I am looking to take some wight off my car...i saw direct fit fiberglass doors, and fiberglass front end at eharwood.com...is it worth it? will they take a substantial bit of weight off my car? Someone told me the doors alone will probably take off about 150 pounds total, that sounds a bit much but i dont know...and same thing with the front end(bumper, and fenders one piece) they told me that should take off a lot.... How many pounds will all of this take off the car? along with lexan window (windshield, doorss, and rear window) Thanks in advance oh by the way it is a 86 camaro, if that makes any difference... thanks

Hood and hatch are the only items worth getting honestly....

Just from carrying them around as I swapped replacements off my car, the stock doors are pretty heavy, I'd say at least as heavy as the hood. I'm not sure what the total weight difference is when you swap in all the guts in a fiberglass door, but I'd imagine there is a substantial amount of weight to be saved there.

Aside from the hood, I wouldn't mess much with the front end though, the bumper and fenders are already pretty lightweight.

is the car a drag car? if not glass doors are a very bad idea. so are lexan windows

no its a street car...i am gonna put an 8 point cage in it, so i figured the fiberglass doors would not be so bad...what is bad about the lexan?
just want to see if i could get my car to weigh around 3100-3200 pounds...what would be some way s to do that?

A fiberglass hatch will go a long ways, that thing is freaking heavy. The hood will help too. Pull the back seats out.

The problem with the lexan I believe is going to be that if damaged, it will break like old fashioned glass, and shards could seriously hurt you. The safety glass is designed to break into pieces that are less likely to injure you.

Those fibreglass doors and those plastic windows are definately worth it. Could theoretically take off a couple hundred pounds or so just for those.

actually i think it said that lexan is stronger than regular glass, and has the protective layer thing to prevent shattering... so the hood, rear hatch will help... what about the doors? all i got in my doors now is manual everything...will the fiberglass lessen the weight? and from what i have been told, the back seat is good for about 10 pounds....but every pound counts...my goal is 3100-3200 pounds with me in it... so around 3000... think its possible without completely gutting the car?

the fiberglass doors will be alot lighter but DO NOT USE THEM ON A STREET CAR.....

If that's all youu want, no need to add or buy anything.

A local guy here weighs in at 3070 with al glass (no Lexan) & all steel body.

Granted, the LS1 shaves some, but add say 200 lbs for 3270lbs...He just no longer has AC, a heater...No backseat....C5 17" wheels (which probably, total, weigh more than the 16" 3rd gen wheels). Not sure HOW MUCH he stripped, but obviously, weight reuction is easily doable.

because of safety? even with a 8 point cage should i stay away from it?
I want a cage because that is one way to stregnthen the chassis, or would i not need it if i have subframe connectors and strut tower brace and stuff?

and about that, i do not have money for an aluminium engine, (LS1), and i dont want to strip the inside of the car, i will probably take out the back seat though...but i am gonna get a chrome moly tubular front suspension from AJE, thay say it should shave off like 130 lbs or something like that...i am also getting an aluminium radiator, water pump, heads, drieshaft, flywheel...a manuak steering box and removing the power steering pump, a/c, smog pump, and everything i dont need in the engine for it to function properly... do you think that with a hood, rear hatch, and the lexan windows i will hget to 3000 pounds without me in it?

just do everything u can to lighten it as in the hatch hood, chrome moly parts, no back seat and anything else u care to take out then see how much more u weight u need to lose be4 going to lexan and fiberglass doors keep the most extreme to the very end....im coming from a saftey stand point and practicality, i think with the fiberglass doors you will have to just have lexan windows that wont go up and down. so in my opinion if u are going to permanantly disable your windows y not strip the interior? o and take out the seats for some nice lightweigt racing seats might drop a cpl pounds plus they look cooler....

This is my goal for my camaro which might still be and might not be my daily driver...all depends on money really.

With the FG doors you will need professional install of all manual hardware as I will be doing and also, use PERCY SPEEDGLASS, which is stronger than uncoated lexan windows (which is what Harwood offers) which can withstand daily abuse unlike others out there.

