[Fot] Subject: Weight Reduction TR3-4

[Catpusher at aol.com]

For road racing, weight high up and towards the front is the top  priority. 
 For TR2 & 3 vintage racers, the first 555 TR2s built had  alloy bonnets 
and boot lids fitted as standard, so these have always been legal,  if you can 
find them.  I spent thousands of hours taking weight off our  TR3, and with 
SCCA safety equipment, it was down to 1700 lbs. Many fuel  cell regs. allow 
moving from the standard location, so it is a good example of  moving 
required items to lower the CG and polar moment.
Feel free to send a copy of your list.
In terms of safety, there is no safer way to race than jumping into the  
lead and then extending it.
 
TR Regards,
Hardy
 
 
From:  "Barry Munson" <barry at penybryn.ca>
To:  <fot at autox.team.net>
Subject: [Fot] Weight Reduction  TR3-4
Message-ID:  <001501cd57dd$679e29e0$36da7da0$@ca>
Content-Type: text/plain;  charset="us-ascii"

Amici -

As I have proceeded through Barnie's  - 1959 TR3A -  evolutionary process
from a derelict barn-find to a  vintage racer over the last two years, one 
of
the initial questions that I  was faced with was related to the issue of
weight reduction. The question  of how much and where could I reduce the
weight and remain compliant with  the requirements for originality of the
majority of vintage racing  organizations, while not compromising either
safety or performance, was  forefront in making decisions. So things like 
the
addition of fiberglass  components, changing the frame to a TR4, increasing
the width of the  fenders or the addition of flares were not considered. 
What
I was looking  for were areas that I could substitute alloy components for
stock iron  ones, use of components that were available on later models of
the TR3 line  and offered weight saving options. Over the last two years I
have been able  to reduce the weight by 104 pounds simply by acquiring
bolt-on parts. Of  course knowing what is available, its source and cost has
been the key and  I have to thank many from this list for that knowledge.

The 104 pounds  was achieved in the following major component breakdown:

Engine - 61.0  lbs

Chassis - 11.0 lbs

Front Suspension - 16.0 lbs.

Rear  Suspension - 16.0 lbs.

In addition to the weight reduction that was  achieved, many of the
components offered additional benefits in terms of  safety and performance.



I have prepared a component by  component table showing how and where this
reduction in weight was  achieved, however it is much too long for team.net
therefore if anyone  would like to receive a copy please just ask and I will
forward one  immediately