tamatt27

What's the lightest reasonable weight you can get a street car without going overboard? What can you do to get there?
I know of aluminum heads (covered), tubular k-member, a-arms, torque arm, lighter wheels (I'll soon have GTAs).
What else...C'mon..post your lightening mods.

SLP IROC-Z

iTrader: (1)

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ME Leigh

I'm going to try and get sub 3000#'s, i'm at 3120 now. But i still have iron heads, solid swaybar, stock torque arm.

I removed everything i did'nt want or need, rear seats, rear interior, a/c, smog crap, computer.

Get a fiberglass hood

I also want to get some Al bumper supports, tubular k-member, coilovers and lighter wheels.

88IROC350TPI

I've been thinking of ways to get into the 2800-3000lb range without making the car LOOK gutted. So far I've done all the basics: welds and skinnies, fiberglass hood, a/c delete, stock alum ds (kinda scares me), all the emissions stuff and most of the now useless wiring, both sway bars, spare tire, hatch curtain, that bose speaker "box" that lifts up, and uhh... maybe a few other little things here and there. I've run out of free ideas without losing comfort. I still have power-everything and full interior (and its gonna stay that way). I haven't weighed my car yet but I'm guessing 3200lbs?

SLP IROC-Z

iTrader: (1)

id still be under 2700s with a full interior. hard top and t5 = t3h hottness

ME Leigh

Yeah but you've torn your car apart.

I'm also going to chop off my 3" exhaust before the rear tire, and run a bullet muffler, instead of my heavy *** flowmaster 80 and all the pipe going back there.

MrDude_1

take up the carpet, and put lightweight carpet in its place.

it LOOKS the same... but the carpet for the ENTIRE car weighs about 5-7lbs.... instead of the 80lbs it is right now.

one downside.... it does NO sound supression.. its loud like you have no carpet.



alum bumpers. or alum bumpers with holes drilled in it. or tubular bumper supports... or....nothing.

a LS1... that'll help lighten it up.. lol.

AC delete is pretty common, it helps.

tubular K member and a arms.

remove the upper part of the back seat. this helps three ways... one. its the only heavy part of the seat. two, when a passenger sits back there, they have more room. three, it looks neater then having the seat folded down all the time.

tires. some weigh ALOT more then others.

rims (i see you have that, but 'll mention it anyway.)


if its a EFI -> somthing conversion, take out the old wires. by cleaning up my harness, i took almost 10 lbs out of the car.


leather seats weigh more then cloth.



on the motor:

headers over exhaust manifolds.
alum water pump
alum heads
alum intake



and finally, go on a diet.

StevenK

iTrader: (1)

I was suprised by some of the things removed.
SLPIROC - You removed your wonder bar, is it because you have a tubular K member? I wouldnt remove stuff for structure if it was me.

88IROC - you removed your sway bars?! What is this a 1/4 mile only drag car? I can't even imagine driving without sway bars

Anyway, Matt. You should take out your back seats, spare tire, possibly switch to a lighter front seat, and if your going to replace your carpet, then switch with a lighter kind, and if your worried about noise, you can always dynomat some if you need it.

One of these days im gonna have to rip all my interior out, and im not sure how much of its gonna go back in.

MrDude_1

unbolt a endlink or both and try it.

the car leans more, but under "normal" driving, theres almost no diff.


but the weight transfer front-> back increases about 4 times..

its the cheapest drag suspension mod to do.

me and alot of my friends drop the swaybar at the track..... athough usually i drop it at home the night before... too big of a PITA to do it AT the track...

SLP IROC-Z

iTrader: (1)

my car is apart because its being restored, did u read my list of weight reduction mods? theres nothing "torn apart".


as i said previously with a FULL interior, thats all four seats, headliner, door panels, carpet, console, dash, etc etc etc the car still would be under 2700lbs with legit weight reduction NOTHING has been cut off the unibody to acheive that weight.

SLP IROC-Z

iTrader: (1)

i have/had a power rack & pinion steering setup, the wonder bar is useless unless u have the stock steering, also GM didnt put wonder bars in all these cars its not a nessisary item.

TTOP350

iTrader: (8)

I take off my front sway bar for the strip but leave the rear on ..it helps the car leave level and straight

ME Leigh

I was just messing with you and joking. I know your doing some serious weight mods, rack, lexan....

White91GTA

I have my front swaybar off the car at all times. I can not tell any difference in the way it drives...all though the amount of lean is slightly more than with it in place, but that thing weighs a lot. I do not know of very many people here local that actually have a front swaybar on their f-body.

88IROC350TPI

I also felt no difference when I removed my sway bars. Keep in mind I drive around on DOT slicks and 15x3.5" front rims so its not like I'm taking corners hard. I drive as if I'm driving a "normal" car and it goes down the road great.

