The Weight

Nice job Gilbert ! They will be in the best place too ! Looks like you can add or subtract easily as well. Perhaps mounting brackets for a custom tow bar could be incorporated that would make it easier to remove and install ?  ...............Bruce

One of my most favorite songs ever.

I thought about melting down all of our spent lead from our range and making a large flat lead slab to put at the bottom of the battery box but this looks even easier. That, and I wasn't sure the bottom of the battery box could handle the weight of the lead.

In comparison my Fiber Fab wide body with a Subaru conversion feels fine with or without a passenger. I had the car weighed at 1850lbs. With the radiator in the front and a smaller radiator/heater core and heater fan the car handles very well. I have a camber compensator in the rear, adjustable spring plates Koni red classic adjustable shocks ( getting rid of the KYB shocks was the best thing I ever did. The car had a bounce in the front on rough roads) I removed the front sway bar it was actually holding the front of the car up as it lay against the bumper mounts, it came that way from the previous owner. I feel it isn't needed and Carey at Special Edition agreed. I love your ingenuity in the way you have decided to add weight to the front of your car. This is what it is all about for me. Build your car the way you want it and have fun....but don't let ALB know about adding weight to you car... LOL..

Good work Gilbert! On an 1800 lb car with a 43/57% weight bias, adding 45 lbs at the front wheels changes it to 44.3/55.6%

@Robert M- Ever worked with fiberglass? It's not hard (just a little messy!). If you were to re-enforce the bottom and 4-5 inches up with a couple of glass layers and then cast the lead in thin sheets so it could be molded/pounded into shape I think it would work just grand!

Pulling into Nazareth you need to be driving a Triumph, or is that Yerushalaim 

Great Idea on the weight on the bars... and also putting a tow bar set up.

I have a friend here who went to H.S. with Leon Helms. Leon was from Helena, AR.

OH OH...

Funny how spending a little time under your car will have reality slap you in the face. Overlooking the obvious can be sobering. The previous drawings will not work. The steering box is in the way thereby requiring revisions if anyone (doubtful) actually wanted to build this project.

Oh and Leon is Levon

I pick up lead wheels weights to make fishing sinkers.  Lead melts at around 880 degrees and is soft but heavy! It wouldn't be difficult to make a mold (or even shape a lead ingot) to fit to the inside of the front apron.  It could be liquid nail-ed and then cover with fiberglass.  My 1965 911 had cast steel ingots in the very front of the car.  

Jim Gilbert - Madison, Mississippi posted:

OH OH...

Funny how spending a little time under your car will have reality slap you in the face. Overlooking the obvious can be sobering. The previous drawings will not work. The steering box is in the way thereby requiring revisions if anyone (doubtful) actually wanted to build this project.

Oh and Leon is Levon

Nice drawings Jim, and Leon is Levon?  Did I miss something?

WOLFGANG posted:

I pick up lead wheels weights to make fishing sinkers.  Lead melts at around 880 degrees and is soft but heavy! It wouldn't be difficult to make a mold (or even shape a lead ingot) to fit to the inside of the front apron.  It could be liquid nail-ed and then cover with fiberglass.  My 1965 911 had cast steel ingots in the very front of the car.  

Wolf! There must be a lot of unbalanced wheels in FL. 40 pounds of wheel weights must be 10 years of gathering. Persistence is everything.

I've ordered the steel to do this and will post photos if anyone's interested.

Ray: Levon Helms - The Weight

 

What program are you using to draw those plans Sketchup?

 

Autocad

The Weight - Revised Revision

The weights are installed. Due to a slight miscalculation somewhere I lost 20 pounds. Not me, the weight. However, I have a solution...if needed.

I've actually owned a 356 SC Coupe and well remember how great they drove on a twisty road (there are a few in Mississippi). My Speedster never handled like that. REAL Porsches are now out of my reach, financially. If they were not I'd own one today. and the handling would not be an issue.

I took the car out last evening and was pleased with the result; the 50 pound bag of sand is in the greenhouse. I still have to remove the weights and paint everything. The photo is not pretty

There wasn't too much interest in this. I guess everyone's Speedster handles like a Ferrari except mine. If anyone wants I'll post revised drawings and some instruction.

You can remove the shift rod.

 

Looks great to me!

@Jim Gilbert - Madison, Mississippi posted:

The Weight - Revised Revision

The weights are installed. Due to a slight miscalculation somewhere I lost 20 pounds. Not me, the weight. However, I have a solution...if needed.

I've actually owned a 356 SC Coupe and well remember how great they drove on a twisty road (there are a few in Mississippi). My Speedster never handled like that. REAL Porsches are now out of my reach, financially. If they were not I'd own one today. and the handling would not be an issue.

I took the car out last evening and was pleased with the result; the 50 pound bag of sand is in the greenhouse. I still have to remove the weights and paint everything. The photo is not pretty

There wasn't too much interest in this. I guess everyone's Speedster handles like a Ferrari except mine. If anyone wants I'll post revised drawings and some instruction.

You can remove the shift rod.

 

I’m quite interested in it Jim. As I said before I’d love to add weight to the front of the car and keeping it out of the drink would be ideal. 

