83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

For the record:
TA/Formula wing (without 3rd light assembly): 26lbs, 5oz
Early TA/Firebird wing: 9lbs 6oz
(weighed using a digital fish scale)

when I pulled the wing off of the TA the worn out hatch struts that wouldn't keep the hatch up actually open the hatch on it's own.

BackInBlack86

something that was mentioned a few pages (and years) back is reducing friction in the suspension. this is actually pretty easy.

back the fasteners off of their torque spec a little.
greasing the bushings was mentioned. in the offroad world, sometimes greasable bolts are used on leaf spring bushings to promote suspension flex. basically, you take a bolt, bore a small hole down through the center of the bolt about half way, then drill a hole through the side of the bolt into the shaft that you just drilled, allowing grease to be injected to the center of the bushing. top it off with a grease fitting on the head of the bolt, and call it good.

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

Most bushings stick in their pockets, rubber bushings are actually designed to stick and flex. To make that work right either replace them with solid bushings or something like GW’s del-a-lum bushings, or you can grind down the bits sticking out on either side of the bushing and install a washer on either side of it to make sure that the bushing pivots in it’s pocket (keep it lubed).

Thestriped1

fiberglass front clip, notchback hatch to get rid of that heavy glass, end your exhaust with turndowns right after the headers, pull all the emissions stuff, slim plastic fans rather than stock ones, fiberglass doors, aluminum driveshaft, headlight covers...wont drop weight but eliminates those two parachute like headlight housings, lose the seats get a plastic racing seat, lighter rims, 4th gen gas tank, lower profile tires... less rubber

some of that is if you dont need it street legal

soultron

iTrader: (2)

Yes it does, that how I found out my latch was busted.
Hope I can find something to do with the new hatch.

Bad5OGT

iTrader: (1)

Hell, just go to VFN Fiberglass and get a fiberglass body.

Guest

GM Starter with solenoid (305, full length/size starter), 18.6lb
3 row b/c radiator 22.3lb
factory al/plastic radiator 11.8lb
6 3/4"? Fluidampr 7.9lb
ASP underdrive crank pulley 2.8lb
200-4r Converter w/fluid 44.6lb
200-4r vigilante, 3000stall, 30.5lb dry weight

Stephen

iTrader: (12)

Doing my 4th gen side mirror swap, I discovered that both 4th gen mirrors together, are lighter than 1 3rd gen mirror.

For those that want/need to keep side mirrors, say for visibility on a street car, it'll shave a few pounds off.

I don't have a small scale to weight them, but it was a NOTICEABLE difference, weighed in my hands....2 4th gen in the left, 1 3rd gen in the right, and the right was noticeably heavier. So, your cutting the weight by over 50%.

When it comes down to a pound here, or a pound there, its something to consider.

nape

iTrader: (1)

You're right, 3rd gen mirrors are heavy.

I've taken mine off on the race car and I'm going to mount motorcycle mirrors to the cage so I have side visibility but no aero or weight penalty

rideon1200

This thread is going on 3 years and 2 month. If you havent hit it by now
Whats the cuurent weight, or did the car get sold 3 years ago.LOL

1991CamaroRslow

iTrader: (3)

I'm pretty sure the info's on here somewhere, but what does the airbag equipment weigh? The box under the hood is pretty small, the airbag itself seems like it would weigh around 10 pounds; then there's the control box and the wiring. Would it be worth it to remove this equipment? The other thing I"ve been looking at is aluminum calipers and the circle track style lilghtweight rotors. Are there any aluminum stock replacement style calipers that I can adapt to the basic stock setup? I'm not really interested in going with a full Wilwood drag setup and the smaller sized brakes are really adequate for how I drive the car.

soultron

iTrader: (2)

Here's a way to loose some wieght.


The glass (in the shop vac) was about 60-70 lbs. The lid wieghs at least 30.

I got the hawks notchback.



