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Has anyone swapped out the bulk heavy steel vacuum canister all the way at the front of the car for a light weight after market aluminum canister?
I know that they can be patched when they develop holes, but it seems like a great opportunity to remove a good bit of weight where it matters- far out front.
My 79 has that large ballast tank you're referring to. It also supports the center of the bumper, the radiator support, and the air dam. It seems like something would have to be in its place for these to attach to. I suppose you could fab an aluminum support bracket to save weight. Interesting...I've never heard of it being done.
My 79 has that large ballast tank you're referring to. It also supports the center of the bumper, the radiator support, and the air dam. It seems like something would have to be in its place for these to attach to. I suppose you could fab an aluminum support bracket to save weight. Interesting...I've never heard of it being done.
MajD
Yea, on a few of the weight saving mod threads people have cut the tanks out and left the brackets behind or fabed their own brackets.
I'm just not super mechanically inclined so I was hoping someone else did this and I could copy them. I was really wondering how to mount a new aluminum one in there...
40lbs that far forward in the car is not a good thing...
Power brakes are from the brake booster and a vacuum line on the intake. Nothing to do with the vacuum tank.
I'm confused by this statement; I thought the vacuum tank boosts the vacuum for the entire system...
When I read the description of the aftermarket vacuum tanks, they clearly market them as providing additional vacuum for brakes when you've got low vacuum from a big cam...
The power brakes on your system run of engine vacuum. The vacuum tank you have now also runs off engine vacuum but it's from a separate line through a one way check valve. The power brakes on your car are not connected to the vacuum tank.
The power brakes on your system run of engine vacuum. The vacuum tank you have now also runs off engine vacuum but it's from a separate line through a one way check valve. The power brakes on your car are not connected to the vacuum tank.
That blows my mind; so that 40 lb giant hunk of metal only provides additional vacuum boost for the headlights!?!
I could do the cheapo electric conversion on the other thread and then re-route the vacuum lines so that it actually provides vacuum boost for the brakes? (My cam is tiny, I actually won't need it so I'm just asking in theory.)
I would prefer to just cut the stupid thing out to save weight.
...so that 40 lb giant hunk of metal only provides additional vacuum boost for the headlights!?!...II would prefer to just cut the stupid thing out to save weight...
The vacuum reserve tank is built in to the front bumper support. It's your car and you can do what you want, but cutting the support will leave you with essentially no front impact protection.
The vacuum reserve tank is built in to the front bumper support. It's your car and you can do what you want, but cutting the support will leave you with essentially no front impact protection.
It's my understanding that it's not the tank itself that is an integral part of the front bumper support, but the brackets that mount the tank to the bumper that tie things together.
There were a few extreme weight saving threads on here where the OP cut the vacuum tank out while leaving the brackets untouched.
An alternative would be to make up some custom brackets to provide the same function.
The heavy vacuum canister is part of the front bumper system which gives you the 5 mile per hour bumper protection but you can cut it out to save about 40 lbs. of weight and sacrifice the extra protection in front. All the early C-3s did not have the heavy vacuum canister in front and therefore did not have the extra bumper protection and no one complains about it. I believe it was a government mandate to increase the front bumper protection that resulted in the heavy vacuum canister added to the later C-3s. You can also use a T-Connection on your vacuum lines and make the vacuum canister unnecessary. I plan on going with electric lights and have already bypassed the canister as described above. I have not gotten around to cutting out the vacuum canister as of yet but I believe I will to eliminate 40 unnecessary pounds. By doing this you will have the same front bumper protection as the early C-3s if you don't mind the loss of the extra protection of the heavy front bumper system. JMO.
In theory, you don't even need the vacuum tank to raise and lower your headlights as long as the engine is running. If you shut the engine off before turning off the lights the doors will not close without the tank. Otherwise, they will work fine. I agree with everyone else. That tank is part of the structure and GM got rid of the fender mounted tanks by using that bar/tube as one. There are easier ways to lose 40 pounds. Remove your spare/jack and carry a 12V pump with repair kit. That's a 5 min job. Cutting up your car is probably not the way to go about it...
You should have a ballast tank and check valve set-up to provide a constant source of vacuum to compensate for changes in vacuum during different operating conditions. The 80 - 82 set-up uses a light coffee can looking tank with three holes in the top. I believe the plastic spherical one mounts in the same area as the horn, which is somewhere near the evap cannister.
I think removing the ballast and not replacing it with something is a bad idea. Look at the picture and you can see that everything is welded to the tank, so while it's not integral to the bumper support, it is to the radiator and lower valence.
You can see the attachment points for the radiator support and the air dam / lower valence. Without support in that area, it will sag. Without the attachments, it will probably vibrate pretty good at speed. You may be able to use the support brackets from earlier years if they fit. Other guys have done this I'm sure. It will be interesting to hear about a real application.
Yeah, I personally wouldn't compromise the structural integrity of the front of the car to save 40 pounds- Not to mention the safety factor.
As far as I'm concerned, this is a key structural piece that holds the front of the car together that just happens to have the vacuum tank built in, not a 40 pound vacuum tank.
Just think how much weight you're already saving by replacing the cast heads and intake with aluminum.
12-04-2016, 07:44 PM
Vacuum Canister Swap- anyone done it?
