Does anybody know the approximate weight savings of aluminum heads and headers over ramshorns and modern intake over the stock 45 year old stuff?

 

Anybody

 

Factory iron heads sbs will weigh 45 to 49 lbs each one depending on if earlier head or the later thin castings, aftermarket head with more iron in them will weigh 52 lbs each. The factory iron intake manifolds depending on the type will weigh 40 to 44 lbs. Aluminum aftermarket heads weigh in at 21 to 25 lbs some are 32 lbs each and then there are the all out race raised runner stuff your not interested in. An aftermarket intake manifold of which there are all kinds of single 4 types will weigh in the 13 to 17 pound range. As far as full length headers and sbc iron exhaust manifolds won't be much weight difference because the factory iron ones are not very big. Now an iron bbc manifold that was ment for vettes is heavy even though I never weighed one. An all iron sbc is generally listed at 575 lbs were an all iron bbc 680lbs. So if you do the percentage of weight loss off the 575 lb sbc it's nice but it's far better percentage of weight loss using aluminum on a bbc. You also have to consider what a good thing taking weight off toward the front of your car is.

 

It still boggles me just how heavy the SBC is. I dont get it. For such a small little package.

As for the question, you REALLY need some specifics to answer it. I know that with bg block Mopar stuff, you could either save weight, or even gain weight swapping to longtubes. I had a set ov stainless 2" CPPA headers that weighed quite a bit more than even the heavier HP manifolds did. I sold a set ov cheapo 1 3/4" longtubes that were lighter than the smallest iron manifolds. Those CPPA headers were crazy. You could tow the car with them... Likewise with the heads. Cheapo Edelbrocks could save you 44-47lb, if i remember right. A lot. My Brodix B1BS were only 14lbs lighter than iron heads... and those were the "small" Brodix. The B1's were i think 7-10lbs heavier. Thats big block Mopar. The small block Chevy aftermarket is probably 15 times larger... and thus the options a far more vast spectrum.

The cool thing is, this is Chevy small block... Somebody somewhere has weighed this stuff... Hell, so many people have weighed this stuff you could probably have an entire thread on the weight ov a stock L82 head. The data is out there. When i get mine apart, i'll put up my own findings absolutely.

 

Weight of your L82 head can be different depending on your year model L82 the later ones are lighter junk from the factory 😆

 

Hahahahaha. My point exactly.

 

Weight savings from cast iron to aluminum heads is 50 pounds.....
Rams horn to headers about 10 pounds per side.......
Cast iron to aluminum intake is about 25 pounds.......
Cast iron to aluminum water pump is about 8 pounds.....
Cast iron to aluminum block is 75 pounds......

Jebby

 

you will notice the weight diff when installing the parts. after they are in it won't be noticeable at all. better weight saving can be had by trading the spousal unit on a younger, smaller model. eating less yourself is also to be considered. which also improves steering wheel clearance...

 

Thanks Gents !

 

when I first came on this forum i mentioned what lightweight starter should I buy. Motor head said just lay off the twinkies 😆 really don't do twinkies but one of my favorite food groups peanut clusters.

 

Couple numbers here:

 

Yes alot!

 

starters are different. holding 25 lbs over your head while trying to thread the bolts is bad enough. but then the OEM starters suck at doing their job of starting the engine. and sometimes we like to get a little goofy. it doesn't all have to be technical and politically correct. i am probably one of the really guilty ones for trying to inject a little levity... but back to the weight savings. aluminum heads and intake and headers make the engine look sexy. built. they may take a half second off the quarter mile time if everything else is set up well. but not because the car is that much lighter. few of us even know where a drag strip or a road course is, let alone consider using one. these are nice cars that are fun to own and show off. the engine compartment is one of those components. but the 90-120 lbs you are removing are not gonna change the performance. the 15 lbs you save with the starter? that makes it start.

 

Engine now that I'm buying parts for will be basically locked in timing so I'll need a high torque starter, most likely going to use 16 volts going to it for even more cranking power.

 

I couldnt tell you the exact weight but a friend did about that and the front of his car came up. Now I doing it too and I got some coil overs to put in to dial in the height. I dont want to be pulling the springs back and forth trying to find how much to cut.

 

What the hell does that have to do with my post!

 

I was wondering the same thing?

 

There's an old drag racing rule of thumb that states that every 100 lbs. you remove from the car is worth a tenth of a second from your E.T. If you combine that with the additional power from aftermarket heads and intake, and the fact that you are not just removing weight, you are removing weight from relatively high up in the car which will lower its center of gravity, the whole thing starts to look a little more reasonable.

Scotty

 

I was told by one ov the forum experts here, who's acumen i respect, that 5-10lbs weight savings would be hardly worth my effort (more precisely, it would not be worth HIS effort). He knows racing, absolutely, but he's also got a LOT more money than i have, and can build an engine himself. Like Enzo Ferrari once said, "Aerodynamics is for people that cant build engines." The same thing could be said for weight reduction. Most guys here would rather just spend a few hundred and upgrade the power to go faster. I get that too.

HOWEVER... even beyond the fact that i (personally) have few avenues to make my car faster, and weight reduction can be cheap and easy, its just better for EVERYTHING... to have a light car. It helps EVERYTHING. Speed, handling, braking, mileage, reliability (to a point), and more, AND it tends to make a car even simpler (simple is good). There is a reason why people dont race Impalas and Cadillacs. They race Corvettes, Novas, and Fox-body Mustangs. And yeah, while you might not feel a 40lb drop in the seat, if you do even basic weight reduction in other places, that 40lbs goes a LONG way. For a gram-counter like me, a 5lb weight loss can be exciting. 40lbs? Thats not even worth talking about. GONE. Now, i also get that not everyone wants a 2800lb Corvette, but its really not hard to drop a couple hundred pounds in these cars and do it without clapping the thing out. You'll feel that for sure.

I read a LOT ov complaints from the 73-82 crowd about how slow these cars got. The weight gain plays a part there too. These cars are VERY easy to lighten up. I'd post up some numbers, but no one would believe me anyways.

 

I'm surprised no one has posted a link to @Bee Jay's weight loss mods.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...loss-mods.html