Hey guys. I see that if i take the air conditioning out of my car it'll help me lose about 40lbs. which is about 1.6% of my car's weight. I have ideas to rid myself of another 132lbs or 5.5% but i'm wondering how difficult it would be to do.
Should i have a stealership do it? Or do most performance shops do it? Pros? Cons?
Take the seats out, panels, speakers, rugs... how far do you want to go? All you need are wrenches, ratchets, and screwdrivers.
In reply to N Sperlo:
Well, the car is my (summer)daily driver-- so i'm not going super crazy with it. But i've taken the back seat out, gotten a carbon fiber hood with nice open scoops, i'm getting an 11lb. racing battery, replacing the stock seats, I take out the spare + jack when i go to the track.
But i never really use the A/C either way, so i was thinking of getting it taken out.
But i don't want to rip out all the carpeting and stuff-- except for maybe in the rear-hatch area. I still want speakers (It doesn't have many).
The car stock weighs 2,450 without a driver, so with my current plans it'll be 2,318lbs. which is pretty impressive for a street car, in my opinion. But an extra 40lbs would be awesome from the A/C.
What's your ultimate plan for the car? More track, less street? Quick street car?
Are you planning to keep the heater portion? I would think being in Minnesota you would. Did Toyota make a non-A/C version of your Celica?
Does that 40lbs include the compressor? You'll need to factor in a different belt configuration or an idler pulley to replace the compressor pulley.
Other than evacuating the refrigerant the rest is nuts and bolts. A block-off plate probably will be needed to plug the hole(s) in the firewall. That can be made pretty easily. Seeing how you have a nicely painted body kit on the car I'll bet appearance is important. So factor in time to make the block-off plate(s) look good too.
The dash may have to come out to get the HVAC box out. If you don't have a factory service manual, get one. It will come in handy. Look up replacing the evaporator or heater core and it will give you an idea of what all needs to come apart to get the box out.
As for taking it to the dealer or a shop, I'd say DIY first. Hours will rack up quickly, and they aren't cheap. I don't think a dealer would want to tackle something like this. A performance shop might, but find people that used them first and get some feedback.
Sound deadening is heavy. Take up your carpets and take out the jute. Replace with much lighter dynomat type stuff put carpet back. I did that to my car it shed about 10 pounds. Granted that stuff was every were. There were also two relatively heavy steel plates, one in the glove box door and one under the steering wheel to aid in dropping it for tilt function.
Why would you pay someone to remove your A/C? It's just bolts and screws...Get wrenchin!
In reply to Maroon92:
Well, i thought a pulley was incorporated. Maybe this will help: I'm 23 and just got REALLY into cars a couple years ago and i don't have much hands-on experience with anything that isn't classic muscle. So working on a 02' Toyota is kind of frightening for me. I just don't want to mess up my first car, ya know? First one i ever bought. Anyways, sorry for being such a rookie.
@ ThePhranc, I think my particular car is already skimped on the sound-deadening. I think i remember hearing that on the Celica forums as to one of the reasons it's so light, stock.
And i wonder if carbon fiber fenders would save me much weight.
Seek and Ye shall find a way. I'm sure someone else has done it and can lend some advice on how to.
In the past year I've ripped out PS, AC and swapped a V-belt setup for a serp belt. It wasn't a lot of weight saved really, but rather to simplify my engine bay. The setup did take a good bit of tinkering and seeking of advice from like model forums, but it had all been done before. But my car does have a bit more pep in its step after doing so.
I did have a Jetta that I stripped the insides out, I loved it after I did so. But I'm weird.
One thing to ponder is with all those carbon fiber bits, street driving is not always so kind to cars. One accident might be a little ding on metal or splintered carbon fiber panels.
I see by your profile you're in the Twin Cities area...even with the jungle heat we had this summer you didn't use the a/c? Man, you must be cold blooded. 
I would never, ever, ever, ever, ever remove the A/C from a car I drive regularly on the road, if it was still working. I've owned too many with no or broken air conditioning.
I think there are much better, more realistic places to lose weight that won't affect creature comfort or resale as bad as ditching the A/C will. Could you shave off 40lbs going to lighter wheels? Factory exhaust? Ditch that E36 M3 for nice savings.
Again, no way in hell. Then again I grew out of obsessing over minutia in street drivers a few years ago.