Below in my sig is a Special order through Summit racing for Percy Speedglass in their thickest version .25" or 1/4" which is best for the side windows and rear hatch, I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND lexan for windshield, just due to the extreme abuse it sees whether its behind a truck kicking up rocks constantly or a bird falling from the sky...it just wont hold.

I know the stock hatch weighs 91lbs without spoiler. The notchback i am getting from HTP is 45lbs, half the weight of stock....but its a notch also so...

Our stock hood weighs 50-60lbs, my FG hood 2.5" cowl Daytona is 30lbs, roughly half the weight of stock as well.

Doors weigh around the 60-70lb limit and the FG doors weigh around 11-15lbs each...saving more than 3x as much weight over stock doors.

Then after body their is Chrome-Moly suspension parts through Spohn...probably saving you tons of weight while providing the best in suspension upgrades...

these cars can reach the 3000lb mark easier than most think possible.

We havent gotten into aluminum heads, headers, driveshaft, flywheel/flexplate/Torque Converter, or even a fuel cell swap.

there are many weighs to drop weight, choose one and run with it.

i will do that then...hiw much weight wll a 8 point cage add? will i need it for around 450 hp?

and i am running a manual trans...i believe those arelighterthan the autos too...and i am gona put in an LT1 with aluminium heads...with an alumiium driveshaft, flywheel, i want to take off the power steering, but dont know how i would run the belt without it...
i never thought of a fuel cell swap...how much would tht save me?

I want to point out that swapping an LSX motor is 150lbs, hood maybe 35lbs, hatch (like mine) 50lbs+, and of course ditching things like AC, spare & jack... all add up.

Fiberglass doors are a good idea in theory, but offer no side crash protection and from what I have seen offer poor fit & finish.

For a street car, from what I've read / heard, fiberglass doors aren't practical for street use... Also, because, the steel doors are actually important for the structural rigidity of the car. I just recently re-did the doors in my car and all the bushings/pins/hinges etc... It feels more solid actually, so I don't know about putting fiberglass doors on the street...

However, I have a fiberglass hood and it's light as hell, i can lift it with hardly any effort. They don't weigh much. I would start there..

Lightening weight on the rear end is defeating the purpose of traction, no? I would suggest taking all the weight off the front first as much as possible... Then go towards the back since our cars are ridiculously heavier in the front than the back. Parts such as heads, block, water pump, pullies, driveshaft, flexplate, tq convertor, etc. can all be replaced with aluminum or lighter weight... Also, removing things like egr, a/c, smog, (if it's a street car I would keep power steering).

Ultimately, putting an LSX type engine with a t56 would just reduce more weight than all of the other things combined, plus give you an amazing upgrade, if you have the money ofcourse...

Also, 4th gen seats are lighter than stock seats. And the list goes on and one and on... One thing at a time!

What are you trying to accomplsih by cutting weight? Are you building a drag car or street car? Not that 2.8 right? Keep in mind a lot of fiberglass parts end up actually being heavier sometimes due to the extra thickness of the fiberglass. The doors do shave a lot of weight but really have no place on anything but a drag only car that doesn't need useable windows. Also a good idea to use them with SFC's and a cage..

wow this is an old post... but no it is gonna be a street car and have a 305 with a tko500... the only fiberglass i an gonna buy is a hood, tubular chromemoly front end, get me some nice light aluminium wheels, brakes etc... aluminium heads etc the basic lightening stuff... maybe go crazy one day and build me a short deck 302 screamer (an idea i have been tossing around... WAY down the road...) ... just an idea... but yeah i looked into fiberglass body parts and saw they are mostly for purpose race cars...

I once thought it would be a good idea to have fiberglass doors as the stock doors will practically dislocate your shoulder when you are reaching around a door bar to pull them closed. Then I realized noone makes them in a "Functional" style that reuses the window. I already have a jeep that I have to lift the windows out of. I dont need another one! LOL

Its too bad noone makes a "Direct-fit" door that retains the factory function.

they can be made to fit... but it cost a LOT of money... or some good hands...