It might weight 45-50. Maybe. I can move it around one handed and the struts are way too stiff for it. I think I'll get a prop rod.

02 camaro

yank the engine...that shuld shave aabout 600lb off your tottal weight..lol..yhe door panals, shave off the metal on the other side of the door panals get a plexiglass window..or no window, turn the side windows into the cloth checker board stuff like nascar,

rocluvr0013

Another option would be to get some worn out struts from the Junkyard.

stage20

iTrader: (3)

are those momo arrow wheels?

also, where are all the pics of these gutted, lightweight cars?

nape

iTrader: (1)

Here's one shot of the interior of the race car from last year. I'll get pics of the new setup in a month or so. Ditched the EFI wiring harness, stock steering column, and what was left of the stock dash.

16 ounces in a pound...

VonKaiser

Me to the rescue:



^ The tire is taken out BTW.

Someone should put up a master database on each component and its weight so we can have a fairly accurate total of what we take off. Since my 1990 Camaro RS 305 V8 w/700R4 automatic weighs in at a already light-by-todays-standards 3103lbs, all that yanked out in those pics should mean its well below 3000lbs. That makes me -->

I'm guessing around ~2900lbs is what I'm currently at with fluids and me not in it.

stage20

iTrader: (3)

thats not nearly gutted.
door panels, dash.
com'n, get rid of um!

1991CamaroRslow

iTrader: (3)

The crash bars are coming out of my doors as we speak. I was told that you can take 60 pounds out of an 85 door and still retain a bone stock look so we'll see how much you can get out of a 1991 door. I still have to get pics of the front end pinto rack and such, It was WAY out of whack when I got it and went back to be aligned; that's when I decided to get the doors stripped out.

stage20

iTrader: (3)

i really wanted to do mine, but my car is painted, and im not taking the chance with a sawzall putting a ding in the door. we used a plasma on my buddys doors, but it will melt the paint right off to the primer. bubbles it up pretty good.

i doubt you can get 60 pounds out of the door, or if the whole door weighs that.
id say a door bar alone is 13-15 pounds.

1991CamaroRslow

iTrader: (3)

I'de say the doors weigh 90 pounds each, they're ridiculously heavy! Compared to an S10 door, a Mustang door... really any other door I've ever picked up they're absolute tanks.

Pocket

iTrader: (24)

Older 3rd gens has 2 side impact bars, later ones has a single
I highly doubt youll pull 60lbs out of each door and still have it look and remain functional
To get it out Id use a cutoff wheel
Beware, if you use it on the street the door will begin to deform from use and should you be in a side impact you will die

Id say about 65lbs
Not that heavy if you think about how long they are

nape

iTrader: (1)

Luckily, our fenders are light though so we don't have to spend the money on fiberglass fenders. I'll take a heavy door over a heavy fender since most of the time you can live with a heavier door (farther rearward, crash protection, etc).

Also, the crash bars in the later doors are much lighter then the earlier doors.

1991CamaroRslow

iTrader: (3)

What year did they go to the single side impact bars? I had a 1989 door that was unreal heavy, it was from a TA with power windows and all. I should probably pull my door off and weigh it to see what kind of weight I'm dealing with in there. Also why would the doors deform over time? would they do this from their own weight or because they function as a part of the subframe of the car?

nape

iTrader: (1)

I don't know the year, but my old '90 had the single round bar. The older ones had a larger C-channel type bar. The power windows aren't that much more weight then the crank style. If I was going to make an all-out street car, I'd figure out a way to hold the window up with a pin or something to get rid of the weight from the regulator. Also, lexan doesn't make sense unless it's fixed . It would scratch going up and down.

The doors don't deform, the hinge pins wear out. The doors are heavy, but the crash bar isn't most of the weight. The big weight in a door is the glass and the regulator. Also, the mirror if you have power mirrors.