Rick King

rember that 1 pound of rotating weight is = to 10 pounds of dead weight. try allumiun rear drums and drive shaft after market axels

later and

GB

rick

MrDude_1

meanwhile im running wide sticky front tires, and taking 25mph on/off ramps at 60+ with traction to spare.. lol

trust me, if you're pushing the car any degree over "normal" around a corner, you'll know the diff.
however, anyone running skinnys is already going so slow when turning that they wont notice.

KiLLJ0Y

you're forgetting aluminum heads over the heavy cast iron


oh and go on a diet and shed 20lbs

MrDude_1

re read the first post in the thread.... and a few others on the way down.

Spdfrk1990

SLP does someone make a nice rack conversion kit or did you do alot of moding. Any picutres?

White91GTA

I am on regular street tires and stock wheels myself and still take on ramps at 60-70mph

SLP IROC-Z

iTrader: (1)

PA racing and Pro Fabrication intigrate mustang and pinto rack mounts onto their K members so you can convert to rack and pinion steering. you will also need a bump steer kit and a steering shaft.

Spdfrk1990

Interesting but i dont really care for any of the tubular k members out yet maybe spohn will come out with something.

SLP IROC-Z

iTrader: (1)

yeah im waiting for spohn to release his stuff to

Pappa Smurf

slpirocz,
i noticed you removed your front & rear crash bars (bumper supports i assume) how much weight did that come to? also is there something that has to be put back in its place? aluminum braces? i have a friend that has a 94 impala ss and has replace both stock bumper supports with custom aluminum pieces. came to i think apx 80lbs. thanks, Greg

SLP IROC-Z

iTrader: (1)

each inner bumper weighs 25lbs each so 50lbs total. the rear doesnt need anything for support, but the front does, i havent made anything yet. but i was going to use some rod and make a cage that fits perfectlybehind the nose and bolts to the horns on teh body.

Pappa Smurf

thanks for the info!!

ME Leigh

Wow thats alot, i guess i'm gonna rip those suckers out.

ws6transam

I swear, one of these days I am going to rent me four NIST-traceable calibrated scales to put the weight question to rest once and for all by bringing them to a third-gen gathering!

Now, I've weighed my car at the track, and race weight with me in the seat was 3700 pounds even. Without me, in 100% stock trim, it was a 3550 pound car.

I've chopped mass out of the car, then added some back. Some more is getting removed this winter. HOWEVER.... SLP IROC Z claims to be able to get the weight of his car down to the low 2600's. THAT is a difference of about 900 to 1000 pounds from what we see as a stock mass.

So, IROC-Z claims to be able to remove about ONE FOURTH of the mass of the vehicle out and still have a driveable car. (FWIW, a pro-stock tube chassis Camaro weighs approx. 2500 lbs.)

I'm not trying to cause a flame war or anything here, but ?how? can there be such discrepencies in third-gen weights?? We didn't see much substantial differences in performance when they were new, at least when you compare across engines. (e.g. L98 versus L98) Therefore, you can assume the weights would have been comparable.

I can only figure that many of these stated weights are either estimates, or else are coming from scales that are not accurate or certified. Maybe what we all need to do is have a "contest" at the next gathering where we weigh cars and give a prize to the lightest one. Actual weights would then be compiled and published.

SLP IROC-Z

iTrader: (1)

my cars a hardtop and 5 speed. considerably lighter then an automatic t top car.

with ac delete, emissions delete, no rear seats, spare, jack or tools it weighed 3360 with me in it and i was 180ish lbs. all the numbers i posted in my previous replys were without driver.

i posted everything above, im not going to repeat myself, look at the list of what i have done, and do some math.

robsgta

Hey I just thought I would jump in here a sec..Slp have you gotten any time slips for running your car at that weight ?? I was just interested in how much of an improvent in 1/4 ET would be in a 3rd f body at your weight versus the stock weight.

SLP IROC-Z

iTrader: (1)

the last time i raced it she weighed 3380 (i put the rear seats and spare back in) that night the car got hit on my way home, its still being fixed, so i havent been able to race it with all the weight reduction parts yet, but as soon as i get her on the road i will get it weighed and get some time slips.

the general rule of thumb is 100lbs for 1 tenth and 1 mph. so if i have removed over 300lbs from the stock weight thats atleast a 3 tenth reduction in ET and addition of atleast 3 mph. to get that type of ET reduction by adding hp ud need approx 30hp at the wheels to go 3 tenths quicker (depends what ETs u run, the quicker u go the more power u need to add and the more weight u need to take out to go quicker/faster)

DuronClocker

iTrader: (1)

While this is usually true...I would assume you have to take into account the actual weight before and after the weight reduction. If you're talking about going from 3400lbs to 2600lbs... that's an 800lb drop. Its a lot of weight...in fact, its a 25% weight reduction. I would think that may mean a bit more than taking 800lbs off of, say, a 5000lb pickup truck, no?

robsgta

[QUOTE]Originally posted by SLP IROC-Z
[B]the last time i raced it she weighed 3380 (i put the rear seats and spare back in) that night the car got hit on my way home, its still being fixed, so i havent been able to race it with all the weight reduction parts yet, but as soon as i get her on the road i will get it weighed and get some time slips.



