had a friend come by yesterday with 4 pad scales, weighed my car, 2853, no driver or fuel, this is a 91, non T-top, all factory glass, power windows, factory dash, S&W sub frame, funnycar rollcage, strange 9" w/alum carrier, weld wheels(15x11 rear) 12gal cell, iron block 6.0, truck plastic intake, stock iron exhaust manifolds & 88mm turbo, glide w/shield...steel driveshaft...just seemed light to me...anybody running anything close and know the weight ? thanks Rob

 

Seems very light to me, especially with a heavy turbo on the nose. Although the glide is saving you weight, maybe you're not listing everything else you removed.

 

Mine weighs around 3,450 no driver. But its a fully loaded '92 Hardtop Z28 with all the amenities, a/c, 3" Flowmaster Catback, 5.7 TPI, smog equipment, fog lights, 16" wheels, power windows, door locks, rear window defroster, trunk hatch release.

 

does seem pretty light, but i also think you may be forgetting some stuff. i assume this car has NO hvac, or interior for the most part. the factory dash shell is not that heavy. i'm also assuming the cage is 'moly, and has a tubular k-member. i can't remember which wheels you have, but some of the new welds are pretty light.

the lightest i had my car was 2910 no driver. this was with an aluminum headed 305, 700r4, and 7.5" 10 bolt. it also had a factory smh hood that had been modified to a lift off and NO hvac, but full interior/stereo otherwise. it had jegster sfc's, but no bar/cage. was also running weld rodlights at the time.

 

mine sounds very similar, but i would have thought your turbo setup would have added a good bit of weight over mine.

3.5/10" weld prostars 28x10.5 hoosiers
9" w/alum center
th400
all tube chromoly suspension stuff, kmember, etc.
mine still had all the power stuff in it and a kirkey.

with about a gallon of gas and no nitrous bottle i think i weighed 2950 with me in it. im roughly 165ish usually.

 

I thought seemed way light to me..it is a race car, no heat, radio etc, back seat, lightweight seats but cage is MS, smaller aluminum radiator, glass liftoff hood, rear bumper impact bar removed, tubular K-member with rack/pinion, 1/2 console(to clear FC cage)

 

Mine is fully gutted with a lot of roll cage inside it. BBC, glide. The last time I went across a scale, I was 3030 with me in it. Estimating 180 pound driver weight, that would put the car around 2850 The cage alone is 190 pounds of steel and I don't have a funny car cage but I do have a lot more tubes than a normal cage.

The only time I need to know the car weight is when it's in the trailer so I know how much weight I'm towing. How much weight the engine needs to move has to include driver, fuel etc.

 

i dont have a fc cage, but it is a 1 3/4" ms 8 point.
my rear bumper support is still in there for some reason (lol)

Lt1 radiator (alum. with plastic tanks)
s-10 steering box
strange brakes all around
factory gas tank

areas i could make it lighter still-
crash bars in the doors
cut out all the supports behind the rear interior panels
still has all the gta ground fx and spoiler, but i will not remove any of it.
headlights, headlight doors, but i want to keep those functional.
fuel cell instead of factory tank. (can race with less fuel in it)
factory steering column still
all factory glass still
power windows/power locks/power mirrors/trunk pulldown still in it

 

i have a typical lightened car with CM 8.50 cage and full interior with kirkey seats. with a smallblock mine is 2900 w/out me

 

Mine weighted 2620 w/o driver. 25-3 cert with a square tube from the fire wall back, ladder bar suspension in the rear A/J parts in the front with a 399 cu in sb three speed trans. all steel with glass hood and stock glass.

 

My 82 weighed 3050 with 15" Weld wheels (not skinnies), a TH350 and iron heads, so I would imagine that is entirely possible.

 

thanks...just had been thinking it would have been closer to 3200 with all the steel and glass...but thats good...will have to add some weight for ultimate street...

 

i think that i'd get on a second set of scales...that's LIGHT, LOL!

