I guess this goes on the chassis board since it deals w/ weight reduction. Does anyone have a list of approx. how much weight you save going to alum. heads, alum. radiator, alum. water pump, fiberglass hood, etc.? I've seen one somewhere on the web a long time ago but can't find it.
Also, I see the weight of a 1992 Camaro and how much each option adds to the car in the Tech Data section of this site, I was wondering if it's the same for an 89 IROC? I come out w/ 3463 stock weight using that chart, but I thought they were closer to 3650?

 

IIRC, isn't that part of the thirdgen.org FAQ?


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

 

The weights of options for a 92 Camaro is in the tech data section, but what I'm looking for is a list of appox. how much lighter alum. heads, fiberglass hood, etc. are.

[This message has been edited by BuckeyeROC (edited August 02, 2001).]

 

Heres a list of a few things and how much weight it will shed.
aluminum heads-50lbs
aluminum water pump 8lbs
aluminum driveshaft 5lbs
removing AC 35lbs
fiberglass hood 25lbs
lightweight starter 10lbs
smaller tourque converter 10-18lbs
remove emissions equipment 20lbs
under bumper impact beams 50lbs {I would only do this on a race only car}
lightweight wheels 10-20 lbs
plastic headlights 4lbs
lexan hatch window 35lbs
coil over front suspension 35lbs
Thats all I can think of right now,I have done most of this list to my car and it lightened it up alot. You just have to decied if you really want to give up this stuff to save a few pounds. I removed the heat and air from my car because I only drive it in the summer,but I would nevr take out my stereo just to say 10-20 lbs.

 

Excellent, thanks. That was what I needed.

 

There were only a couple of things I weighed when changing stuff. Mostly parts of the car were just removed without weighing them.

Glass to Lexan T-tops, about 10 pounds
Power option doors (window, locks, mirrors) to manual doors, I shaved 35 pounds per door but mine are gutted. No crash bar, very little inner steel (aluminum paneled) still has the glass and window regulator. I suppose a functional manual door complete with inner panel would probably save around 20 pounds per door.

Shaving off weight will depend on what you plan on using the car for. To keep it completely street legal, there are only so many things you can remove and still keep it safe.

Pull the carpets out and remove all the insulation from under them. Take out the back seats. Take out the front seats and install some racing ones. Use a smaller battery. Crawl under the car with a propane torch and a putty knife and scrape off all the undercoating. That's about 50 pounds. Ground effects look nice on an IROC or Formula but may weigh 50-100 pounds.

It'll cost more but you can eliminate more weight by using fiberglass body parts. The hood is the most common part but companies like Harwood also have complete front ends, doors and rear sections made out of fiberglass. A complete Lexan window kit is around $800

Get a tubular front crossmember from places like paracing.net and pull out the 700R4 and put in a TH350, it's lighter.

My car isn't street legal and has been stripped for racing. Almost everything that isn't required to go fast has been removed and a 6 point roll bar is installed. When I had a SBC in the car it was 3045 pounds with me in it going down the track. Now with the big block it's 3220.

Even though your car may weigh 3400 pounds, you're trying to move more weight than that with you or your friends in the car. That extra 100-200 pounds can make a big difference. A race car is weighed as total weight with driver since the car can't go down the track by itself.



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Follow my racing progress on Stephen's racing page
and check out the race car

87 IROC-Z SuperPro ET Bracket Race Car
461 naturally aspirated Big Block

Best ET on a time slip: 11.242 altitude corrected to 10.89
Best MPH on a time slip: 121.52 altitude corrected to 125.89
Altitude corrected rear wheel HP: 497.9
Best 60 foot: 1.546

Racing at 3500 feet elevation but most race days it's over 5000 feet density altitude!
Member of the Calgary Drag Racing Association

87 IROC bracket car, 91 454SS daily driver, 95 Homebuilt Harley

 

Great info. Stephen. My car is for mostly street and some track use. I just want to see what I should get for some weight savings, I'm not going to strip the car though. I have some alum. AFR heads and an alum. radiator, removed my smog stuff, cruise control and foglights (for ram-air), and a 9.5" Vigilante TQ converter. I might remove the A/C and I definitely will get the IROC Turbo fiberglass hood. Fiberglass front body panels and doors sound decent too, depends on cost. I wouldn't mind an alum. driveshaft if I can find one for a good price either. Just wondered what parts offered the biggest reductions.

 

I have to disagree with pulling the insulation from under the carpet! I changed my carpet out last summer for a new ACC piece. For kicks, when the old stuff was on the grass, I separated the insulation from the carpet, and lifted up the insulation. It was Very light- maybe 5 pounds... the way everyone talked, I expected that pile of old foam to be heavy. The carpet itself wasn't that heavy, either... but the bulk of the weight was in the carpet. If you're thinking of yanking the insulation, you'd do better to just leave the carpet out entirely... maybe order a "front seat only" section from JC whitney and leave the back undone.

[edit] Heh, or, you could just take a razor blade to your old carpet, and cut the rear-seat portion off!

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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

[This message has been edited by TomP (edited August 03, 2001).]

 

Do you have a part number or a dealer for them.

Jerry

 

how much do iron heads weigh anyway?

 

About 50lbs each fully assembled!

 

52lbs for 305 heads in the '80s
22601 casting anyways

 

That is a cool list.

Anyone know if the early fibreglass louvered hood is much lighter than the steel ones? Or is it have like metal structure to it?