Slp you did say that your car was at one time 2700 pounds is that correct ??

MrDude_1

meanwhile you take 300lbs off a 1800lb VW and its a huge diff compared to that 500 off the 5500lb truck.

1BadThirdgen

I've seen numerous posts claiming weight numbers.........

Very few, people can actually back up that weight with facts, Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the internet, which means if you want someone to believe you, then well you need some evidence to back it up......

Post factual information......

I would challenge someone to get a picture of their car on a real scale and show it to be a sub-3000lbs daily driver with everything needed for daily driving done.....

I'm not saying it's hard and can't be done, I'm just saying 80% of people who've said they have done it are probably not telling the truth...............

robsgta

Ummmmm thats exactly what I was trying to say but I was being a lil nicer ...

itsjustabird

iTrader: (1)

ok i really wish i would have kept the ticket but i weighed my car with me in it (I weigh 230)and a 1/4 tank of gas it tipped the scales at 3334 at that time i had back seats out not the jack though weld rims alum heads and no ac im currently trying to drop more weight but i believe 2750 in a street strip car is poss but not a daily driver

DuronClocker

iTrader: (1)

Oh I know, that's what I'm saying though. The 100lbs = 10hp = .1sec = 1mph thing is somewhat true..to a point. It depends on how much weight was reduced from the car as a total too.. as you said 300lbs coming off an 1800lb car will make a much more noticeable difference than 300lbs coming off a 5500lb truck.

robsgta

You guys are way off subject ... The only differences in weight variations that we care about is 3rd gens..

SLP IROC-Z

iTrader: (1)

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SLP IROC-Z

iTrader: (1)

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SLP IROC-Z

iTrader: (1)

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drifter-x

How much noise will come in the car w/o a carpet? I mean, thirdgens are loud anyway...

DuronClocker

iTrader: (1)

No, I was using those as EXAMPLES to prove that the percentage of weight removed is probably more important than the "100lbs = 1 tenth = 1mph" because he was saying he dropped the car from 3400 to 2700. So it should be quite a noticeable difference since its 25% lighter than stock..

rx7speed

theory using other cars can still apply to a thirdgen

and I'm sorry but staying ONLY to thirdgens to explain an example simetimes it gets lost when dealing with theory or other points being made sometimes it helps to bring other cars into the picture



but if it suits your taste and keeps us on topic


if I had bubba, edd, billy bob and uncle sue all in the car with a total weight of 2000lbs for all of them (500lbs each) that woudl be the thirdgen near 5500lbs

so there are 5500lb truck has been converted to a 5500 lb thirdgen
and the 2000lb thirdgen
lets remove most anything we can and now we have a 1800lb thirdgen.... now lets remove remove 500lbs from each of them
kick uncle sue out of the first car (never like him... her.... whatever anyway)
and then lets find a way to remove 500lbs from the other thirdgen


does that make you happy now it was thirdgen related even though the piont still remains the same

kin's87GTA

The 100 lbs = 10hp = 0.1 sec = 1 mph is used solely as a rule of thumb. Taking 100 lbs off of any thirdgen will most likely net a similar reduction in e.t. It's also important to realize that where the weight is removed from has different results. Weight can be removed from the front of the car, rear of the car, as well as rotational (unsprung) weight. So if one person drops 200 lbs of rotational mass, while another drops 200 lbs from the rear of their car, their results will differ. I don't know if this helps, or brings this more off topic.

DuronClocker

iTrader: (1)

I completely agree with those statements. 100% correct.

CrazyHawaiian

You guys pretty much covered everything. But answer me this, how far is overboard?? Everyone has different ideas of streetable, so some people might go further than others. You could replace the door windows and hatch window with polycarbonate glass (70% lighter than glass, does not scratch or fade like lexan). Its expensive as hell but hey you can still get tint hahaha. You could replace the front fenders and rear decklid with fiberglass pieces, they would pass as streetable at a glance. Convert to a lighter tranny like a TH350 ot T5. Also, dont forget about unsprung weight, so the hubs, brakes, flywheel, wheels, tires, driveshaft, control arms, heck even lugnuts. The dual spoke IROC wheels are alot lighter than the tripple spoke IROC wheels. No access to a weight scale, so cant get numbers for fun, but someday I do plan to rent one from this guy and do all my cars. Most importantly I want to cornerweight my track drifting car and make sure the static weight distribution is even.

ME Leigh

Sorry but Lexan is polycarbonate.