1991CamaroRslow

iTrader: (3)

What exactly is the regulator? If I have the single crash bars I'm going to keep them in and divert the cash into the exhaust but I'de still like to take some weight out of these doors and still keep them stockish. I don't believe i have power windows but if I do I'll be looking to swap those out.

nape

iTrader: (1)

The regulator is a metal scissor that makes the window go up and down. Like I said before, I wouldn't worry too much about the door weight unless it's an all-out type of car. The weight is far enough back that it isn't bad.

There is a lot of weight that can come out of the nose area first.

slow89

I hope ur car is really fast becase if its just a street car with a junky motor in it ur just wasting ur time and making ur car look trashy But if its fast and a race car more power to ya

1991CamaroRslow

iTrader: (3)

The nose of my car is probably as light as it can be. Slow89 I don't see how what motor my car has, or how fast it is has to do with the weight of the car. I also fail to see how it's going to make it look trashy considering you wouldn't know the mods were done at all unless you were taking the car apart. I'm going to call tomorrow and tell my fabricator to go ahead and put the cash I gave him for the doors into the X pipe on the car, I'll worry about the doors later. I also have the 1989 door I was talking about laying around I may take it to him and disect it to see what's going on in there. I'll worry about moving the battery to the back next, and pulling the power steering pump, it's got no belt but I forgot that it was on there still. I'll post pic soon.

slow89

im just sayin unless that car is a full on race car ur just wasting time trying to make lighter and i said it looks trashy becase when you dont have any carpet or dash or any thing eles that just looks trashy imo.

stage20

iTrader: (3)

stock coil spring setup, and already lighter manual s10 box converted to spohn coilover setup, with a pinto rack and pinion i saved 52 pounds, and i forgot to weigh the bag of nuts and bolts, so prolly a few more......
power steering guys will prolly save another 10-15 with pump. fluid, lines, pulley, brackets, etc....

1991CamaroRslow

iTrader: (3)

I have an Art Morrison knock off coilover setup in the front with 225 pound springs, a tubular K member and A arms, pinto rack, and bump steer kit for the front end suspension components. I pulled the reservoirs and installed a small catch bottle for the radiator, deleted the AC with a heater only box, pulled the front crash honeycomb out, and removed a bunch of random bracketry from the front end. The engine I bought never came with any of the smog equipment so it's not there to begin with, and I have one of the stock SMC hoods that looks like crap but will save me 25 pounds or so once I swap it on. This with a set of draglite front runners will be about it for the front end of my Camaro; an aluminum water pump is also waiting to be put in but I have a larger radiator that will weigh down the nose a bit more once it's all said and done. I've never ran this car at full weight so I have no clue how fast it was full weight; I do know that with the power steering delete and the pinto rack/ k member the car pulls quite a bit harder in second and third gear. I'm going to make this car as light as I can without butchering it up regardless of what motor I have in it. I drive the car maybe 1000 miles a YEAR and those're usually trips to the track, or to town to wash it and such. Comfort is important but not the primary concern at this point. I've got a better engine to go into it but right now I'm not concerned about the motor since the one I have is running fine so far.

Quasi-Traction

The Door sticker on my car says it was a portly 3798 LBS? But the scale says it was 3370 without me in it. I don't think that's right because that means I would have had have shaved 400Lbs out of it, and there's no way in hell I could have taken too much more than 150lbs out of it.

It was a berlinetta with all the bells and whistles, dual power seats, locks, power windows, AC, All the emission stuff, 700R4....

I still need to finish the exhaust (dumps right right under the passenger seat) and put subframes on it. Doubt I'll be able to get it down to 3000lbs, but that's the goal.

Stephen

iTrader: (12)

3798 was probably the LOADED weight you were reading, not empty weight.

