Random Machining

[Indy]

Designed/cut a battery hold down for a friend of mine with an old SVO 'Stang. Also working on a scoop inlet plate.

[Aaron]

That looks good, but why add all that weight?

[Indy]

The underside is all scalloped. It weighs about half a pound.

[Aaron]

A half pound of completely useless weight

The glass is neither half or half empty - it is merely twice as big as it needs to be. The piece looks great, and will serve the purpose. If aesthetics are what he wants (Like most car owners), then it works perfectly, like most of the billet pieces you find online (Caps, covers, etc). But for all out performance, it's the prime place to save weight (Front end weight, high up in the engine bay, useless weight, etc).

[Emc209i]

Aaron shut the fuck up.

Looks really nice Indy.

[crzyone]

I imagine if he cared about weight he'd be driving an Elise or other small light car.

[Aaron]

So if you don't drive an Elise, weight doesn't matter?

I worry about weight on my 4200lb Jeep. Weight is the singlemost components that affects every area of performance, on every car. Gas mileage, handling, braking, acceleration, top speed, all of it is negated by weight.

[Fastback86]

Unless you're feeding your family with your racing, half-a-pound of weight doesn't mean shit.

Looks nice.

[Aaron]

It adds up, ounces lead to pounds, pounds lead to tons. This is something that could have been done for 1/5 the weight, at a lower cost, with the same function.

[Indy]

Cheaper than free is pretty damn good. I guess I should have told the guy to run magnetos and pull the battery out every time he starts it. Silly me.

[Emc209i]

It adds up, ounces lead to pounds, pounds lead to tons. This is something that could have been done for 1/5 the weight, at a lower cost, with the same function.

And that's why you added two quarts capacity to your oil pan. Half a pound is a joke, or do you only drive to work after taking a dump?

[Aaron]

And that's why you added two quarts capacity to your oil pan. Half a pound is a joke, or do you only drive to work after taking a dump?

I made compromises where I could. But I'm not going to sacrifice my engine to save weight.

So if a half pound is a joke, then is a full pound? What about 2 pounds? 10 pounds? 100 pounds? At what point is weight no longer a joke? It's that belief that led to the Fiero weighing about 1000lbs more than it needed to, and thus being a terrible platform.

[Emc209i]

I made compromises where I could. But I'm not going to sacrifice my engine to save weight.

An engine that is already too fucking heavy to begin with.... It's funny who's bitching about weight...

What you're looking for is the law of diminishing returns. Half a pound is a very diminished return.. Especially on an SVO, or a shitero. This isn't Formula 1.

[Aaron]

An engine that is already too fucking heavy to begin with.... It's funny who's bitching about weight...

What you're looking for is the law of diminishing returns. Half a pound is a very diminished return.. Especially on an SVO, or a shitero. This isn't Formula 1.

Not arguing that, but it was the best choice that fit my goals.

So when is weight not worth the return? You tell me, give me a number.

[crzyone]

You will lose this argument Aaro n. Unless he is building a track car, where weight does matter then great. Saving a few hundred pounds is beneficial, but half a pound is meaningless unless he looks for a lot of weight savings.

I'm obsessed with losing weight on my GTR. I have it down to 3100lbs with a full cage. Even went as far as aluminum lug nuts. I'm sure there is another 100-200lbs I can still remove but it is getting harder and harder to find weight savings.

Installed my racing seats lately, saved a bunch of weight. FIA approved kevlar solid bucket. Probably half the weight of the factory seats.






Indy, you do awesome machine work. Do you offer your services to anyone?

[Aaron]

So I assume you have lavish billet aluminum battery hold downs? Because surely the half pound they weigh doesn't matter when your car weighs 3100lbs. Or did you skip those, because they are a half pound of completely useless weight?

[The Dark Side of Will]

What the hell, Aaro.n? Is it that time of month?

What is it that makes you get bitchy about something random and inconsequential every few months?

Go leave some rubber on some pavement somewhere and get it out of your system.

[crzyone]

So I assume you have lavish billet aluminum battery hold downs? Because surely the half pound they weigh doesn't matter when your car weighs 3100lbs. Or did you skip those, because they are a half pound of completely useless weight?

My car is a race car. Weight matters. If it was just a road car, I could care less about a pound here or there.

You talking about weight is kind of funny... You elected to buy a heavy ass Jeep with a large displacement engine pretending to be a performance vehicle. You would have been better off with a car that weighs less.

[Aaron]

My car is a race car. Weight matters. If it was just a road car, I could care less about a pound here or there.

You talking about weight is kind of funny... You elected to buy a heavy ass Jeep with a large displacement engine pretending to be a performance vehicle. You would have been better off with a car that weighs less.

Even on my road car, if I found a place where I could remove a half pound with absolutely no ill effects, I'd be all over it. There are no downsides, except now you have the stock plastic battery hold down, and not a shiny one that impresses ignorant people at car shows.

For what it is, it is actually relatively light at 4200lbs. But ya, it's heavy. For what I needed, I would not have been better off with a car that weighs less, because then it would not have been able to do everything the Jeep does. For just pretending to be a performance vehicle, it keeps up rather well.

[CincinnatiFiero]

I could take a half pound dump, but eat a pound of taco bell. Are we really talking about this?

The amount of water in your body fluctuates with humitity and air pressure up to or more than a half pound a day. Do you dehydrate yourself when going for an MPG run? Seriously.

Motor oil weighs something like 1.9 pounds per quart. Do you not keep a spare quart in the trunk? I'd imagine that runs train on your MPGs.

The average pair of shoes weighs 2 pounds. So do you only wear sandals or just socks when you drive?

Seriously it's a half a fucking pound, but does a lot for the eye with the hood popped.

Also, aaron, that scooped hood you have required more material than the stock style CF hood. Why would you waste power, handling, and mpgs especially in a plate that is so high up on the car. Totally wrecking you center of gravity bro.