Can I get my car down to 3200lbs?

Im going to pull the a/c and HVAC, power steering, add prostars with ront runners, remove spare tire and jack, back seats, tubular k member with upper and lower tubular a arms, fiberglass life off hood, QA1 coil over conversion, and remove all the "unneeded" stuff from under the hood. Think I can pull it down? What else can I remove to get the weight down there?

Depends on just how much you want to keep and if you need to keep it street legal or not.

Last year before the start of the season I took my car across the scales. My car with a BBC and full roll cage, the race weight (car, driver, fuel etc) was 2975. It's a completely gutted out race car and could never be made street legal again. Fourth gens are not much different in weight from third gens. Some can be a little heavier.

If it's a full race car, remove everything not needed for speed or track safety.

If this is a car you drive normally, I would advise that you put the powersteering pump back in, because without it, it's nearly impossible to drive on the streets without tiring out. It's not remotely safe, if you have to make a quick move to avoid another car, you will not make it. I know this because I went to the track and ran a short belt to bypass the powersteering, and maneuvering around was harder than hell. In a fwd car, it's doable, but in a rwd, no way...unless only 3rd gen camaros are that way but that seems to be the trend ive seen so far.

If it's just your track car...then by all means gut the hell out of the thing, 3100 is more than possible.

I'm 3400 w/ full tank, less driver...and thats with stock wheels and radials with the only weight reduction being no rear seats, rear belts, jack/spare, and rear carpet (which was cut out by the previous owner:mad: )

I would think that you could pull 200lbs out with the new wheels, K member, A/C HVAC removal, rear seat, belts, etc...Just like said above what are your goals?

--Alan

Well I want to drive the car on the street just not often. I have driven a friends car with no power steering and front runners and it seemed to be pretty easy to manuver. I might leave the power steering in for piece of mind. I want a driver and passenger seat and carpet. I dont want it to be an all out race car but if I can get it down to 3200 lbs race weight and keep it streetable and legal then thats what i'd like to do. Any ideas?

Having manual steering and disconnecting power steering are 2 different things. The only problem with manual steering is parking lot driving with wide front tires. Driving down the road, you won't notice a difference.

Disconnecting power steering is something totally different. A power steering box/rack is designed to operate with hydraulic pressure and will be hard to steer without it. Some track only cars with a converted power steering box have a hose looped between the inlet and outlet port of the steering box to keep fluid in it. It's still harder to steer than a manual box but at least it won't fail for lack of fluid.

The power steering pump doesn't use that much power anyway. When there's no load on the steering (going straight) there's very little pressure in the system and the pump isn't working hard. It's when you actually need to turn that the pump starts to build higher pressures.

The biggest advantage to a manual steering system is the weight saving. Taking off the pump, brackets, lines, fluid, cooler (if equiped) and using a manual steering box is a big weight saving. It also cleans up the engine compartment.

I accidentally forgot to add fluid to my p/s system the other day after my heads/cam install... that **** was impossible to turn, even w/ my skinnies on.

Just as a point of reference, my 4th Gen race car is completely stripped of anything not necessary ie: wipers, interior panels, factory wiring harness, passenger seat, rear seats, carpet, power steering, A/C, heater, ect. It's got a 6 point roll bar, one composite racing seat, tubular k-member, lightweight front brakes, weld draglights with skinnies, nothing under the hood that's not needed, no front or rear bumpers. It's nowhere near street legal, and it weighs 2800

If I can get to 3200 I think I can hit some nice 11 second passes on the stock cam. :)

I did not read all of the thread but from what I did read, if you are doing all that stuff 3200 is cake.
Mine was 3150 with 235 driver and I took everything out of the car I can list it if you need me to....

I did not read all of the thread but from what I did read, if you are doing all that stuff 3200 is cake.
Mine was 3150 with 235 driver and I took everything out of the car I can list it if you need me to....

Shon,

I would be very interested in a comprehensive list of what you removed.

