What kind of stuff could I take out of my car to reduce weight without sacrificing safety or daily drivability? it has the a/c box but nothing else is left for the air. what kind of hole will I have to plugg to get that out? I think I want to remove about 5-700 pounds. I've heard of ditching the rear window mechanism and lock them up and cutting out the body's framework but I don't want to mess around with the structural integrity. this summer I plan on getting a 2-4" harwood 'glass cowl hood. would a 'glass set of front fenders be safe in the event of an accident :eek: ? what about inner fenders? couild I somehow make some 'glass ones using the steel as a mold? I was just looking for some practical tips. I am very tolerant of a car that isn't very luxurious and am very comfortable in a car without a/c as long as the front windows roll down.
thanks graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Ditch the AC, get an almn radiator, almn heads, Almn intake, aftermarket Almn disk brakes, headers, dump down exhaust (not over rear end) Then if you still need to get weight out, ditch the dynamat under the carpet, clean out all the undercoating and crap from the rear wheel housings. This next one is a PITA and if you have nice paint you might risk messing up your paint, but you can take the doors off and drill the spot welds for your side impact beams in the doors, they're good for 11 lbs each. Ditch any spare tire and jack assy, don't put a boom boom system in it, Almn rims, leave the windows alone, dont' cut any metal out of the body that you don't have to.

That's pretty much it without chopping up the frame, but if you went to ladder bars and coil overs you can ditch all that steel bracing in the back on the frame that the suspension bolts to and spring perches.

good luck

Don't forget fiberglass bumpers!!!!

Originally posted by young gun '71:
I want to remove about 5-700 pounds.that wont happen, while remaining street legal/safe.

i would forget a particular goal, and just take it where you can get it, like the glass hood, ect.

Originally posted by J70Chev:
Ditch the AC, get an almn radiator, almn heads, Almn intake, aftermarket Almn disk brakes, headers, dump down exhaust (not over rear end) Then if you still need to get weight out, ditch the dynamat under the carpet, clean out all the undercoating and crap from the rear wheel housings. This next one is a PITA and if you have nice paint you might risk messing up your paint, but you can take the doors off and drill the spot welds for your side impact beams in the doors, they're good for 11 lbs each. Ditch any spare tire and jack assy, don't put a boom boom system in it, Almn rims, leave the windows alone, dont' cut any metal out of the body that you don't have to.

That's pretty much it without chopping up the frame, but if you went to ladder bars and coil overs you can ditch all that steel bracing in the back on the frame that the suspension bolts to and spring perches.

good luck The problem with the aluminum heads is that I just built this 355 with Iron WP s/r torquers but it does have a performer intake and headers. my ultimate goal is to dip into the high 12s. I've been told with my combo I can get into the high 13s. I'd rather not squeeze the nitro or blower either. I think with a 3.42 or a 3.73 rear gear and about a 2400-2500 torque converter I'd be there. I currently have a 8.5 10 bolt with 2.73 gears, th350, shift kit, 9.8:1 compression, comp 270h flat tappet, roller rockers (1.5 ratio), demon jr. 625cfm, luminum wheels, and I think that's about it.
any Idea how muck it weighs now????? :confused: (71 2 door coupe)

I figured out a way to shave about 60 lbs off my 66's total weight, and it freed up some $$$ for speed parts too! I put MYSELF on a diet! No more drive-through fast food, no more cheese steak sandwiches (I live near Philly), etc... that stuff adds up! :D Seriously though, don't sacrifice safety for weight (i.e. the side impact bars)unless you compensate somehow. I've been hit in the driver's door and I was lucky enough to get away with it, but I don't count on such things anymore, Kirk

Originally posted by kboorman:
I figured out a way to shave about 60 lbs off my 66's total weight, and it freed up some $$$ for speed parts too! I put MYSELF on a diet! No more drive-through fast food, no more cheese steak sandwiches (I live near Philly), etc... that stuff adds up! :D Seriously though, don't sacrifice safety for weight (i.e. the side impact bars)unless you compensate somehow. I've been hit in the driver's door and I was lucky enough to get away with it, but I don't count on such things anymore, Kirk I only wiegh 145 #s any way and I'm 6' tall graemlins/sad.gif If I lost 60 #s you couldn't see me anymore :D congrats though graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Put a big block in it and forget about losing weight :D Thats what us fat boys do graemlins/beers.gif

Originally posted by young gun '71:
it has the a/c box but nothing else is left for the air. what kind of hole will I have to plugg to get that out? Here's a picture of the hole (http://www.gigem.com/images/classique/evapout.JPG)

