I have a '69 SS and I need to shed some pounds off of it. Aside from the obvious (glass hood, no spare tire, no a/c, no interior), what else can I do to get rid of excess weight? As it sits, the car weighs a lumbering 3700lbs, is there a way to shed off 4-500lbs w/o destroying it?
My car needs a diet!
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Lesse here, a list of items no longer in my Z:
Wipers, carpet, sound deadener, heater, radio, back seats, glass, nothin uner the 'glass nose that doesn't make it go Vroom, scraped off the undercoating <<ewwwwwwwww>>> No interior whatsoever, fiberglass seats, 'glass doors, the list goes on. It all depends on A: What you are willing to put up with, and B: How much do you like your car. My car was (is) a smelly, hot, uncomfortable, loud, obnoxious rattling piece of flying trash. How much can you deal with?
Wipers, carpet, sound deadener, heater, radio, back seats, glass, nothin uner the 'glass nose that doesn't make it go Vroom, scraped off the undercoating <<ewwwwwwwww>>> No interior whatsoever, fiberglass seats, 'glass doors, the list goes on. It all depends on A: What you are willing to put up with, and B: How much do you like your car. My car was (is) a smelly, hot, uncomfortable, loud, obnoxious rattling piece of flying trash. How much can you deal with?
Back in high school I removed the front bench seat and back seat and replaced the front seats with plastic ones. The new seats weighed 25 lbs for both. The front bench seat weighed about 100 lbs, and I think the back was like 40 lbs total. So my car was about 125 lbs lighter.
In computer programming, there is a heuristic that says the cpu spends 90% of its time in 10% of the code. That means you should tweak the stuff that will give you the most gain.
A regular hood weighs what - 30 lbs? So if you halved that weight you've lost 15 lbs. Big deal. The engine and transmission weigh what - 1000 lbs? If you halve that you've lost 500 lbs!! Try to get an all aluminum engine. If you can't do that
try to concentrate on the heaviest parts of the car if you can.
Another good thing to do is reduce rotational mass, like using lighter axles, driveshafts and wheels. Then the engine should be able to accelerate them faster.
In computer programming, there is a heuristic that says the cpu spends 90% of its time in 10% of the code. That means you should tweak the stuff that will give you the most gain.
A regular hood weighs what - 30 lbs? So if you halved that weight you've lost 15 lbs. Big deal. The engine and transmission weigh what - 1000 lbs? If you halve that you've lost 500 lbs!! Try to get an all aluminum engine. If you can't do that
try to concentrate on the heaviest parts of the car if you can.Another good thing to do is reduce rotational mass, like using lighter axles, driveshafts and wheels. Then the engine should be able to accelerate them faster.
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Bitchincamaro had it right, what are you willing to put up with? I have a 71' that wieghs in at 3420, with me in it. Glass hood, fenders, bumpers, and ditchin' the rear seat did the trick. If you drive the car on the street, leave your wipers, heater box, and radio.Try slapping on some light wieght aluminum rims, lose your inner fenders, and a lighter radiator.
Switch to aluminum cylinder heads, intake manifold, waterpump and radiator. Replace the starter with a lightweight mini starter. Put on different wheels, for instance Weld Draglites. Replace the bumpers with fiberglass ones. Install an aluminum or carbon filter drive shaft. Switch to an aluminum air cleaner. All these items are easily changed back to original.
My 72 weighs in at 3,100 without me in it that is with a glass hood and front bumper no fender wells or ac,ps, or heater and all the wiring and vacume hoses that came with it are gone also, drag lite rims full interior except for passenger seat and driver seat is plastic That weight is with a small block. If you have any questions on what i did just give me an e-mail
Charles
Charles
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Its nice to have a light race car, because you're only in it for 8 or 9 seconds! But if you want a fast street car, and I'm not trying to be a wise guy, go with a larger motor... Big cubic inches= torque, speed, and... You don't have to cut up your 69 and get hasseled by your local and state crime fighters for driving a car that they might say is unsafe. True, it may cost more than losing weight on you(?) and the car. But isn't it more impressive to say..."Man I've got a 2ton, mid 10 second car"!!? Thats impressive!
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Honest question, like to have an honest answer. If you shed 250 lbs off a 3500 lb car (assuming a typical modified big block engine), how many tenths (or even hundredths) of a second is cut from your ET? Really, now.
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