Finished my build, just a bit of tidying left so popped down to homebase, 4 x bathroom scales @ £3.99 a hit.

So plonked it on the scales, front 80kg each side, rear 140kg & 60kg (uneven ground), so even allowing for error on the scales and not setting the corner weights up I must be hovering at a max of 400kg.

Must go and find a flat floor now and set it up properly.


Feeling pretty pleased with myself now, kept throwing things away if they felt heavy.

Regards Mark

That sounds very light! Most Indy BEC's I've seen weights for are around 500kg, give or take a bit. Have you gone to any lengths to keep it lightweight?

Mine weighed 540kg @ SVA with a 90kg me in it!!!!
Aluminium floor but that's about it for saving weight.... I suppose I only had one seat too....

Hi Mark - I would be very doubtful the figures those scales are reading are anywhere near correct.

Most scales are widely inaccurate at weights upto 22 Stone

I'd reserve commenting on such a light weight until you get it on a calibrated weighbridge.

Just my advice...


Steve

What do the scales go up to maximum?

Agreed on the innacuracies, Ive had mine properly weighed as mentioned in the other recent weight thread, but Ive also got 4 bathroom scales for setup purposes and although they are fairly repeatable results so can be used to tweak corner weights, the figures themselves aren't accurate

[Edited on 18/3/07 by ChrisGamlin]

I dont think that marks car is an MK indy, but a self built tube chassis with independant suspension.

Edit: Sorry Si thought you said MK Indy...

[Edited on 18/3/07 by Gav]

Gav,

According to his Building statement it's a BEC Indy using tube.

Wouldn't want to be incorrect....


Steve

[Edited on 18-3-07 by Hellfire]

That would be a nice weight but i wouldnt go by that. Take it down your local scrappies and have it weighed.,

They aren't going to be particularly accurate though, I think the only way to be sure within a few kgs is to get it on a decent set of cornerweight scales.

Apologies

quote:

---

Originally posted by Hellfire
Gav,

According to his Building statement it's a BEC Indy using tube.

Wouldn't want to be incorrect....


Steve

[Edited on 18-3-07 by Hellfire]

---

Was going to say, I could've sworn I did say Indy BEC's!

If your going to weigh the car like that remeber to put a block of equal height to the scales on the other side of the axle being weighed or all you are doing is weighing againt the compression of the coil spring as suspension makes up the difference in height.

The ground has also got to be level.

I did mine and it came within 5kgs of the weight at the SVA test.

I want to shave around 50kgs of the weight of the car over the next few weeks.

Its weight too fat,

760kgs

Yup I agree, scales for £3.99 will not be that accurate, but when loaded they all read pretty much the same and I could swap them around the wheels and get the same results. Okay maybe they read light to suit silly people but I got then to balance the cars corner weights.

I purchased 4 scales so the numbers are the total weight of the car shared across all 4, the plan is to find level ground, set the scales up using a bit of clear pipe with water to get them at exactly the same height, calibrate scales at 100kg (4 x 25litre drums of water) the start in earnest.

The car is extremely basic, although not a power lifter prior to fitting the wheels I could struggle to pick up each end, fitting the wheels tipped the balance on doing that.

I could not dead lift 200kg, maybe when I was 20 but that is now just a distant memory.

Round tube chassis, ali floor, and 893 blade engine which is not that heavy.

light brakes & hubs Fibre glass wings, nose cone and seats, all other panels are ali.

The acid test is how fast it goes, the weight is immaterial but its nice to speculate.

Regards Mark


[Edited on 18/3/07 by mark chandler]

Hi Mark

Your spec is not dissimilar to mine although mine has a live axle (which is a few kgs lighter overall than an IRS setup with Sierra diff) but a steel floor (~7-8kgs disadvantage) and that came out at 435kgs on accurate scales, so Id be quite suprised if yours was near 400kgs, let alone under it.

I can also just about lift the rear end without wheels on, but you're not deadlifting 200kgs when doing that because all the weight is not centred around the point you are lifting from. Effectively the length of the chassis is a nice long lever with the weight spread along it, so you have mechanical advantage in your favour if lifting from one end, and the actual weight you are lifting will depend on where along that lever each heavy component sits (ie things near the pivot like engine etc will not act as much as things like the diff which are near the lifting point)

Also, say you're lifting the rear end, firstly you've taken off ~25kgs by removing the rear wheels, then because the front wheels are your pivot point you're not lifting those (unsprung) parts at all, i.e the front wheels / tyres / hubs / brakes / uprights etc all stay on the ground, so thats another ~40kgs, and then any weight forward of the centreline of the front wheels will be acting as a counterweight so actually helping you lift

[Edited on 19/3/07 by ChrisGamlin]

As I said above, " its nice to speculate".

Yes I know picking up the back is not the same as dead lifting, every mm forward the car is acting as a lever, but that aside my engine is 5 kg lighter than an r1, I do not have an engine cradle as this is incorporated in the frame and its round tube so lighter by default its getting closer, although not dissimilar to yours.

Regards Mark

Yep nice to speculate, thats all we're doing too though

The weight above was a few years ago when I still had the blade installed though, but having had both engines side by side in the garage I don't think a blade is any lighter than an R1, if anything Id say its the other way round judging from the highly accurate "how easy is it to pick it up" method

cheers

Chris