got some answers?

[erik.wyatt1]

hey gang,
i have some questions im trying to get answered, and ive combed the search section and havent found a whole lot on it. if you could take a min and help me out with what you know that would rock.
these are questions regarding my car, a stock 1991 ls400

1) is it possible to remove the power steering system? completely making the ls a manual steering car?

2) if i remove the piece of the body between the fuel tank and the backseat to lessen weight, would this reduce the rigidity of the car? im not talking top to bottom, left to right, im talking just maybe enough to completely open through to the trunk. would it have to be reinforced as the car has no real frame?

3) what about the back floor boards and welding in material the same heighth as the driveshaft hump, forming one solid sheet across the back floorboard? when it comes to removing material, i get scared of messing with the cars actual infrastructure.

4) and the front inner fenders? what about those? then that would supply room for tube headers, anything mounted on them can be located in the trunk or back floorboard for weight distribution as long as it does not mess with the function of the actual system itself.

5) can the ls400s stock electrical system handle the pull of an electrical fan instead of the stock fan, or would more juice need to be supplied?

6) does anyone have any experience with the xms 7? the standalone by sea 2 sky? i posted a thread on it about a week ago but never got anything back. what i really want to know is can an amateur hook into this with the manual and have full control and be able to understand whats going on?

7) lastly (i posted a thread on this too but all i got was some guy saying turbo turbo power power) i took my car to the track, pulled the back seats, the back two mufflers, yanked the air filter and had a 1/8th tank of gas. i ran on a set of 17x7s that had new tread and nice and warm. my times were between 15.80 and 15.91 out of four runs, with consistent r/ts. mph of 89.11 at the high and 88.01 at the low. is this what i should expect from a pretty much stock lexus under those conditions? have i felt the full potential or is the ole girl lacking? it was a nice cool kentucky night so i know the atmosphere was perfect for it. should i be doing better?

i know this is alot, but i cant find most of it by searching so i thought id tried to knock it out at once...i appreciate any help guys

 

[340i]

1) probably, but i wouldnt
2) if you take out structure, you should replace it with something, like a half or full roll cage.
3) see above. one flat sheet will be weaker and not much lighter than the original structure.
4) removing front inner fenders would require a tube front end to be fabricated.
5) yes stock electrics should be fine.
6) not sure.
7) those times sound about right.

you need to take your car to a local race car engineer or whoever is going to be doing your fabrication, for a quick answer to what can be done legally in your area. i take it you want to loose weight to go faster. this may be better achieved by ripping out all the sound deadening, and replacing panels (bonnet, boot, guards, door skins?..) with fibreglass/carbon fibre items.
rip out the aircon too while you're at it, and get some wider rims and tires for a bit more grip.

 

[Peewee]

1) Yes, very possible, I don't see any benefit though.

2) to 4) as above, talk to an engineer. EVERY bit of metal and glass in a Japanese car has specifically been put there to aid to the rigidity of the car. Removing anything requires putting something stronger in its place.

5) Yes, it can handle it easy.

6) If you have a desire to learn more about the electronics of the motor and how to tune, then yes, you can do it yourself.
If you are just mentioning it because you have read reports of the gains and it sounds like a cool thing to do, just leave it to the experts.

7) Sounds about normal. These cars are not extremely light, and not extremely powerful.

 

[erik.wyatt1]

thanks guys,
with this car, i want to make it as much of a learning experience as i can. my previous car was a 1985 cutlass with a 455 out of a 1971 buick gs stg. 1 car. everything with that car was fairly simple to work on and learn with, but when i got the lexus i realized that with the ls it is going to be a totally new learning experience. i have almost zip experience with computers, plus just the way the car is built has opened my eyes on performance and race modifications.
i deploy to afghanistan in july, and am doing everything i can to research and build resources now so when get back i plan on taking a significant amount of the earned money and putting it in the lex.
i want to try to do everything on my own with a goal of building a beast. i dont think i could ever go back to a big honkin v8 after venturing into the lexus world here...theres so many unknowns with this car it just gets my blood pumping!
-erik