Here it goes:
HVAC, carpet, plastic interior panels, exhaust (run a y-pipe).
BMR K-member, BMR upper and Lower A-arms. QA1 shocks/springs.
Herron Performance LCA/PHR (rod ended). LW battery, replaced dual fans with 12" single fan. 'glass hood (loosing even more going from flat bolt on to 4" cowl pin on), no radio, no wipers/motor/tank. no EGR/AIR.
Manifolds are heavy! 1 seat, cloth manual vs leather power. no rear seats. no power steering or bracket (alt relocated).
skinnies and fats (warriors of which are the heavier wheels I could have run). Rubber 'mat' on firewall, ABS deleted and computer but left wiring, LL installed.
Hood hinges, about 8#s total. Traction control gone.
Front/rear bumper supports. All speakers and most of the wiring for speakers gone. Solid motor mounts
some bolts here and there. run 1/4 or less at the track.

Weight adding stuff: Spohn TA, Spohn Drag bar, 12 bolt, 4.33s/spool (lighter than posi)

I think that is about it.

I am going racing Saturday so hopefully they will have the scales open for me to get a new weight.

I pretty much printed out the weight reduction list on several boards and highlighted it as I did things, there is still alot left to do :shock:

Hard top or T-top car?

If I can get to 3200 I think I can hit some nice 11 second passes on the stock cam. :)

What is your current car weight and current ETs? 11s with the stock cam will be a real challenge at 3200.

With my 97 LT1 auto I'm at 3335 lbs w/o driver, w/ hot cam, 3200 stall, Long Tube headers, 3.73s, PCMforLess, slicks and suspension work (several other performance mods) and running 12.20s. Which took a lot of hard work to get to get to the low 12s.

Car hasn't been ran yet. I'll get some dead stock baselines to run some comparisons. Gonna be hard but i'm in Iraq and i'll have to go by my friends driving skills. LOL I'll let you know the results.

Hard top or T-top car?
T-top
and I do not have airbags but I think that is given :D

Having manual steering and disconnecting power steering are 2 different things. The only problem with manual steering is parking lot driving with wide front tires. Driving down the road, you won't notice a difference.
.

I disagree. While a manual rack is definitely easier to mess with that a looped power steering setup, it sure sucks for street driving. I could definitely tell a difference even at speed. It is just way too unresponsive to be considered streetable.

LesPaulGoth is right, IMO.

Ryan

I have a looped rack with skinnies, I dislike it but it also could be the slow speeds on the driveway plus the spool.

I do however like the non power steering going down the track b/c with the light front end it is quick with the PS and I felt myself correcting after the shifts but now that is not a problem.

I disagree. While a manual rack is definitely easier to mess with that a looped power steering setup, it sure sucks for street driving. I could definitely tell a difference even at speed. It is just way too unresponsive to be considered streetable.

LesPaulGoth is right, IMO.

Ryan

Shon,

I ran manual brakes and steering and loved it, for the track. It is extremely smooth and even. However, driving to the track was not fun, and it felt dangerous. I'd say the manual brakes are the worst thing you can do for a street car. The manual steering is on the list, but brakes are the worst.

Manual steering and brakes make the car extremely smooth, but the biproduct of that is unresponsiveness. I tried to make it work, but it was too unsafe for me.

I am pretty tolerable - big cam, 1200rpm idle - but the manual stuff was too unresponsive. You take a manual brake/steering car that is lightweight (no supports - bumper, door, etc) and you get into an accident, you're safety is jeopradized. At that point, it isn't about the car; its about your safety.

Ryan

I can agree with all of that.
I got this car for one purpose, to race it. BUT will say with the spring air coming in thoughts of driving it on the street again are coming up therefore alot of the stuff I have done last year I am re-thinking.
I will work on this summer a PS set up with the relocated Alt using an LS1 pump so that will be taken care of. I got another 12 bolt here with 4.11s/posi so that can be taken care of, plus till got the exhaust set up! I just need to put in some LW carpet and the plastic and we are ready, except I have not wheels/tires that are legal for street use.