You could leave the extra 118lbs. home on saturday night! graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Originally posted by gigem:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by young gun '71:
it has the a/c box but nothing else is left for the air. what kind of hole will I have to plugg to get that out? Here's a picture of the hole (http://www.gigem.com/images/classique/evapout.JPG) </font>[/QUOTE]Thanks gigem that really helped! how does it come out? just the little bolts around the rim? how big is the hole? it seems like a project I could do in autoshop tomorrow. hmmmmmm I even have sheet metal laying around to cover it up.

i installed the harwood "outlaw z tongue.gif tongue.gif 4" cowl on my "73 factory metal hood and am ecstatic!it is much lighter without all the webbing i cut out of the underside plus what the scoop replaced.i'll probably hafta come up with a set of custom lightweight homemade hood hinges to keep the hood from kinking.right now i have cut the webbing out of my trunk lid with a pneumatic sheetmetal nibbler from harbor freight tools.i left a 1 inch border around the edges for a little reinforcement and will use the factory trunk lock.i just hope nobody tries to sit on my trunk when i get it put back together!i'm not gonna drive on rainy days so i removed the windshield wiper motor and the entire wiper assembly including linkage.i bought a mini-starter from powermaster for more weight savings.i yanked all the ac including the condenser and have an aluminum radiator.i'm thinking about cutting a big oval shape out of the center of my hat-rack and replacing that with aluminum.i'm also considering trashing the ultra-heavy window crank sprocket from both doors and doing the old seat-belt pull-up trick to raise and lower the windows.this diet thing is probably getting outta hand but i'm loving every minute of it!

Did you take out the heater core on the inside of your car under your dash? fairly easy and drops about 20-25lbs.

To pull you evaporator box out you wll have pull the fender well out of the way to get to all of the bolts. I took all the bolts out of my fender well and rotated it forwards. It's not to bad of a job. Good luck with the diet graemlins/thumbsup.gif .

Chris

You cant do it in one period of auto-shop, its a rather large job.


if you want to know whether your car will run 12's, then head to the track and run it.
....nothing means anything until you have At least one run on it as a baseline.

Then learn to analyse your time slips, to look for possible areas of improvement.


BTW, This is a picture of a portion of my Camaro's engine bay:

http://www.hobbystage.net/camaro/camaroracer/1065731610-002638.jpg


...It used to have Air Conditioning.....back to back replacing the A/C with a Heater system cut roughly 50lbs off the front end. Most of the weight was in the compressor, condesor, and about 10lbs worth of the weight was in the box itself.

if this is a daily driver, you WANT heat, for defrost, if nothing else.

Zac, power to weight is one of the essentials of acceleration, and weight reduction is always good.

But in all fairness you really need to weigh YOUR car first, and next you need to ACTUALLY run your car as is down the dragstrip.

I know that you haven't been playing with high performance cars for years like some of us - but I am always puzzled why so many people who are newer to building performance cars seem so reluctant to get real baseline numbers. The only way to reach a goal is to first determine where you are.

Something to help you out since a 700 lb weight reduction is not likely to happen for you: making power is one part of the equation, the other part is how efficiently you put that power to the ground. Pay particular attention to your 60' times at the drags. I would highly recommend that you go to www.dickmillerracing.com (http://www.dickmillerracing.com) and purchase his excellent book on making A body cars hook up. Spinning isn't winning, get your car to plant the tires on launch and your performance goals become that much more easier.

Thomas

Originally posted by young gun '71:
how big is the hole? it seems like a project I could do in autoshop tomorrow. Here's a picture of the final result (http://www.gigem.com/images/Chevelleengine.jpg)

On my car, the front clip was off and the interior was out, including the dash. Given all that, it was easy! Don't know how long it would take with the car all together. There is a lip around the hole that had to be hammered down flat.

I never thought I'd get this many replys on this. thanks guys the pictures and links really help alot! is there something I could do with my trunk floor? just looking at it makes me think it's got a double floor or something.

i'm not familiar with your particular model.on my '73 my trunk floor was pretty much shot from rust so i'm currently replacing most of the floor with a sheet of heavy gauge aluminum.i'm leaving the 2 factory trunk floor braces as they will make ideal supports for my fuel cell and aluminum floor.

I have the hole in the firewall right now. I am goign to patch it up in about 3 weeks I can let you know how that goes. This is what it looked like right right before I tore out the heater core
big hole (http://chevelle.ogleonline.com/pictures/chevelles/cord/eng2.jpg)
Also there is the 2 holes from the heater hoses and all the old bolt holes to cover up.

My car has all the weight it was meant to have when new, plus a 6'-2" 250# driver. If its not fast enough, we'll just build a bigger motor.