 

Switching from glass to Lexan on the windshield isn't a huge savings. It's been many years since I did mine. 3/16" Lexan is only 1/2 the weight of glass. I think the windshield only shaved off 20 pounds.

The rear hatch is heavy. Glass and deck lid are probably close to 100 pounds. Mine is still sitting in my back yard and I never did put it on a scale but it's really heavy

Door glass isn't that heavy however power motors etc inside the door add a lot of weight. When I originally removed my power doors, I put them on a scale. 105 pounds each. And you wonder why the hinges always wear out. Some gutted out non power doors but still with glass were around 65 pounds each. My fiberglass doors with Lexan windows are 22-1/2 pounds each.

I keep adding things to the car. My race weight was below 3000 pounds once. I'd love to have a race weight around 2800 pounds but finding another 200 pounds to take off the car isn't easy. I could shave some weight by removing all the ground effects but then it wouldn't be an IROC-Z. My exhaust system is 45 pounds and I may or may not run with it this year.

 

It's funny you can get lighter and lighter, but as you go faster and faster you start adding weight back into the car it gets more expensive to be light.

 

Making it lite is the best way to go IMO. That way you can get the balance right. I raced mine @ 2950# with 52% on the front and 48% on the rear. On a good day with the track right I have gone as quick as 1.16 60 foot at that weight.

 

for sure there...getting ready to change to lexan windshield(factory one cracked) and adding chute, as of now we need to weight 3250 w/driver, so adding in rear won't be a issue....

 

I would kill to be 3300 lbs with me in it let alone 2900! You guys have light cars. Mine has to be pushing 3600.

 

I'm notably lighter than that with me in the seat & full of fuel, but poly windows all around, CF doors, hood, & deck lid.

25.3/25.2 cage & "3/4 chassis", sporting an iron block/tall-deck BBC too though, along with a non-lightened th400.

 

who has pics of how to gut the doors to remove 40 pounds each? So far I've done some cutting and pulled out 6 pounds total. I have the giant "U" channel door braces and am not sure how to cut those out without hurting my show quality paintjob.

 

That is a problem with the car already painted.
That channel is glued to the outer skin. I have got it separated from the outer skin by using a heat gun, but it is a little tricky as to not use too much heat so you don't bubble the paint.

 

Gutting the door is not worth it if you want to maintain functional windows.

 

still not sure where the other weight is coming from without losing the glass or manual regulator.

 

i just removed all my factory glass and installed 3/16th pro glass in my camaro ... hatch,windshield and roll up side windows all 3/16th and i saved 75. lbs ..

 

details on roll up side windows?

 

they fit just like the factory glass ... i got mine from pro glass and got the tinted ones ...look great ..

 

 

hmmm...they fit in the factory regulator? how much were those?

 

yep i installed all the windows just like the factory ones installed ...for windshield ,sides and rear window it was around 1200.00 and and i got the tinted ones ..

 

awesome! a little pricier than i can budget for, but it's great knowing there is a functional option available now!

how light can you get your car anyway ray?

 

it weighs around 3280 right now ...most of the races i race at i have to weigh 3250-3350 because im big block with twin turbos ..

every panel on my car is factory except the hood and windows ..it has factory floors ,dash,door panels etc...

 

Lexan windows are good for a race car. It's not recommended or legal for a street car.

 

I got thing about those u channel's after telling you about how I did it with a heat gun. I was talking to my buddy about and he reminded me that he did it with a hacksaw blade. He said it was long and tedious job, but he did it with out hurting the paint. He did his back in 1988 and is running stock glass also, has had no problems with the windows, door sag or anything.

To be honest I don't remember how much weight it saved, because at the time I was going for every pound I could get. So like the one gentleman said in a post up above it may not be worth it. Good luck with whichever way you decide to go.

 

if you like your doors sounding like a flapping piece of paper, go for it...lol!

