73, Dark Blue 454

Check my math, but on one of my 73's I believe I've lost 380 lbs. This car is a fully loaded 454/TH-400 car.

Here's how I did it:

60 lbs,..Tranny swap from TH-400 to Muncie M-20
70 lbs,..Aluminum heads
12 lbs,..Aluminum intake
5 lbs,..Alum hi-flow water pump
28 lbs,..(weighed on a scale), Installed 1970 passenger doors that I had (vs. heavier 73 doors)
20 lbs,..Headers instead of cast iron exhaust manifolds
10 lbs,..Mini-starter
15 lbs,..Removal of A.I.R. equipment
5 lbs,..Removal of Evac system
30 lbs,..Aluminum wheels from a 76 vs. the original Rally's
50 lbs,..Replace the spare tire with an exercise ball (yes, I know; the spare helps in the event of a rear end collision)
10 lbs,..Remove the jack
35 lbs,..Fiberglass rear leaf spring
10 lbs,..Aluminum DeWitts radiator
20 lbs,..(at least) Removal of all undercoating/sound insulation (a messy job removing all the tar-like gunch; must of had 4 gallons of this stuff in and under the car)

380 lbs,..TOTAL Weight Loss (well over 10% of the factory curb weight)

Some of the above numbers are documented with a scale; some are a best guess. I welcome you to disagree or agree with my estimates.

Regardless, as you can see most of the weight loss is off the front of the Vette. The transition from what it was to what it is now, is incredible. The car is much more nimble, doesn't try to 'plow' through turns, brakes and steers easier, and best of all, faster!

If losing 100 lbs means 1/10 off of quarter mile times, then I would have reduced my times 3 or 4 tenths. That's significant.

Next on the list is the look-alike A6 aluminum A/C compressor that weighs 20 lbs less. Currently my A/C works great so it will wait.

Lastly, I wish somebody would make and sell an aluminum 'battering ram' (the big heavy front bumer support). 30-40 lbs could be removed off the nose of the Vette.

FWIW

U17

We guesstimated the same amount,#300, in the install of the ZZ383,Hookers,radiator,electric fans, ect.... No spare, I can't see where a floating tire aimed at the ground will provide any crash protection anyway ...I think the gas tank above it negates any benefit...

Ray Y

Congratulations!! That's a nice diet.
I've done most of these mods and can reccommend one more for you. Battery weight. I installled a Braille 3121 carbon fiber unit and lost another ~30 lbs.

I'm installing tublear upper & lower arms right now for some more weight reduction.

73, Dark Blue 454

Thanks Ray,..interesting thought on the battery. I'll look it up.

Mako72

LS motor!

Ray Y

Also look into ABS Power Brake and Billet aluminum master cylinder. It not only frees up a lot of weight over the cast iron MC it frees up a lot of room on the drivers firewall.

kdf1986

Thats a good weight saving, increased performance due to the weight, and probably looks better with the upgrades. All around a win-win-win situation.

kdf

gkull

My friend and I pulled all the heavy metal out of the nose of my car and replaced it with aluminum plates and brackets. The old big vacuum canister was replaced with 3 inch exhaust pipe supporting bracing. I had considered making a thin wall vacuum tank, but decided that the heavy opening light had to go

johnt365

I just saw you are in Austin. There is a place with a drive on scale that will weigh your car. Its free if they just tell you the weight or a few bucks if you need a print out.

CMC Recycling
1704 Howard Ln, Austin, TX 78728-7713 (512) 251-3407 ‎

I had them weigh a jetski for me once and plan to take my car next week.

HamadUP

The best thing besides loosing weight, is getting a much better performance as well! (aluminum heads, radiator, mini starter .. etc)

74 vert

That's a lot of weight. Makes me want to find a scale. I recently changed to Wilwood brackes and Wilwood master cylinder. Can't see them behind the rallys easily, but I know they're there.

73, Dark Blue 454

Obviously, the weight loss took place over the course of a frame-off restoration. But weight was a consideration when choosing every new part. The aggregate results are significant.

I lost 380 lbs and gained a 250 HP (Brodix heads, stroker crank (496), compression, HR cam, exhaust, etc).

The car is now an absolute blast to drive.

roscobbc

You could do the 'whole thing' and go for the Brodix ally block too (and while at it add even more cubes )

08vycpe

You can loose a lot more weight by installing later model C3 seats. They are much lighter than the older seats, have better bolstering and in my opinion look better.

73, Dark Blue 454

Funny you mention that. I'm saving my pesos for a Brodix (part # 8B 2000 A) aluminum block for a 69 Camaro project. An aluminum 540 with an RS-600 tranny. Should be fun.

73, Dark Blue 454

Good idea but my original seats are in great shape and the interior is all original. But I like the way you think!

Lon Wayne

I lost forty five pounds
(quit drinking soda pop)
like carring a 5 gallon bucket of water everywhere I went.

Ray Y

Ok...OK...so now I feel like a former prom queen getting ready to go home for the 10 year class reunion...I diet and diet (remove steel and replace with aluminum or tube steel) and the result is......

'70 w/ 555 cu in Big Block, roadster.
Lots of aluminum:
Heads
Intake
Radiator
Wheels
Billet clutch
Master Cylinder
Plus-QA1 coil overs (no leafs), Tube A-Arms, Steeriods, Wilwood brakes, Tremec 5 speed, Braille 21# battery, Ramadei 12 bolt, < 1/4 tank fuel and the scales said....

3351#.

Honestly I was shocked to not be in the low 3200# range.

The motor has not been dyno'd yet (planned for Sept), but it was built on one of the concepts of Jim Moore's (aka 427 HotRod) 555 articles in the now defunct Corvette Enthusiast and it should be about 675 hp @ the crank which would yield ~ 4.96 hp/lb at the current weight. I want to be in excess of 5.0 rwhp/lb. Given a little parasitic loss I think that,

I want to lose another 150#s. I need suggestions!

I met with my painter yesterday and removing a couple of old paint layers will help for sure, but it will not get me to my goal.

Hey BJ--Your projects are very interesting to me!

What else have you guys done?

cv67

Weigh your car and know exactly what you lost vs prediction that would be interesting. Even if it was 200 thats quite a bit.

Vette5.5

Hard to say, but all about cutting weight myself. Problem is, BB's are a pretty heavy lump hanging over the front axle. Iron headed SB's are about 100 lbs less, with LS's being another 120 lbs still. As mentioned, get the car on a scale, and let us know.