Standard rule of thumb is that each 100lbs is equal to about 0.1 seconds in the 1/4 mile. From my observations this is pretty close for 13-16 second cars. Faster or slower is usually off as far as that rule.

This is obviously not exact, as there are tons of other factors that play into it.

- Justin

 

So is it worth it for us to be 3600 lb beasts, and our sheer power will be enough; or should we loose a few lbs?

 

They usually look crappy from the inside but I'd bet you can polish the outside really well with Mothers and it would shine like glass. The weight savings is very worthwhile. My sister isn't into racing but her 91RS has them and I keep telling her I can trade them for glass and she can probably come out $100 ahead of the matter.

 

Hm, i think i will look into the Lexan T's. Can you tint them, or no?

 

....Lexan is available in dark shades so tinting isn't necessary {I
don't remember if it just comes dark or light or if there are several different
shades of dark but anyway it does come dark}. I used to
have an '84 Camaro that I put on a 'diet'. On of the things that I did that
I didn't see listed was take out the 4 front headlights. I then replaced 2 of them
with the plastic ones that are made by Wagner. So instead of having 4
heavy headlights I had 2 light weight ones {oh, and the replacment
Wagners were high/low in one unit beams so you still have both high & low beams}. If I remember right all you do for the wiring is plug the original plug into the single Wagner and it works on both beams. I then put in a cold air intake using the two headlight holes that were empty {this was on a carburated engine }. I used sheet metal ducts and 4" dryer vent that you get at The Home Depot.
Plus a Tilaton {sp?} light weight starter. I cut off all the excess bolt & screw length with my small grinder on all the bolts & screws {yeah in some cases I cut off an excessive 1/8" of and inch! Hey, when your on a diet, your on a diet!... Wilwood aluminum front hubs. Burn and scrap the undercoating off the underside of the car..... Bill....

 

scrap the undercoating? Oooooh no! lol. Not here in salty, rust-infested NY. Well, not so much "rust infested".. but cars can easily BECOME rust inftested. But my Camaro is ONE car that WONT be, lol. But the grinding the bolt/screw thing.. was that relly worth it?

 

....well of course it WASN'T worth it! I have an obsessive personallity
and when I start something I just get carried away! But I think that A LOT
of other F-Body owners are the same. I though I was the only one who got
carried away with weight reduction but by searching and reading
other people's posts I see that its an additive thing to do {I read somewhere about a guy using ALUMINUM nuts & bolts, and replacing steel braces with aluminum}. But once YOU get going on the weight reduction we'll see what happens. Remember every 100 pounds is worth 10 H.P. So if you remove 1000 pounds its 100 H.P! I also think that
the light weight starter was sort of silly. The one I had wasn't broken & the
light weight one was something like $180 dollars or so {this was 8 to 10 years
ago so I don't remember exactly}. It weighted something like 2 pounds less. The Wagner headlights were $50 each {so a total of $107 including tax} & it saved
like 3 or 4 pounds or something {but you can't get much closer to 'off of the front end' than headlights, except for the license plate may be?}. I used 1/16" lexan for my side windows! I figured "hey its 1/2 the weight of 1/8"!!! Of course they rattled like crazy, but who cares cuz EVERY 100 POUNDS IS 10 H.P ... And on & on & on..... Took out my PERFECTLY good $1500 dollar stereo. Hey who needs music? I can save 15 pounds.....or was it 10???
Anyway, I think that weight reduction is addictive just like drugs! oh, and by the way, remember if your car gets rusty that it'll weight less.... Oh, something that I didn't do but though of was 'acid dipping' the body parts. I think it was Mopar that did this in their 60's musle cars {factory drag cars}... Take care & remember the first ones free... Bill....

 

Yea, I know people who have ground down bolts, switched to aluminum bolts for non-critical parts, also taken out unneccesary bolts (for intstance, the fenders - two bolts in the rear to hold the hood brackets, and the one in the front...the others can come out).

It all depends on how far you wanna go. I've taken out my AC, and my car already had manual windows/locks. Your manual tranny already weighs less than a 700R4. You could buy a tubular subframe and A-arms that will save 40-50 lbs off the front.

Searching LS1Tech.com can give you some great weight reduction lists, as most of the 4th gen stuff still aplies to thirdgens (except power window motors - these are lighter in a 4th gen than the manual assembly).

- Justin

::edit:: - good thread for weight reduction ideas: http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17319

 

Hm.. thanx for the site Justin. And thanx for the help people! I think I will just go wit the traditional American way; Out Power my competition This whole "lessening the load" thing is startiing to suck, lol. Ah well, my 300 hp, 350 lb's will have to suffice for a 17 year old BTW.. does anyone have stock weigt numbers for our cars?

 

....hummm, well I checked out the link to LS1tech.com. Gee whiz no
wonder my car weighed so much, I forgot to do the 'take out the
owners manual' delete.... Bill....

 

- Justin

 

i got a 86 iroc 350 aluminum headed motor, power windows, locks, glass ttops, full loaded car, it wieghed in at 3400 lbs...i wanna try to get it down to 3000 this winter...rear seats and a/c gone will take a big dent in that weight...i'm not too sure about getting into lexan tho..i think i'll keep the glass...but i already got a fiberglass hood, so that'll take some unwanted weight off the front as well..does anybody know of any lightwieght racing rims for 3rd gens???

 

...I had 15 x 4 Center Line Convo Pros with Mickey Thompson Sportman
tires on mine. I am currently using one of these rim/tires for the spare
for my '94 Firebird. If you'd like I'll take the bathroom scale outside and
weigh it, its just laying in the back of the car..... Bill....

 

....well my curiosity got the best of me, plus I haven't been to the Gym
in months so I carried the bathroom scale outside {whew, what a work
out. The 15 x 4 Convo Pro and tire {a 2 ply, 7.5 x 15} weighed just
under 22 pounds. Can't get any closer than that on the weight as I got
rid of my Ohas Dial a Gram Thriple Beam Scale years ago when I tried to
get a real job......
Bill......

 

The rear seat, seat belts, and the entire AC system should weigh about 70 lbs. Why are you not sure about lexan tops? Check out Summit or Jegs for their choices in racing wheels. IIRC, my buddy saved about 60 lbs by switching from 17x9.5 chrome 10-spokes to 15x8 weld prostars in the rear and 15x3.5 prostars in the front.

- Justin