Looks pretty good to me from here so I guess if it’s balanced or centred I should say you should be good and it will engage the front suspension sufficiently to give you a better handling car are you planning to paint them with Apoxsee paint that’s a new version of paint also known as Por-15

You got a love Siri

 

@Jim Gilbert - Madison, Mississippi

Well done Jim! With brackets, hardware and everything- do you know the final amount added? 

@Jimmy V. wrote-"....but don't let ALB know about adding weight to you car... LOL.."

I got a good laugh at that, Jim. If you look at the pics of parts I've 'persuaded' to shed pounds, you'll notice that they're all from the back of the car- front/rear weight balance is everything, and in these cars is one of the things that can be easily improved upon. What Jim is doing will make the car more balanced and predictable. It will improve braking as well. The only things in the front I'd consider going lighter on are wheels and brakes- if you're looking for optimum performance, shedding rotating and unsprung weight has direct benefits (but I don't need to tell you that).

A common parking lot slalom (you guys call it autocross I believe) trick for VW owners is to add weight to the front- I read about 1 guy who bolted a 60 or 80 lb plate to his buggy. IIrc it was in the shape of the front of the pan. I believe he was a top competitor and said it changed the car, allowing the front tires to bite and brake like nothing before.  I've also heard (read?) about guys melting lead down and pouring it into the shock towers on the front axle beam- I have to admit I do like that one!    Al

The total added weight was 26 pounds. I took a 100 mile shake down drive this morning. Interstate and crooked back roads. I think it was a project worth doing. Car felt planted at 80mph on the twisties.

With the 50lbs of sand in the frunk the steering was a bit heavy. This is the result I was looking for. It finally drives like a 356.

A cubic foot of steel is 490 pounds. When I was figuring the weight of the plates I started with a 12 x 12 x 1" piece, i.e. 490/12. Should have been 490/24. after getting the assembly together I weighed then on a bathroom scale. 26 pounds.

The installation working space is tite. The 5/16" bolts had to be changed to studs. There would not have been enough room to weld. With the weight off the ground the sway bar will be in the way. Also rotated the 2 x 2 angle 90 degrees to provide space for removal of the shift rod.

The cost of this was about $100.

Revised revised revision attached.

I wondered about doing something similar, Jim.  Nice job.

@Jim Gilbert - Madison, Mississippi wrote- "...Car felt planted at 80 mph on the twisties..."

^^^This^^^ There was a reason Porsche put weights in the front bumpers of those first 911's...

Jim, that looks really good. Congrats nice piece of work.

Well done, Jim, and I think an excellent demonstration of both how little needs to be added—26 pounds?—for it to have a good effect, if it's in the right place; and how dang complicated it is to fabricate and install even seemingly simple tweaks. 

Thanks for sharing this.

I bought the steel on eBay. Nobody locally will sell you drops (waste after something is cut to length).

Thank you all. I hope someone will do this project too.

My brother works for a fabrication shop that builds boxing equipment. I’ll have him save me enough stainless steel scraps to do this. Or I’ll just have him order me the necessary amount of steel to do it. 

@Jim Gilbert - Madison, Mississippi posted:

I bought the steel on eBay. Nobody locally will sell you drops (waste after something is cut to length).

Thank you all. I hope someone will do this project too.

That really stinks. I have a place less than ten miles from me that sells drops if they have it. Otherwise it's 20 footers, and I have a bunch of extra stock in specific sizes because of it!

There's a place here called the Metal Supermarket that will cut and sell small amounts. It's not cheap- for my aluminum mid mount- 18" of 1½x1½, 1/8" wall square tubing (rounded corners), 10" of 1¼x1¼, 1/8" wall (to fit inside the ends of the bigger piece) and 10" of ¼x4" plate (to bolt to the transaxle case) cost $36. It would have been cheaper (no cutting charges) but I couldn't find any of what I wanted in the off cuts bins. A little more expensive, but I'm not storing a pile of stuff I don't have room for and may never use. The mouse is acting up on the computer here- pics later. This shot of Bruce's aluminum mount will have to do. Btw- My steel Berg midmount weighed over 5 lbs., whereas Bruce's weighs less than 2 and I expect mine will be the same.

That's on holy mount!!

Al...Your traction bar photo was someone else's.  This was mine.  I know you like more holes but that takes a lot of time in 1/2 " plate. I can't remember how much it weighed.........Bruce

@aircooled- I have those pics saved to my computer, Bruce, because what you built is a great example of how a rear engine mount should be done (and I think a higher powered aircooled engine should be supported on the back). I believe Stan has built a rear hanger as well? And yeah, I know those holes took a while...

@aircooled- Sorry, Bruce, another question- did you ever weigh that mount? I never realized you made it with ½" plate.

That rear mount Bruce, it  was connected to the square frame on the car? 

Ray......Yes it is. Very close to where the square tube is welded to the shock towers. .........Bruce

Al...I did weigh it but I can't remember the number. Should have wrote it down but didn't.............Bruce

Al.......Now that I think of it, the plate was 3/8" thick...........Bruce

Thanks Bruce. If you should have reason to remove it and remember, I'd love to hear what yours weighs.

@ALB posted:

Thanks Bruce. If you should have reason to remove it and remember, I'd love to hear what yours weighs.

He sold that car Al. I’m guessing the bracket was still installed on it. 

@Robert M posted:

He sold that car Al. I’m guessing the bracket was still installed on it. 

Oh, yeah; I forgot about that...