Or traction on slippery surfaces

 

Jute padding was included.

 

i dont know what a steel bumper support weighs, i have seen people post anywhere from 25-35#. i have an aluminum one with eggcrate, still wrapped in shrink wrap that weighs 18#. if the stock one is only 25, its not worth the effort of swapping, IMO. another reason i havent done it is im worried about flexing the bumper too much and cracking my nice paint. worried.

 

If the bumper was painted properly you wont have a cracking problem..

 

Correct. It is such a small eight difference that it is north the hassle until you are looking for ounces anywhere you can find them & by then it won't be a street car & you'll build a 1lb aluminum "support" instead.

Steel with the eggcrate should register 25/26lbs on a home scale. Is 6/7/8 lbs really worth doing the swap?

 

ive been following this thread in the shadows for awhile. lol. lots and lots of good tips in here for weight reduction. just thought id share a pic of some cheap fab work. i have no idea how much weight i saved? but it was definetley lighter than the original bumper. its made out of some angle/bedframe i found in the trash. lol.

 

is their someone who knows what the doors weight on a camaro with power windos,locks and everything? do you think it does a big difference if the doors were in aluminum and the hood?

 

All Camaro/Firebird doors should be the same weight, if the options on it are the same (ground fx/PW/PL) or within a couple pounds for things like the GTA doors having the extra bracket for their arm rests or the later (i don't think the early doors had a crash bar inside them) doors having the crash bar inside them.

That being said.....I weight a 89 GTA door with no door panel, with ground FX/PW/PL & that extra bracket at 84.5lbs

 

that was a huge weight. what do you think the exact door would weigh but in aluminum? any difference?

 

Hey check this out! I came up with a pretty cool way to lighten up the front. Got a wild hair up you know where one day when I was taking apart my car's front end to repaint the engine bay. When I pulled off the front bumper, I detached the front bumper support and realized it weighed about 23 or so lbs. I heard the ones from the 84 and earlier Z28's were aluminum so I was going to look for one of those, but I remembered a friend of mine does a lot of aluminum work. So I came up with a design, cut the pieces out of foam board, and took them to him. It took almost a full day to get them cut, polished, and welded but it worked beautifully! Check out the pics, I have the pieces laid out, then two shots of it on, and painted. You can see the old clunker it replaced in one of the pics. It works perfectly!

I know some of you will say, "Thats not very smart, what if you get in a wreck?!?" and stuff like that. LEt me start by saying I considered that. This will not be a daily driver so I don't need to worry too much about that. Ive been driving for 17 years and NEVER been in an accident, Im not worried about jinxing myself either, not being cocky, I just know Im good because I am very cautious and very aware of everything around me. Plus if I do get in a fender bender, the front will be screwed either way. Id rather save weight and take the risk. Im pretty confident and sure its worth it.

This new piece weighs about 4 to 6 lbs. so I basically cut close to 20 lbs off the front. Any and all feedback on this is welcome!

 

i think it came out nice!

 

Heres a better pic of the engine bay area. As you can see, A/C delete, heater and heater core delete, wiper motor and arms delete, reservoir delete. S-10 manual steering box. BMR tubular k-member.

Engine will have all aluminum parts with the exception of the block itself. No smog pump or power steering, just the main pulley, the water pump (which will also be aluminum) pulley, and the alternator pulley.

I am also going with BMR tubular a-arms with the coil over kit, and a BMR three point strut tower brace for extra support. The new front disc brake kit I am going with is also slotted/vented and said to eliminate 35 lbs. off the front end. I also have the fiberglass hood with almost all the latch hardware removed. It will have headers and a dual exhaust with no cat. Add all that weight savings with the new aluminum support I made and my front end is going to be super light!

Thats just the engine area. I plan on shedding more weight in the interior but I will give more details when I get there. As far as the overall total weight, I won't be able to give any numbers until my car is complete and running and I can take it to a scale, and that will take quite some time! Its an expensive build. But when Im done, I will definitely give results... Keep an eye out...

 

Good job with weight reduction. Although I personally don't agree with some of them being the best idea (to each his own), you will definitely have a light 3rd gen when all is done.

-Heater delete: I use this sometimes when it's cold (at night or in the morning in spring or fall when sometimes it goes down to to 0 degrees celcius). Personally I would not remove the heater
-Wiper arms & motor: I don't drive it in the rain but have been caught 2-3 times in the past 6 years that i've had it. Let's just say thank god I kept them (I don't have the washer fluid reservoir though, I removed it)
-Power steering: For a performance modern handler, I would keep power steering. It just gives a much better feel on the road IMO.
-Aluminum heads are great! -50lbs right there! That's one thing I'll be doing next.. With a 383 ofcourse ... I don't know if aluminum pulleys are good though, I've heard that they wear quickly and then can tear the belt? Could be hearsay though..
-Tubular a-arms are expensive but do drop the weight slightly. I don't like coil over kits because then the springs are turning, plus our strut towers weren't made for this but this has been debated before alot lol..
-Front brake kits (drilled and slotted) won't remove 35lbs. That might be the total amount of the kit, which is definitely less than stock.
-FG hood is good (I have one) but I kept my latches. It's a street car and I open the hood frequently to check oil and other things.. Personal choice.
-Crash bar is also personal choice. I drive it on the street mostly so I personally would keep it. I landed a nice aluminum bumper support piece from Ebay and it'll shed about 10 lbs off the front. It was 60$. Not too shabby!

