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del sol weight reduction


polsky's del sol

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i have a 1997 del sol s that i just recieved and i have been told that my car is very heavy for what it is. what are some ways that i can take off some weight in the car without doing anything drastic? also i am missing the antenna and i was wondering if i coudl just replace it with a very short maual antenna? this could save some weight because there would be no electric motor rasing the antenna anymore. where could i find a short manual antennae that would work on the del sol?

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yea, its the targa top. they had to reinforce the frame to support the car since there is no frame connecting together over the top of the cabin. a del sol s weighs about 50 pounds less then a dx sedan of the same year and the sedan is a much larger car for sure.

 

I pulled the entire ac system. that took out about 40 pounds worth and makes less drag on the motor so she is a little more peppy now, and gets a little better mileage too. wheels are going to be an important thing with this low hp low torque motor. make sure you don't put some 20 pound 18" rims on it. try to stick with stock or find a lighter than stock wheel or you will be negating all of the other weight losses you come up with and the car will actually be slower.

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you should check, but i think hx and/or vx 13's will weigh less

 

don't forget the spare tire and jack. You could pull the trunk carpet and cardboard too, it wouldn't affect comfort.

 

depending on how obscene you want to get there is a lot you can do: pull the interior, remove the roof rack assembly from the trunk, replace hood and trunk with cf. depending on your model you can remove the power steering. depending on where you live you might be able to pull the heater and blower assembly too and get away with it.

 

 

hell, i am sure you could go ape-sht and pull the dash and that might save you like, 100 pounds all total.

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i have the hx 13's on the car right now. has anyone seen any shorty antenna's for the del sol? it really is a priority to me because my power antenna was ripped off and i would like to listen to the radio. i do nto however want to go the power antenna route again. a nice stubby aluminum antenna like that on a volkswagen would be ideal. does anyone know of anything like this that could work with the del sol?

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If they're 13's then they're VX's not HX's. VX=13" HX=14" They look the same other than the inch difference.

 

Most of the reason that del sol's are so heavy for their size is because of all the reinforcement in the pillars to keep it rigid with the top off. No way to get around that without screwing up the structural rigidity of the car. If you wanted a car that was light for it's size, you just bought the wrong car.

 

You can do an S2000 antenna conversion, but I'm not sure what all's needed. You should just get a hidden antenna that mounts in your trunk and get a plug for the antenna hole.

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I have seen antennae put into the front windshield of 1950’s American hot rods. They fill the antennae hole and perform some body work magic to make the antennae disappear.

 

My 1997 Honda Accord EX-V6 has the antennae in the rear glass in the form of a few brown lines painted on the rear glass. I have wondered how hard it would be to put these brown lines on the front windshield of a CRX del Sol.

 

For weight, you probably did by the wrong car when compared to other Hondas.

 

You will pull your hair out finding ways to cut weight and find yourself generally malcontent by constantly making compromises between comfort and weight. Rock what you got, don’t try to make your CRX del Sol the lightest Honda ever, just make it a lighter CRX del Sol. Who cares if it isn’t lightest Honda on the road, as long as you’re lighter than the CRX del Sol in the lane next to you.

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