Westy weight reduction thread

[unplannedbbq]

[?Waldo?]

That's kinda funny. I actually have an intentionally heavy bicycle in order to get more exercise when I ride in order to reduce the total weight of me+bicycle.

[Wildthings]

I have always said that the weight of the gut has more effect than the weight of the bike.

Try picking up an 40 year old kids bike, it is amazing how much those things weighed and they sure didn't seem to slow a kid down much.

[bjrogers86auto]

If you want to lose weight...lose the carbs.

If you want a faster lighter vehicle...leave the van at home and drive something else. If I'm in a hurry, I'm not in my Westy.

Seems simple.

Brian
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86 Vanagon GL Westfalia 2.1
18 Nissan Frontier Pro 4X
19 Honda Civic Hatchback

A little rudeness and disrespect can elevate a meaningless interaction to a battle of wills and add drama to an otherwise dull day. Calvin and Hobbes.

[Rodknock]

With a few tools I did not need to carry (why was a pipe wrench in there?) I got another 5lbs out. I think I've run out of things to shed weight. I got rid of 135lbs total. If I fill the gas tank half way that would get me about 35lbs less so a grand total of 170lbs best case scenario. The Westy is quicker off the line, and up a few local grades I drive often I am shifting into 3rd quicker than before. Stops, starts and corners a little better. Not huge, but noticeable. I'll really find out how it does when I go up I-70 with the family and all the gear. Didn't cost much or take much time, I needed new camp chairs anyway. There is a pile of stuff in the garage now.

For you hard numbers folks, I found an interesting site with a formula for calculating weight loss and equivalent HP gain. When I plug my numbers in (4300 lbs original minus 175lb reduction and 90HP) I get about 3.9 equivalent HP gain. Not bad, and it handles a little better too. Here's the link to the calculation... http://www.tuneruniversity.com/blog/2012/03/power-to-weight-ratio/.

Regardless of what numbers you like to look at, I just like to get in the Westy and get the feel from the driver's seat. It was a fun project and I like the results. I also made some changes that turned out really well such as removing the rear closet door. Far, far easier to get stuff from there now no matter where I am in the van our under the rear hatch. Should have done that a long time ago. Have fun, be safe.

[jackbombay]

[hans j]

The horsepower in my engine swap remained the same, but I gained 50 foot pounds of torque.

A little saying I remember hearing when I got into cars was "horsepower sells cars, torque wins races".

And now with my 5300 pound syncro (fully loaded), I can do a 6% grade for a couple miles in 4th gear (.73).

I try to add as little weight as possible, but it seems like taking comfort items out of camping is like tripping over dollars to pick up pennies. At least that's what it is like for me Your results may vary!
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1986 Canadian Syncro Westy TDI - 1989 Syncro Single Cab - 2001 Audi S4 - 1981 VW Caddy ABA - 1980 VW Caddy EV - 1973 VW T-181

[fleet_maintenance]

Thanks for posting up the mission and the results. Your thread sparked some interesting and thought provoking discussion, and best of all, was free.
Cheers!

[Mike Robinson]

This is one of my winter projects while the Westy is resting during the season that causes rust.

The heaviest I roll is going into Burning Man with 9 days food and water and two bikes and shade structures and and and ... What a pig to drive. 25 gallons of water 250 lbs

So over the winter I am going to pull the non functioning diesel heater, rationalize the spare parts, rationalize the tool box and other things. I am sure it will make no difference!

I have repainted the Westy three times. It reminds me of a documentary on the South African forces who in the 70's still used DC3's they were unable to fly with the maximum payload due to having being painted too many times!

M

[vela123321]

Thanks for the discussion, but I have to say... I'm okay with slow in my van. I seem to always be "fast and busy" but that all melts away when I'm in the van. I couldn't imagine taking the heater out or the door off the closet (my 11 year old loves the mirror!).... it is slow... yes... but that's okay with me. I might feel different if I lived at elevation, but for now I'm okay with the speed. I just added an onboard battery charger, and I couldn't believe how heavy it was! I probably wouldn't have thought twice about it, but for your thread that I read yesterday!
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1987 Westfalia Vanagon 2.1 automatic
2014 VW TDi Jetta Sportwagen (Dieselgate)
2016 BMW 328i

1967 Bug... given to a friend
others not VW... Toyota, Audi, Volvo, Datsun, International Harvester

[Terry Kay]

Mobil Economy Run 101;

Run 100 lbs of air in all of your tires, remove the mirrors, bolt a fiberglass fairing to cover up the entire front end--be sure to leave peep holes in the upper portion of it so you can see where your going, skirt the entire underbelly of the van to make it smooth, back off the rear brakes so they don't drag, and get a wing up on the top of the roof of the van to break up the suction it's pulling along with you for the ride.
And last but not the least, ( this is my hill climbing thought) add a JATO assist boost rocket to the bumper hitch--
Push the "GO" button at the bottom of the hill--you'll be up top in no time.

Problem solved, and you won't have to be tearing the Van apart , and tossing out tools you might need one day to get to the top in record time, and with very low fuel consumption.
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T.K.

[vela123321]

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1987 Westfalia Vanagon 2.1 automatic
2014 VW TDi Jetta Sportwagen (Dieselgate)
2016 BMW 328i

1967 Bug... given to a friend
others not VW... Toyota, Audi, Volvo, Datsun, International Harvester

[Terry Kay]

Perfect--
Wile E. Coyote had the answer all along---

Is it a bird , is it a plane ?

Nope--it's a super hill climbing Vanagon.

All kidding aside, there was an accessory Jato Assist Rocket engine you could bolt onto any conventional rear end of any car back in the 60's for the ulitimate 1/4 mile times.
A little wacky, but it worked.
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T.K.

[tjet]

In my stock 77 westfalia, my speed climbing up a mountain (big bear) was similar to a Cessna 150 (see pg 41). Both underpowerd & affected by any additional weight or air temp/density...

http://www.elkgroveairport.org/c150.pdf

[Terry Kay]

Here's what your going to have to transform your Vanagon into to get it to leap tall hills in a single bound, without stripping it naked.
Contact; DoctorZarkov.com for the update kit---
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T.K.

[Jake de Villiers]

[Rodknock]

Jake, the input is appreciated but please note from the original post "With a strong running low mileage 2.1L waterboxer and no funds/time to do an engine conversion anytime soon, the only way to get up the Colorado mountains faster is the lose some weight." I think that just about everyone here knows about all the engine conversions that can be done. Not an option for me at the moment and I am sure many others, so that's reason for the thread about shedding some excess weight off the van to get a tad better performance/handling.

[madspaniard]

I'd like to contribute, remove the tire valve stem caps for additional weight savings
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1991 Westy auto w/ Peloquin TBD

"The only difference between me and a madman is that I'm not mad” - Salvador Dali

[Altoona]

[danfromsyr]

who really needs a shift knob?
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