Before I can worry about the suspension/drivetrain/lift I've gotta do something about how much my wagon weights.  I am designing a customer dashboard. Using all custom guages and converting almost every electronic in the car to a manual switch.  I will be removing all interior decor and cutting out the inside portion of the frame and replacing with a roll bar and support bars.

 

As I have not started tearing the trim out I have no clue what I am getting myself into. 

 

Any pointers for shedding weight?  I am going to be cutting the spare tire crap outta the hood too! 

 

 

 

Roll bars can add rigidity but will add weight and if you are removing stock support will likely make the car more dangerous in a crash. There's a lot of engineering in the design of these unibodies. Probably not worth messing with it to try and save a few pounds. Add a roll bar etc. if you want a little more peace of mind for a roll over but don't mess with the unibody.

 

Aluminum rims will be lighter than steel. Will save you some weight. Manual window cranks. Delete options if available such as A/C, power steering, radio. The dash is a decent idea but will be a lot of work for a little gain. If you're up to the task though, then go for it.

 

Gutting the interior. Remove extra trim/roof rack/ fog lights, bumper covers, anything not needed.

 

If this is primarily going to be an off roader, removing window glass and replacing it with webbing or plexi like the baja vehicles will cut out a lot of heavy glass pieces.

 

My experience has been that it's good to do away with the extraneous stuff like wind deflectors and all, but have kept mine stock and just try not to carry a whole ton of gear with me. I adjust my driving style to the needs of the car. These old subies don't put out a ton of power, but will still get you around just fine without a whole lot of weight reduction. When it comes to traction weight can work both for and against you depending on the terrain.

rear seats can come out also and front seats can be turned into uncomftable plastic bucket seats, theres not really much weight you can remove from these cars to be honest.

Edited April 27, 201510 yr by Subasaurus

Gah!   72 horse power cannot push 3400 lbs fast enough!  Now I'm going to end up doing an STI motor and tranny swap if I cannot keep the itty bitty ea81

And thank you guys for your input.  If I had hair this thing would have me pulling it out.  Plus I gotta pray to the subie gods that I will pass this emission test tomorrow.  Even with my little after fire.

If you replace the pad on the top of the dash, I'd be interested in buying yours if its not super cracked.

My gl weighs like 2500 lbs. How light are you trying to get your car?! lol

 

I've literally picked up the rear end of it and slid it over a few feet.

Edited April 27, 201510 yr by l75eya

If you want to reduce the weight of the dash, remove the whole thing, remove the wiring from the back and then cable tie up the wiring &  gauge cluster or something. The weight is in the dash moulding, not really the cluster & switches.

 

Get some dry ice, a hammer & remove the sound deadening off the floor. search for vids on how to do this on the net. Don't use the heat gun method. Takes 5 times longer & is much more messy.

 

Not sure which model you've got, but convert to a carb, the wiring loom is heaps lighter. But a lot of work...

 

Or change to a sedan.

But yeah, these things aren't the heaviest cars in the world

Leave the wiring, leave the switches, strip everything else. Blindly stripping out gauges and wiring is a nightmare you dont  need.

Gah!   72 horse power cannot push 3400 lbs fast enough!  Now I'm going to end up doing an STI motor and tranny swap if I cannot keep the itty bitty ea81

Technically, if you have the 4WD model, you have 80HP (not 72). Just sayin' 

I like to bob the rear on the wagon on a committed offroader, easy to do

removes a lot of weight and gives a better departure angle, my present lightened soobie has no stock glass and rear bobbed and no stock doors a bar with sheetmetal you jump over , really makes a difference OH and add a EJ22 that makes a big difference, Ive done the dash removale route and didn't like it, it just didn't feel the same driving the car with loose wires and sheetmetal in front of me

Edited April 28, 201510 yr by Scott in Bellingham

heres the car

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1694996420725919&set=a.1694996414059253.1073741841.100006467321842&type=1

 

 

 

https://scontent-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/s480x480/10606355_1694996427392585_69599585287450966_n.jpg?oh=e01dbeba6d5ba17422b84e55cecb2698&oe=55CF699A

Edited April 28, 201510 yr by Scott in Bellingham

Gah!   72 horse power cannot push 3400 lbs fast enough!  Now I'm going to end up doing an STI motor and tranny swap if I cannot keep the itty bitty ea81

How the hell does your car weigh 3400 lbs? thats close to 1000 lbs heavier than stock.There is nothing on that car that would need to be built out of steel thick enough to weigh that much.Bumpers stronger than the car would weigh less than 100 lbs for both of them.Bigger tires and a lift will add more but not 1000 extra pounds.My ea81 hatch with an ej22,5 speed DR, nissan transfercase, and 31x10.50's weighed 2500 lbs.An Ea82 wagon is like 2700 lbs and has 89 hp.

Edited April 28, 201510 yr by Uberoo

I was just going by the little tag on the drivers side door jam. I have not weighed it yet.  As for the dash I meant remove it and replace it with a smaller more organized one. Like this but no so fast n the furious. 

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m231/zerotolerancefab/Mike%20Vs%20RHino/IMG_2225.jpg

 

Mines an EA81 with a carb.   I just had a major problem with it too. The tire assembly fell off and drug under the car.

Thats got to be as much weight as the stock dash skeleton. 

Thats got to be as much weight as the stock dash skeleton. 

Mine will be around 24 inches long 6 inches high and 12 inches deep. Nothing on the passenger side and a small one for switches and to house the ebrake and shifter between the seat.... Plus a cupholder!    I imagine the new one will weight a good 10-20 lbs not counting the  speedo tacho and oil pressure guages.

Im not sure, but i think there is a body brace behind the dash, so unbolt it, dont just hack it out, the brace should stay. And then all that HVAC stuff can go.

Im not sure, but i think there is a body brace behind the dash, so unbolt it, dont just hack it out, the brace should stay. And then all that HVAC stuff can go.

Oh yeah!   I am doing the heater as an I/O at full speed and locked to 2 vents. One for each seat. 

STI swap was done on one of these once to my knowledge. Allied Armament I think? Broke 3 axles in like 10 miles.

 

EJ18 or EJ22 with the stock trans is a great power upgrade and is well documented on the forums here. Weber carburetors being another. Much more power and you start breaking stock stuff and needing to do a whole lot of swapping/fab work to go any further. Though I did see an australian Brat that had full STI everything that was scary fast. But that sort comes with lots of time and $$$ invested.

That number is the gross vehicle weight rating. That's how much you it can weigh, maximum. Subtract like 880 lbs from that and there's your car weight.

That number is the gross vehicle weight rating. That's how much you it can weigh, maximum. Subtract like 880 lbs from that and there's your car weight.

Awesome thanks!  I will have to pull it across a scale when I get the suspension fixed (and whatever else fell off)

re the body brace mentioned by Nipper (for some reason I can't quote...)

 

Maybe from Legacy models onwards (because of the airbags), but not on any Loyales or earlier.