 

I can tell you a stock formula hood is around 60-70 lbs.
The aluminum formula hood I have weighs 21lbs.

 

What about carbon fiber hood weight?

 

@ hellz_wings, ya like I said, I did consider all things. I made a super functional cold air/ram air intake, so I cant drive in the rain, so there's no need to have any of that stuff other that it being a "law." But I don't think any cop here is going to be looking at whether or not I have wiper blades when I'm cruising. Plus, I never want to take this out in anything but perfect weather! Its staying garage kept all and every winter, and only being taken out on nice days and weekends for car shows, cruises, or the occasional trip to the 1/4. So I don't need the heater either, although I'm probably going to be dying for A/C on those nice summer days!

I also have hood pins, so any latch hardware is unnecessary. Power steering... Well earlier in this thread someone said that the manual steering is not bad at all! He could barely tell the difference.

Aluminum pulleys? Well I meant the water pump would be aluminum, not the pulleys. But I had no idea that the pulleys could be aluminum! I'm going to have to check into that!

Brake kit, maybe I did read the description wrong, but I'm fairly certain it said it would save weight.

 

Oh in that case I guess rain is entirely out of the question. I just saw that you're in New Mexico. I guess it doesn't rain much over there lol. Here, in Montreal Canada it could rain one day on, one day off.. It's so sporadic (although not as bad as Florida) so I need it.

Screw AC that's what t-tops are for

With the hood pins you have to lift off the hood, right?

Manual steering is mostly for low speed turns where it is usually harder to turn, but it does definitely help (depending on your steering ratio.. the quicker the ratio, the harder the turn so if you have a performance steering box with lots of caster for example, manual steering will be even harder to turn.. But if you have stock steering wheel, steering box, and not tons of caster I guess you should be fine.

Not sure where you can find aluminum pulleys.. I think Summit was selling some. But again, I heard bad things but I could be wrong! And, quite frankly, they can't be THAT much lighter than steel ones. Better of spending money on aluminum hubs or carbon fiber driveshaft for example.. Much less weight, and it's unsprung AND rotational.

Pretty sure the brake won't save much more than 5-10lbs and that depends on the size of your upgraded brake kit.

 

i picked up a glass hood today. its alot lighter than my steel one by alot, but it fits kinda krappy. i guess im gonna run with it for now. i think im gonna have to pin it, cause the release latch and striker dont line-up very well. i thought i got a decent deal at $225.oo? its never been painted or installed. i wish i had a scale, ...the weight difference is ALOT!

 

Fitment doesn't look too bad to be honest. These things are MUCH lighter than their steel counterparts. The hood shocks will last a LOT longer with FG compared to steel lol.

 

my hood shocks were so bad,...they wouldnt hold the steel hood open. but they work perfect on this hood. lol. i guess it dont fit too bad. its been suggested by a few people to pin the hood. i didnt really want to do it, but safety first.

 

I have front hood locks on my FG hood, with the stock latch and hood hinges. You can only open my hood with a key extra security!

 

Strange front brakes will save 33lbs over a stock set up.

 

Those are drag brakes no?

 

yes

 

a friend of mine had a set of locking hood pins on his monte carlo ss. but his car was garage kept. do you think they would last long outside? maybe keep them greased or something? unfortunatly i think im gonna have to pin it. any recommendations or part numbers? i apreciate your help.



on a side note,... to those that want to be a spelling-bee champ,?,.......,....give you something to do.

 

ive been having the same idea... however.. i want to make it more bumper like and salvage the plastic impact absorption bits off the original bumper and maybe fill the aluminum tube with styrofoam and whatnot.

 

I removed complete enteriour from my 1988 GTA, just left two seets and steeering wheel The car is lighter for about 100kg/220lbs

 

220lbs is alot but weight needs to be removed more over the front of the car before the mid or rear. Losing overall weight is good but for handling, achieving a weight balance closer to 50/50 is my goal (although it's almost impossible.. i've done some calculations and you need to have all aluminum engine, tubular components, lightweight suspension components, lightweight body panels, etc.. etc.. and it still only gave me 51/49, which is still amazing though!)

 

I already put LT1/T56 and removed complete A/C, and heat blower from under the hood, so I loose weight there too

 

Wow ur car must be damn light. What does it weigh?

 

I don't know yet

 

OK, catching up... The strut towers, under a lot of pressure from the coil over kit? Yes Ive heard that. Im also going with a 3 point strut tower brace to address that issue. So I guess Im adding a little bit of weight (maybe 7 lbs?) but Im adding a tremendous amount of rigidity to the front.