My GTA shows over 4000 lbs!

robertfrank

iTrader: (27)

My car right is at EXACTLY 2900 lbs with a quarter tank of gas without me in it. I have the weight slip to prove it. I'd show it but my damn computer is being gay.

dougs84

inside the doors is a heavy reinforcement brace that probably weighs 15-20 pounds inside each door the window parts and locks in each door wiegh 15 pounds if it has power windows and all of the glass weighs 100 pounds

Stephen

iTrader: (12)

Is that for the later crash impact/air bag cars? I wouldn't think the earlier doors have that reinforcement bar in the door.

Guest

They all have it.

This post is quasi dangerous along with a bunch of other posts with part weights. I just got some plastic tops, and they are 11lbs each. The glass tops come out to 15.5lbs each. So the savings for both is 9lbs, not the 13 I read either in this post or one of the others here. This seems typical for every weight loss I've checked so far, inaccurate at best. No wonder the guys below 3000lbs are stripped, thats probably the only way.

I'm using a calibrated medical scale, in fact I just had it checked recently so I know its dead on.

KWIK84

iTrader: (5)

2980 ready to go down the track... and that was with the old hood and a few xtra parts.....new weight to come this summer..looking for 2900 race ready!

Check out the link in my sig to see pics of what was removed.

Thug Life

two thumbs up for the best thread ever what a stock 5.7 TPI L98 1992 Z28 hardtop weight? I will remove alot of things to reduce the weight in my Z28 big thnx to all members and their info's about shaving weights in 3rd gens

1991CamaroRslow

iTrader: (3)

There's a new player in the game now, my friend picked up a 1985 Iroc Z in DIRE condition. The 305 TPI runs like a champ and the trans shifts good, we pulled the interior, washed cleaned it and this puppy is STRIPPED. I mean it all looks like it's there, but it's gutted, heater box, air ducts, plastic panels. We'll weigh it out when we get it put back together and patched up (fixing holes in the floor boards now).

robertfrank

iTrader: (27)

it's been awhile but now she's done to 2860 flat without me in it according to flying j's weight scales. And I STILL have more to pull out.

Daniel U

Any pics of these low wieght cars? I'll be content with 2999lbs.

KWIK84

iTrader: (5)

Pic in sig was with the car weighing 2740 without my butt in the seat........This year it should scale 2700 w/o me. Plans are in the works to make 2550 w/o me! Unfortunatley by that time I will be adding more weight (9" and converting the 8pt to at least a 10 if not 12) hoping to end up some where around 2700 when all is said and done with the upgrades.

EvilCartman

iTrader: (1)

Mine's a heavy 3185 without me, weighed on a 4 corner scale. Still have all kinds of stuff, interior, power windows, power mirrors, power steering, wipers, 6 point bar, subframe connectors...

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

I'd be thrilled with reasonably streetable and 3000lbs... heck, I'd be happy with 3200. My last 2 3rd gen formula/TA that I stripped down as much as I was willing to deal with both ended up in the mid 34xx range, putting them well over 3700 race weight.

1989GTATransAm

iTrader: (3)

Hehehe. It looks like I can get my GTA down to the 3400 pound level with out giving anything up.

Firebat

iTrader: (7)

A pair of front 4th gen seat belts weigh approximately 2.5 pounds less than the pair of 3rd gen front belts. Just weighed them today. Didn't install them because of weight reduction though but because I have limited space inbetween 4th gen door panels and aftermarket seats.

stage20

iTrader: (3)

are they ebony? i might be interested if they are complete.

tsfso59

In the process of a 1982 Z-28 race car only. I contacted a reputable chassis builder about weight in a 3rd. Gen and this is what he had to say, and I quote:

The lightest Camaro we ever built for SS/GT was a small block car. It
weighed 2625 wet and ready to run. Most are in the 2650/2675 range. It
takes a lot of work to get them that light.

NHRA Super Stock class is basically a back half only type of class. All the stock interior and street equipment still has to be in the car. The motor and transmission has to be stock type and equipped for the year of manufacturer. No fiberglass or lexan, unless origionally equipped.

With a motor change and clear title, these cars can be driven on the street again..I've seen it