One thing i can say i like about these cars is that they come light from the factory. My 80 clocks in at 3200 pounds and is fully dressed. So it got me thinking, what can I ditch without affecting my comfort level too much? I've already removed the spare tire and jack, replaced with a can of fix a flat (which does work, my wife drove her car around for a week on one can of fix a flat before i bought her some new tires)-this I would say is at least 30 pounds if not a little more, I havn't weighed it. I could lose some weight by going to aluminum heads which i'm planning anyways. What else? How much does the insulation affect ride comfort? a little or a lot? the list off the top of head

carpet insulation
radio and speaker delete (i don't listen to music much anyways)
vanity mirror

am i grasping at straws? My a/c dosn't work momentarily but i think i would be happier fixing it then tossing it. I just think it would be cool to drop the weight under 3000 pounds.

 

You can lose alot of weight in the suspension with composite mono spring front and back, tubular a-arms in front, switch to aluminum calipers (reduces unsprung weight). Losing the ac will let off alot of weight and aluminum heads and block also do the trick. All this stuff will cost alot of cash though and if you just want to shed some pounds is a little extreme. I dont know alot about the newer c3's accesories (I have a 70)but I would assume there is alot of creature comforts you could take off to lose some pounds. I dont think I would remove the insulation though because it is not that much weight and it gets pretty warm in the car without it. Good luck! Im sure the more knowlegable guys will have a little more info than me.

 

The person you need to talk to is forum member Panic.
He has got his car down to about 2600 pounds i think.
Do a search for some of his posts or pm him.

 

Cool guy and awesome vette!!

 

damn....thats light i'll see what i can find, thnks

 

Panic doen't have many creature comforts. Here's a thread where he listed a few things he's done to get light...

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1781128

Nice guy.

 

...just a bit under 2.800lbs.. (ooh yes and i got rid of the vanity mirror as well but it only worth half lb)...

joe, there are important mods you need to do to your vette to get down to this level (even if every bit helps) and if you think you can't do without your A/C then i guess you better keep it stock, the weight dropping will indeed boost your ride quality positively but will also reduce your in car comfort...infact you will have to get rid also of your fat and comfy leather seats, heater, A/C, t-tops, power windows (with the windows), your doors will have to be emptied and your windshield will have to be a thin sheet of lexan. then you'll have to start spending real money on lightweight calipers, lighter wheels, lighter (and better) suspensions, lighter radiator, alu heads, intake, pumps, etc...race battery, shorter cut carpets, race seats...and you will have to risk a bit because your front and rear steel defences must go as well...if you loved your pop up lights, well, they must also go (they are bloody heavy and 2 fixed lights will provide the same service with a fraction of the weight).

does it worth to do all these (costly) efforts? yes, because after the cure you'll have a nice looking and better riding sport car and you'll be able to challenge modern sportscars not only on a streight quarter but also on winding and sharp roads, where a stock C3 worth close to nothing, if your challenger rides a late supercar...

 

My book gives the 1980 base model at 3336 pounds. As stated, going to a composit rear spring will lost weight and removing the air conditioning will drop some as well. Your 1980's base weight did include the air conditioning because air was a standard feature with the base model for that year. Several reasons that your car came with less weight than pervious models was that your support crossmember was/is aluminium. Your car also had thinner glass, and the hood, roof panels, and doors were thinner as well. Good luck in your weight reduction quest, as you have nothing to lose except weight and money. Al

 

sweet, thanks for the info. I don't really want to give up a whole lot of comfort. but i'm sure there some things i can sacrifice. I think my wife would kill me though if i started removing things like power windows , but i like having them anyways. Being that this stuff was put in in 1980, i might be able to fabricate some more light weight stuff myself to replace a few things here and there. I noticed in another thread your interior is full but lighter aftermarket pieces are used? is it all custom or did you get from somewhere? Thanks!

 

[QUOTE=joehalford01;1561526609....I noticed in another thread your interior is full but lighter aftermarket pieces are used? is it all custom or did you get from somewhere? Thanks![/QUOTE]

yes, the whole interior has been replaced with ecklers black parts, they weight about half of the originals and if you put all of them together you'll have quite a few lbs saved...but it's pretty costly though

when i got rid of the power windows my wife didnt say a word but she started talking (bad) to me when i got rid of the windows altogether...

 

thats funny, good to know i'm not the only one that gets mocked for my dreams of speed , i think i need to call ecklers, I ordered the catalog a while back but still havn't received it. oh well.

 

If you look at your wheels, the slots are bigger than earlier slotted wheels to save more weight. Ditch the air pump and all of it's components if emissions testing isn't required in your area, speakers are somewhat heavy, race battery, get a light set of headers and lighter dual exhaust (for god sake get rid of that heavy catalytic converter), heads, I've heard talk of plastic t-tops, then you can dig into your suspension, which is all very heavy, and then if that's not enough for you, then don't drive around with a lot of gas in your tank!

 

i'm only reluctant to remove emissions equipment because i'm afraid i'll forget how to put it back on two years from now I may do it anyways, I can always take pictures.....and then try to find them two years from now.

Has anyone tried the super tiny oddssey battery? It says it has plenty of cranking power in the summit catalog but is listed as a motorcycle battery on the summitracing web-site. confusing to say the least.