Okay, here's what I'm thinking....

I'm going to buy a decent third gen for under a grand. Don't care about motor/trans/wheels/suspension, just need a good body and hardtop. The SOLE purpose of this car would be for autoXing. Not drag racing or shows, but I'll make it clean.

Reasoning: lighter than 4th gens (instantly better for AutoX) and can be found for cheaper. But mainly weight purposes.

I'll strip the interior, put in just the carpet without padding for comfort and pull most of the wiring and gut the insides. I'll leave the plastics cause they don't weigh too much. Battery moved to the trunk.I'll put in some kind of lightweight seat.

Suspension will get a full overhaul with BMR probably ($2000 should just about cover all of that with coilovers)

Now the strange part....everyone does LT1 swaps cause of the power difference. With AutoXing I won't need a lot of power, just enough. I'm thinking that the stock motor has enough power, but weighs too much. How about a 3800 motor with T5 trans? Will the exhaust fit with a tubular k member? I can do pacesetter headers if needed. But the power output is similar, and the weight of the V6 should be worth it. And I can still find those for CHEAP! 500 for the motor/trans combo.....total price of build would be under $5000 easy before paint....

Does this sound logical? Someone step in and correct me, but I think this would be a great AutoX car!

 

The 3800's are heavy all cast iron engines, I doubt there is any real weight savings over a aluminum headed SBC.

Swapping the battery to the trunk will add several pounds of wire to the car, you may want to consider simply going to a light weight battery.

AutoXing is what I intend to build my car for, if only I had the money.