Bratwurst Front

Project: Bratwurst - Front Section

The front section is possibly the more awkward area to loose weight in. It has the heaviest single component in the car located in it, the engine. Not much can be removed from this to make it lighter and still function. There's little by way of trim or furnishings that can go either. But there are certainly a number of things that can be removed, reduced or replaced with lighter alternatives.

Front Bumper
The front bumper has a large metal cross-member behind it that needs to come out. This requires removal of the bumper first which entails removal of large amounts of front end trim (not all of which will be going back on). The front bumper was first to be attacked. The manual of course makes the job out to be much simpler than this!

Pipework is the power steering oil cooler that has to be loosened to allow movement of it's connecting pipework that covers some of the bumpers mounting fasteners.

Here the air filter box has been removed to reveal the nearside bumper bracket.

Those rigid pipe lines go to the previously mentioned power steering oil cooler.

And the off-side bracket in front of the battery tray.

The bolts wouldn't shift and I couldn't get in there with my breaker bar. Well, not unless I go in through the head light aperture!

With the bumper off and the metal work out it is immediately apparent that the plastic part itself is actually pretty rigid. Therefore, as a lot of the weight is in the metal mounting arms, the whole metal assembly will be ditched. You'll also note that the lower inserts have been removed. The middle section below the number plate had to be cut off to remove it. I'm hoping to fit a mesh and channel some more cooling air into the radiator. I just hope it doesn't upset the cars highly tuned aerodynamics!

Here's the back of the front bumper showing the big metal girder within.

The plastic covers are simply pinned onto the beam with plastic expanding rivets similar to some of the internal fixings.

The plan is to ditch the beam and mounting irons completely.

The bumper is re-attached with simple folded metal brackets whilst utilising the original side mounts

Simple folded steel brackets pop-riveted to cut down front panel metalwork.

Power steering oil cooler piping clearly visible here.

Scrap sheet ally lower mounts.

As said, the original side mounts are now supporting more of the bumpers weight (which has now been dramatically reduced). The three upper mounts along the top of the bumper also support a fair amount of the bumpers weight but also stop the bumper from sagging down as it naturally try's to rotate about the side mounts. The bottom plates aren't supporting any weight but are supporting against aerodynamic loads trying to push the bottom of the bumper under the car at speed.

Sliding side mounts.

Secured with self-tappers.

Complete.

Heater Blower Motor & Fans

The heater blower motor & fan assembly is only being removed temporarily at the moment to aid in the removal of all the other parts that are no longer required. The present plan is to later refit the blower along with a limited amount of ducting to provide for windscreen demisting and cabin cooling (that didn't happen).

When the heater and blowers go so do the heater control valves.

Whilst the fan access bulkhead panel was removed I stripped the insulating padding from it. This made a huge difference to its weight.

Before.

After.

What these blurry images are trying to tell you is that the panel with the padding weighs 5lbs where as the panel with it all removed weighs only 2lbs.

Battery Tray

As mentioned elsewhere, the battery is to be relocated from the engine bay to the alternative location under the rear seat. This will allow the removal of the battery tray structure under the bonnet and free up a fair amount of space for any possible future turbo conversions. The windscreen washer bottle has also been removed in these shots.

Wiper Mechanism

The wiper mechanism is a fairly substantial unit in it's own right even with the motor removed.The main frame is alloy and very much over engineered for the limited use it's going to get. The assembly as shown in the pictures weighs in at 1.7kgs.
This is actually the mechanism from the old daily driver 518 as one of the spindle housings has worn. The original one from Bratwurst was used to replace it as it would prove more useful on a car I use on a daily basis as opposed to a car that may well never get driven in the rain again.

And the final weight? 1.6kgs! Well worth all that effort! Most of the weight to be fair is in the steel operating bars and arms which I haven't touched. In the end, after the demise of the daily driver 518 I have refitted the slightly better original without bothering to repeat this procedure.

Mobirise

The contents of this website are purely a reflection of my own experiences and knowledge gained whilst working on my various projects. Anything you do based on what you have read here is done so entirely at your own risk.
Personally I wouldn't trust someone like me with a lawn mower! You have been warned! Flapper-bat!

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