Hood pins? I do have them but just up front. I take out the pins and the hood hinges on the factory hinges with low pressure struts.

Fiberglass hood? Ya mine doesn't fit right either. I had to do a LOT of adjusting and it still lines up kinda crappy. Plus, the driver side has more of an arch to it than the fender does so it pops up a little in the middle, and sits a little below in the front and back.

And wow! 220 lbs from the interior is a lot! But like the man said, I think its being taken from the wrong place. Personally, the only thing Im lightening in my interior is the seats.

I am however adding a little bit of weight... with weld in sub frame connectors! But its well worth it! I get a much more rigid chassis and add the weight on the lowest possible part of the car, which in turn will lower my center of gravity. Hello corners!!!!!

 

I don't know any part numbers but this should be a breeze for you. It only took me an hour or so. Go to ebay and look for "lightweight hood struts" I got them pretty cheap. Then go to autozone and get a hood pin kit for bout $14.00. Read this thread and BAM! done!

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...n-install.html

 

So i thought i would share....

I just bought some seats off a guy to go into my third gen, i bought some 1996 z28 seats, cloth, no power.

My old seats are 84 trans am seats, cloth, no power...here are my finding (some maybe rounded if less than half a pound difference)

1996 z28 Cloth, no power, 4th gen sliders
Driver seat 37 lbs
Passenger 30 lbs

Weight of 4th gen sliders combined
18.5 lbs

1996 z28 Cloth, no power, 3rd gen sliders
Driver seat 24 lbs
Passenger 24 lbs


1984 trans am Cloth, no power, 3rd gen sliders
Driver 34 lbs
Passenger 34 lbs

Third gen sliders combined
12 lbs

That is a weight savings of 19 pounds

 

I'm having a hard time following your weight "reports", especially when you give 2 different descriptions with the same weight......Besides that, I'm not quite following your other descriptions either.

1996 z28 Cloth, no power
Driver seat 37#
Passenger 30#
---------------------------------
1996 z28 Cloth, no power, 4th gen sliders
Driver seat 37 lbs
Passenger 30 lbs

 

Fixed. I dont know why i put the same info in twice there, the first one is the same as the second, i just put the same info in again for some reason.

basically, the third gen sliders are light, and the 4th gen seats are light, combined, they turn out to be almost 20 pounds lighter total that the stock seats.

other than that whats so hard?

first i measured the seats with the stock rails on them, then i measured the rails (driver and pass) combined, for the 3rd gen seats and the 4th gen seats.

then i measured the 4th gen seats with the 3rd gen sliders. not that hard to follow.

 

When you mentioned "1996 z28 Cloth, no power, 4th gen sliders Driver seat 37 lbs Passenger 30 lbs" I'm assuming you mean "1996 z28 Cloth, no power, w/4th gen sliders Driver seat 37 lbs Passenger 30 lbs"

Maybe I'm picky, but makes a difference by adding 'w/' in it & also leaves zero doubt & zero room for any confusion.

 

Ok guys, I want to log some more weights here for others.

I received a pair of lexan T-Tops, stripped the locks out of them, drilled some holes and used some elevator pins to bolt them in permanently (it's a race car application).

The weight of the Lexan T-Tops ONCE STRIPPED were 8 pounds each. That's pretty lightweight, so you drag guys with T-Tops should think about this conversion.

I can post up pictures if it would be helpful. I'm very happy with the weight and the look. (retained all the rubber too)

 

Post pics please!

im interested in doing this too. do the lexan tops bolt right in? why did you permanently put them in?

 

So 4th gen cloth seats with 3rd gen sliders is the lightest combo.. What about 4th gen power driver in leather and 4th gen leather manual passenger, both with 3rd gen sliders.. This is the combo i'll be getting..

 

not sure, i dont have any of those seats, I do know that the sliders are what make them heavy, so the third gen sliders made all the difference. cant argue with 20 pounds and extra comfort!

I do hear that the 4th gen power seats are the heaviest around 50 pounds.

 

that is a HUGE amount of weight for a slider...... anyone else back this up?

 

The driver side slider for the 4th gen is the heavy one. anyone else notice this?

the third gen sliders were the same weight for both sides. That is why when i weighed them, the 4th gen driver seat was heavier than the passenger. The seats themselves though weigh the same. thats also why when the third gen sliders go on the 4th gen seats, both complete seats weigh the same, just like the third gen seats did with the third gen sliders. hope its not confusing.

I hear the reason the 4th gen seats are lighter is because they are graphite.

 

BMR k member and control arms saves 50 pounds off the front end. with a pinto rack you are saving about 78-86 pounds.

 

What about a power rack over stock steering box/linkage?

 

BTW, whats a pinto rack? I really have no idea.

 

pinto rack is manual steering. not good unless you have a strip car.

 

Oh OK. So what does it mean, or what is it called if I have the stock steering rack and pitman arm (from the original power steering unit) attached to an S-10 manual steering box???

 

idk, just manual steering lol. Pinto is a certain style of manual steering I guess.

 

there