 

Matt, where's that thread of yours where you were gutting that spare set & weighing pieces? - IIRC getting more than 15-20lbs per door was not likely unless you gave up the ability to roll the windows down/up and/or got rid of the glass itself.


My doors are actually the Harry-Glass light lay-up fiberglass. They're a composite blend & are comperable weight wise to most generic CF doors. - Obviously I don't need the ability to roll my windows down though, which would not at all be an option with these doors.


Alky - legallity of poly-carbonite windows varies from state to state, in most cases the only actual specification is for the windshield itself to be safety glass, thus you could do whatever with the sides & rear hatch.




Obviously a back-half type car is beyond what is being talked about here or common on this forum for that matter, but the Metz Performance '92 camaro was right around 2400lbs with driver/ready to race and was still steel roof/rear quarters, stock front suspension(10.5 legal), and full 25.2 cage/safety equipment, & a nitrous BBC combo. They just switched to procharged power and are at 2750 with balast per NMCA rules. - http://metzperformance.com/buildups.shtml

 

door thread. i had to go and redo all the links to the pics...facebook sucks for hosting. guess i need to go back to photobucket

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/orga...ch-weight.html

 

ray your car is sick. and i want some of those windows..... buddy of mine used speedglass on the rear of his 4th gen a few years back and it went in like a stock piece. looked awesome, and i've wanted something like that since.

 

Ray....thats a bada$$ car...as ive said before.

Just awesome...im gonna say a pair of turbos on a big block dont mind 3250 lbs...

Hoe much ballast in the rear?

 

[QUOTE=86iroc2try;5460892]Ray....thats a bada$$ car...as ive said before.

Just awesome...im gonna say a pair of turbos on a big block dont mind 3250 lbs...

Hoe much ballast in the rear?[/QUOTE]

With the right suspension set up, rear ballast can be unnecessary in most cases. I have seen cars with real high front to rear percentages get sick 60's.

 

Im not arguing that it is always necessary...however, most cars work best with 51-52% on the nose, using the suspension and chassis to hook the car instead of the tire alone. 55% or more on the nose wont fly with a lot of HP on a lightweight radial car...car will wheelie or spin alot.

We have several all motor cars that run faster heavier with the ballast in the rear...nothing else changed...including an n/a 468 3500lb chevelle that goes 9.1s @ 146 with a 1.23 60'



I have talked a lot with the local x275 guys bruder, rhodes, marinis, etc and they ALL use ballast...

 

When you say "right suspension setup" are you talking about lca angle and ic, etc, or shock tune?

 

no ballast in the rear ... my car is stock suspension and i run drag radials with no wheelie bars ... i got about 15 runs on it since i built it ... so far my ive gone 4.54 @ 175 in the eighth and my best 60 ft. has been 1.19 .. looking for 4.30's @ 180's this year ..

 

Thats cool ray...how much boost can you actually launch with? I know turbo cars dont usually need weight since the boost comes in through the 60'.

 

so far the most ive left with is 8 lbs. .. ill add weight to the front of the car when i really start to get after it and it wants to wheelie ..

 

Gotcha..good luck this season!! Well look forward to seeing some 4.30s on the timeslips.

 

Ray's car is definitely a beautiful ride, and mid 4's is hauling the mail for anyone, none-the-less just starting out with the car.



My rear hatch is a speedglass piece, fitment is great & it sits flat/no warpage.

 

does anyone know if they make light weight hatch struts ?? thats the one bad thing about using the proglass with the stock hatch is the struts are to strong .

 

Just get wore out ones from a boneyard, lol.

 

Mine is nose heavy and that didn't stop me from putting it on the bumper twice. I've seen very nose heavy pickup trucks which always have terrible weight ratios go up on the bumper. It's all about chassis setup plus a lot of torque. Helps to have a 4 link to move the IC around to where it can be the most advantageous.

 

x2. and the more weight you need in the trunk and/or nose, the more weight you will have to haul down the track. (provided your car didnt need balast to make weight in the first place)