I'm going to have to agree with stuart and Osterkraut. Remember, A/C doesn't just cool the car when it's hot; it also dehumidifies when it's cold and damp, when you turn defroster on.
I manged to reduce the weight of my ZX2SR by 100 lbs and I left the AC in and PS. No affect on daily driving.
if it's broke.. definatly remove it. I do not have air in my 318ti.. and to be honest, I do not see a need for it.. with the windows down, sunroof open, and the rear windows popped.. I was more than cool enough this past summer.
If you were in Atlanta you would definatly want that A/C. 95 degrees and raining sucks if you dont have A/C. There are other cheaper ways to lighten the car without spending $$ on carbon fibre.
Cut the bracing out of the trunk and hood.
Ditch the padded and insulated door panels and fab up some from aluminium, cut the webbing brcing stuf from the door when you do. Just dont remove the side impact protection.
Got power windows? Get rid of that crap and install cranks. Even better with sliders and Lexan.
If you really just want to spend the $$ take a driving course. Best way to decrease lap times.
@ neckromacr, i understand. But i really like carbon fiber and i like how "expensive" the car looks when the product is nearest completion and you have all kinds of nice looking (and functional) carbon bits. And i just can't be...i guess for lack of a better word; 'cinical' enough to avoid buying carbon fiber just because it may get damaged in an accident. That'd be kinda like me only buying cars under $4,000 because they might get crashed. But i get what you're saying.
@Stuart in MN, I'm from Mississippi so i'm kind of used to the heat and humidity. The Celica has a sunroof, so with all windows open and sunroof popped, i'm usually pretty fine. In the past 3 years i might have used the A/C 4-5 times.
@Osterkraut, Yeah i get ya. Maybe the A/C isn't the way to go. I was going to get some 18x8'' Rota P45Rs to replace my stock 16x6.5''s i have now, but the stock ones weigh 19lbs ea w/o tires and the Rotas weigh like, 21-22. So i'd be taking a step backwards in terms of weight, but going from 215/55/16s to 235/40ZR/18s would give me much more grip. So i guess i'm kind of torn.
@RealMiniDriver, Thank you. I think i may ditch the idea.
@mad_machine, Yes, and Minnesota summers are often quite mild. (With the exception of this year, sheesh!)
@porksboy, This is my Daily Driver so i'd rather not gut the shizz out of it. I mean, yanking out the back seat, trunk panels, trunk carpet, and stuff is okay, but up front i still want it to look like a car-- not a rocket ship. With power windows, i was actually thinking of replacing the glass with some sort of plastic as i saw in the latest GRM. It sounded nice-- and i don't really want to go as far as to have crank windows.
However, i have taken driving courses and plan on doing more once my car gets more modified. (Need to put in a 6-speed and fix a clogged Cat. along with suspension tuning.) I mostly go on Open Track days or for Performance Driving School, but never anything competitive. I'm not at all worried about racing anyone-- just going fast on my own and having a blast.
not sure you can put in crank windows in a stock celica.
Often times power windows are actually lighter and less complicated than cranks.
Now if you went with the porsche method of just using a leather strap to haul the wind up.. that would be bad ass and lightweight
In reply to mad_machine:
Yeah stuff like that is cool. Like the Lotus Exige-- ultra low weight and no amenities. Just power and handling. A truly awesome car.
what is funny.. I was looking for ways to lighten up my Fiat 124 Spider. For a car with no amenities aside from roll up windows and a heater.. it is a rather portly weight.
Then I started noticing things like the front turnsignals are made of metal and weight quite a bit more than the same thing on a modern car. Same with the headlight buckets and the supports for the cooling fan.. there is a LOT of hidden weight in a car
Really, I do not want to come off as a 45 yr old guy talking to a 23 yr old kid...but I probably will.
Your intentions are good, your approach may be askewed (I do not want to use the word wrong.)
My guess is that you want to remove the weight in an attempt to make the car faster. This leads me to ask, "why?" What are you hoping that this "lighter-ness will achieve?" Significant amounts of lighten-ing will still not compensate for the automatic transmission sucking your speed.
A manual swap may be the first order of business.
Actually, looking at your profiles and seeing the car, my recommendation for 1st thing would be to shed the lbs of body kit that you have on the car. You may find that less is more.
Do you still owe on this car?
The reason that I ask is that many of the modifications your are speaking of really take more value away from a vehicle rather than add value. As noted by others, to have a car where the AC does not work takes away from the value and you are considering this intentionally.
