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I'm thinking of replacing my bumpers with something lighter. Although I still want the bumpers to absorb an impact. Better than stock (if possible). Any ideas? I thought about just lightening the bumpers themselves by drilling holes in them in strategic locations. Maybe an acid dipping to eat away at the metal from the outside a little bit to reduce the weight? Maybe a complete replacement with something else? Any ideas?

 
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it wouldnt be worth it for you to try and lighten the bumper, shi t, just removing the spare tire would remove more weight then doing what your talking about, and the whole acid thing, do you really want to make the metal weak?

 
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yeah weak metal=dead in crash

 
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Actually... The shape of the metal affects it's rigidity more than it's thickness.

 
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the bumpers weigh less than like 10 lbs... look elsewhere for reduction

 
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Pull out your spare tire, your back seat, your sound deadening material, and your trunk interior garnish, subwoofer box, etc. Your bumpers are really quite light and the only think behind them is some styrofoam. Modifying the chassis would be a BAD idea for safety, resale, overall performance gain to destruction ratio.

 
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Aren't our bumpers plastic?!
Drilling holes would work, IMO- a lot of work, for not much gain.
If you can cut out reliefs in the back, it'll improve aerodynamics as well (the rear bumper kind of acts like an air- brake w/ the air- flow under the car) you need a good design & should ensure the remaining plastic is supported, if it flaps, it is no good.

You can remove the plastic bit on the valve cover,
the dust shields over the brakes (if you can DIY)
pull off the rubber under the front bumber of the car
Oh & don't forget the DIY on the fuel door..

 
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I think you are talking about the bumper cover. The thing painted the color of the rest of your car. Have you ever removed that cover? You will see a bar(That is your actual functioning bumper)

 
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Haha... I actually had to remove my 'real' front bumper to put my kit on... I knew it was designed for our cars..

What Fly refers to is the bar that has the styrofoam taped to it when you take the bumper cover off.

Bumper coves can't be lightened that much.. granted you can take off your front bumper.. however if you crash this isn't reccomended.. (lets all pray for me...)

 
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Every little bit helps dude. That's why I want to do something to the bumpers. I took a good look at it today and I see a whole lot of things that are pretty much useless chunks of metal hanging off of that thing. Maybe they're pieces left over from manufacturing?

Haha, yeah right. No spare tire = big trouble in case of an emergency. No sound deadening material = lots of annoying noise. No trunk garnish = ugly and no place for groceries. Yes, I said groceries! My car is a grocery getter and it's proud of it. When I turbo it it'll still be a grocery getter. When I swap it it'll still be a grocery getter. If and when it'll be a Viper killer it'll still be a grocery getter. Grr...

I think I'll try drilling some holes. I'll have to consult my father (a mechanical engineer) for some guidance as to where I could drill without affecting the rigidity too much. The aerodynamic reliefs are a good idea. In fact, the Civic Hybrid has something like that covering the underbody. I think I'll buy that for my Civic Coupe. DIY will follow of course.

 
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when i saw the title i thought u wanted to go on a diet or somthing lol

 
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You want to lighten the chassis, strip out all of that usless sound deadening pad. all it is is tar with plastic on one side. and tar suprisingly weighs alot. You'd be suprised at how much there is. Plus it would be one step closer to being a CTR



If I had the time, and I wasnt so lazy thats what I'd do.

 
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liposuction





jk

 
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Yeah, I was thinking about that. It's just that I have a different philosophy than most people when it comes to modification. It's like I want my car to be comfortable AND to perform well. I want my car to look like it's been tuned by Honda. That means everything is still there, but it's better. I think I can do this by NOT getting rid of the usual things. Then again, maybe I'm wrong? I would take out all of that sound deadening material if I could replace what it does with something lighter. Maybe I can? Know of a way?

 
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LOL i was thinking the same thing, either that, or another lame thread like the guy lightening his gas door

 
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Gee, thanks. I hope you're being sarcastic, 'cause that was me! LOL I said it was a joke in that thread too...

 
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replace all ur bolts & nuts with aluminum type, use helium for ur tires, take out ur spare tire and bring an air compressor that plugs to ur cig. lighter, take of ur deadning materials and ur expanding foam if thers noise, use fiber hoods and fiber fenders, and fiber trunks, is so easy to mold just make one, fiber replacements are much much lighter then metal

 
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I know, I'm just playing. I got a good kick out of that tho lol
It's just sad--beacuse I actually DID do it jp