And what is cool with my car is that it is just bolts ons so putting that stuff back on is no big deal and I theoritically (sp) can drive it anywhere, LOL.

One of the reasons I have not went to the manual brakes/drag brakes and removing door bars, and some other stuff I was going to do was b/c of the thoughts of putting it on the street some.

I wish I could get me another stocker to drive and play with this one but I dont see the wife agreeing to that, LOL.

And track use and street use is a compromise and last year I was about no compromises, I wanted the bolt on record, I had it for a few days and I hope to get it back, then see where we stand.

At this point in the game it would be cheaper to put in a BIG cam and stock heads and go racing rather than pulling more weight off the car. it is already getting booted at the local 1/8th mile tracks at a 7.4 1/8th mile......
Shon,

I ran manual brakes and steering and loved it, for the track. It is extremely smooth and even. However, driving to the track was not fun, and it felt dangerous. I'd say the manual brakes are the worst thing you can do for a street car. The manual steering is on the list, but brakes are the worst.

Manual steering and brakes make the car extremely smooth, but the biproduct of that is unresponsiveness. I tried to make it work, but it was too unsafe for me.

I am pretty tolerable - big cam, 1200rpm idle - but the manual stuff was too unresponsive. You take a manual brake/steering car that is lightweight (no supports - bumper, door, etc) and you get into an accident, you're safety is jeopradized. At that point, it isn't about the car; its about your safety.

Ryan

Shon.... how much safety crap can be pulled out on a all out track car? I heard the door supports and stuff.... I wanna rip it all out of a roller and run a 383 with a big set of LE AFRs and a huge cam. :) Maybe throw a 200 shot on it after that. The lightest possible is what I want for a side project.

I've found a few roller for cheap. I think I can strip them down to nothing and make alot of power and run the hell out of them. LOL

Shon.... how much safety crap can be pulled out on a all out track car?
Track only car you can pull out what ever you want to.
Bumper supports, door bars, seat belts, air bags, ABS, etc.
I was going to start cutting unneeded metal from the 'frame' and inside the car but I might just chill out on that since I started looking and noticed I might would be saving 10#s, not a whole lot really.

I still have door bars for now, still not sure if I am going to pull those or not, just 15#s total (7.5ish per door).

My car weighed in at 3220 with 3/4 tank of gas and the stereo and bumper supports still in it.
I have since removed the front and rear bumper supports and and relocated the alternator getting rid of the bracket and yes the power steering too. I am going to run the looped power rack with skinnies and see how it feels. I don,t think it will be that bad for a weekend warrior that sees some late nite street racing and occasional track outings. If my calculations are correct I should be about 3050.
I can,t bring myself to delete the door bars but a cage will need to be going in soon so the door bars will be a moot point then.
3200 is easy to do and still look like a stock interior.

any info on makin 2nd gens lighter?

i think the biggest deal on 2nd gens is the door bars. anyone know how to take em out without messin up the paint?

My car weighed in at 3220 with 3/4 tank of gas and the stereo and bumper supports still in it.
I have since removed the front and rear bumper supports and and relocated the alternator getting rid of the bracket and yes the power steering too. I am going to run the looped power rack with skinnies and see how it feels. I don,t think it will be that bad for a weekend warrior that sees some late nite street racing and occasional track outings. If my calculations are correct I should be about 3050.
I can,t bring myself to delete the door bars but a cage will need to be going in soon so the door bars will be a moot point then.
3200 is easy to do and still look like a stock interior.

I dont care too much about a stock looking interior.... I want it to be as light as I can get it.

I'm in the process of looking for a hard top car so I can strip it to the bare bones. The only thing I care about is it looking stock from the outside. The more I can pull out the better.

If all you want to do is look stock on the outside then 3100 should not be a problem.