Building a partial drag/street car

[Gst18]

I finally bought another project car to work on and its a 90 talon Tsi AWD. My plans are to make it close to th 500 hp range. So far i have the engine out and am getting it rebuilt. As far as the chassis its completly stripped and ready for some more weight reduction. A/C and power steering will not exist on this car anymore. Im not sure where i would be able to remove some more weight besides the hood and hatch. I already removed all the tar from the inside. I guess cutting out the rear spare tire support would get rid of some weight.

As far as all the wiring goes do you guys think its a good idea to remove uneeded wires? I already have the 2 piece harness out of the car (2 engine harnesses that go to the dash area) and i dont know if i should start removing wires from the harness. I know that i want to get rid of the pop up head light and the motors. Would it be a good idea to remove emmision controls? I was also wonering if it would be a bad idea not to use the fartory gauge cluster?
Please i need some answers. I already printed out all the wiring diagrams and im just waiting to see what you guys think.

Thanks

If anyone has done this please give me a few tips.

 

[95blackGsTurbo]

Leave all of the wire's in there. Some ground's connect more than one thing and you don't want to snip an wire's you need.

 

[shaunman1979]

This is one subject that has always baffled me personally. I come from a domestic background and I race Pro Street 1971 Charger. Someone please correct me if I am wrong but you have have to drop like 100lbs to gain a tenth of a second. Tearing out the tar and wires you save what 5lbs if that. My car weighs close to 4000lbs and I run consistantly in the 10.90's fastest time so far is 10.80. This is all on motor . I guess what Im getting at is build a sick motor and drive train. See what you times are and go from there.

 

[DSM_NOOBIE]

I really think every little bit of material removal helps. You can definitly feel the difference whether you're just driving to the store or racing at the strip. IMHO I think its much more fun to be in a fast and nibble car with half the hp than a heavy car with say 600hp that can't turn on a dime.

I'd say the wires in the harness should stay for the concern of possibly shorting or losing a ground.

 

[JayRolla]

I agree with shaunman. Its not worth the weight. Ive done a lot of stripping on my car and its stuff you dont need, but nothing like seats or panels or wires. Only stuff like AC, power steering, bumpers(you dont need them) ect. My AWD weighed 3100 at the local scale and when I was done she was at 2880. Not bad for keeping all the panels and seats and so forth.

 

[Gst18]

I agree with dsm noobie. I like driving a car that is as light as but also have a lot of power. I have a buddy with a turbo crx. A 50 trim turbo makes that car jump through the gears and what helps the most is weight!!! I believe weight is the worst enemy when it comes to racing. I guess i will just stick with the stock harness and just get it cleaned up and looking better.
Thanks for the replies.
It would still be nice to get a reply from someone who has tempered with their harness.

 

[super95awd]

From experience I will say don't touch the harness. With that being said, I dropped nearly 50lbs in wiring and fuseboxes by rewiring my car from scratch.

And you are right in your last post, weight is one of the biggest things that people always overlook when trying to build a fast car. They remove their rear seats and assorted interior panels and decide that their car can now be deemed "light" and go about their merry way.

 

[Gst18]

thanks for the reply super95awd. Just out of curiousity how long did it take you to rewire ## harness back up? Did u have problems with grounds?

Since i dont plan on using my gauge cluster what should i do with all those extra wires and connectors?

Thanks

 

[dsmclipse97]

You can switch out all the glass for lexan and go with a carbon fiber hood and hatch and possibly doors if you have the money. I think its carbon creations that sells them. If you still have the spoiler i think thats a good 15lbs you can get rid of. There are several weight saving threads on here that some people went crazy on.

This is one subject that has always baffled me personally. I come from a domestic background and I race Pro Street 1971 Charger. Someone please correct me if I am wrong but you have have to drop like 100lbs to gain a tenth of a second. Tearing out the tar and wires you save what 5lbs if that. My car weighs close to 4000lbs and I run consistantly in the 10.90's fastest time so far is 10.80. This is all on motor . I guess what Im getting at is build a sick motor and drive train. See what you times are and go from there.

yup, you are definently from the domestic crowd. Weight saving isnt just for drag racing... it makes the car handle like a go kart. autocross anyone?

 

[nightspeed87]

makes it have shorter breaking distances also.

 

[super95awd]

Well what I did is just make sure I knew exactly where all the necessary wires in the engine harness were going by marking them on the ecu side and engine side, and I just ripped the entire chassis harness all the way out. I have a full autometer gauge cluster wired in and hardwired all the lighting to switches (headlights, taillights, turn signals). Everything else is hardwired as well (start button, ignition power, fuel pumps, fan, etc.), and all run to 3 seperate fuse boxes, one for constant power, one for ignition power, and one for illumination. If you really plan on tackling this job, PM me and we can talk about it in more detail.

thanks for the reply super95awd. Just out of curiousity how long did it take you to rewire ## harness back up? Did u have problems with grounds?

Since i dont plan on using my gauge cluster what should i do with all those extra wires and connectors?

Thanks

 

[Gst18]

i just decided to use the same harness without cutting out anything.
Thanks for the replies