Rather than adding speed to the car, I recommend that you add control!
How good is your braking system? Could it be better?
How good is your suspension? Could it be better?
How good are your wheel/tires?
As for accelerating speed on a track or autocross my guess is that you have more acceleration that can be properly controlled. I would add the control.
In track environments you will typically be faster if you can brake later (because you have great brakes) or if you do not have to brake at all (because you can carry the speed through the corners do to your tires, wheels and suspension.)
The A/C (not working) on my '84 Celica was almost 50 lbs. Other things to drop weight- light flywheel, light seats, light battery, header is almost always lighter than manifold, other exhaust can sometimes be several pounds of savings. Believe it or not, a stereo (head unit and all the speakers) is pretty easily 10 lbs. Light wheels, of course, can save a good bit. Do all that stuff and you still have a pretty "factory" looking car that weighs a good bit less- more than enough to make a difference.
EdenPrime wrote: I was going to get some 18x8'' Rota P45Rs to replace my stock 16x6.5''s i have now, but the stock ones weigh 19lbs ea w/o tires and the Rotas weigh like, 21-22. So i'd be taking a step backwards in terms of weight, but going from 215/55/16s to 235/40ZR/18s would give me much more grip. So i guess i'm kind of torn.
Why not save your money, get another set of really light wide 16" wheels, and mount real rubber on them? You can go to 18s for aesthetics, but don't kid yourself about getting a whole lot more "grip" out of them. My Subaru has 17" Rotas on them, they're good wheels, but I didn't buy them while considering removing the A/C for weight... that's not the kind of wheel someone who needs to shave 40lbs off a car buys.
I have found that 17s are a great compromise between ride, handling, and looks
ignore all the naysayers.. AC is a luxury that can be lived without- even on the hottest and muggiest MN days. and the windows will defog plenty fine without the AC compressor lugging down the engine.
as to how to take it out- look it over and see what you need to get to and what needs to go, then start taking stuff apart until you get to it. late model cars are usually pretty simple- they dash is designed to be installed by 2 people in 30 seconds on a moving assembly line, so there are generally less than 10 bolts and a couple of harness plugs holding it all together.
it aint rocket surgery, and the best way to learn is by doing. if you get lost, just try to remember what went where and in what order. the best part is that it costs nothing but your time, and if you save the parts you can always put them back in when it's time to sell the car if a potential buyer just has to have AC for some reason.
@jrw1621, Lightening up the car will give me more possible acceleration, without making it dreadful until i plug a turbo charger up to it. I do have something however to compensate for my automatic transmission: 
That is my manual transmission conversion kit for my surgery this spring/summer. A 6-Speed is actually my next step. The body kit is not very heavy at all, even though it looks bulky and "puffy." But as a matter of fact, i'm going to be going back to the stock side skirts.
I do in fact still owe a small amount on the car. I'm ahead on payments.
I'm excited that you mentioned adding control. The Celica is a very good handling car, but my plans for next summer were the manual 6-speed swap, and basically revamping the brakes and suspension; Struts, Wheels/Tires, Anti-Sway Bars, Tear Tower Bar, Poly-Bushings instead of rubber, drilled/slotted rotors, ect.
I can tell that you're not the biggest fan of the car but i can also tell that your advice is sound, and comes from a good place and i do truly thank you for that.
@Osterkraut, Well, i really dislike how little the 16s look. As for, "Real rubber," i'm not too sure what you mean. I planned on getting these:
And i'm not desperate to lose the weight, i just thought since i never use the A/C that it wouldn't be bad to lose it, but you've shown me that i should think better of it. I'm trying to mix what looks good to me with good performance as well. I didn't mean to "kid myself" about more grip, i just figured 235/40/18s would have more grip/surface area than 215/55/16 and a lot less flex.
@mad_machine, I think you're right. I had some 18'' wheels though with some nice Nitto NT555s on em'. I sold the wheels but kept the tires for when i got those Rotas i planned on. But now i'm sort of thinking about 17'' lighter-weight wheels but i already have these 18'' tires. 
Big bummer for me.
.
EdenPrime wrote: @Osterkraut, Well, i really dislike how little the 16s look. As for, "Real rubber," i'm not too sure what you mean. I planned on getting these:
Second set of wheels with race rubber on them.
If you buy the tires you've pictured, you're going to have to buy winter wheels and tires anyway.
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