentially a jet, generating thrust.

Yeah to produce downforce but they are slanted back too,

Are you running an aluminum block?

Most racers never consider removing their gauges.
Put in warning lights and data recording/wireless xmit.

Also paint is heavy, might see if you can use less.

A coil-on-plug setup might save weight, eliminate the dizzy and its wires and the big MSD box.

Can the wheels on the back we any smaller and still have the same grip ?
What about height of the wheel ? Can you go with a shorter wheel that weighs less ?

I always wondered why dragsters weren't trikes, with a single itty-bitty wheel in the front. Weight and aero...

Look into using magnesium instead of aluminum for things. It is harder to work with and weld but it weighs about a third less than aluminum. I would use it in sheet metal or flat plate construction.

Magnesium does have drawbacks. It is more prone to corrosion but I don't think you will be driving your dragster on salty roads in the winter. It is more flammable than aluminum (yes aluminum burns quite well once you get it started, The British Navy learned this in the Falkland Islands ) and burns under water. Scratching it really good can set some alloys off. To drill those alloys safely you need to use a thick oil bath to quench the shavings.

EDIT:
you could go way extreme with a custom Ti crank http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=649649

We do indeed

Good thinking already done that, only have tach and oil pressure now

2 others gone.

We are going to paint thinner to save weight

We are changing tyres on rear

from 36 inch to 34.5 inch

this saves 14 lbs

We do have some magnesium parts, our new injector is mag only weighs 10lbs as opposed to 35lbs for one shown.

We are looking to use some mag sheet here and there.

That link is impressive too, we have a huge amount of Titanium so were going to make parts with that.