I had forgotten about the chest to horn button colission problems, guess its from being spoiled with break away steering wheels and inflating beach ***** to stop from permanant damage to the car :jester

I wasnt thinking about an aluminum vega box, but I was thinking about a g-body 1 piece (gear box/power steering unit) that might drop in its place. Probably heavier, but I wonder if there is anything out there thats comparable? Get rid of the power steering ram... :cool:

So.. the reworked list:

Late model glass for windows/windshield... back glass for us sugar scoops in lexan?
Aluminum radiator
Aluminum front hubs
Aluminum Water pump
Aluminum Intake
Aluminum Heads... (If you arent doing it on a shoestring... :yesnod: )
Fiberglass spring for rear
No spare tire
No jack
Tripple A card :jester
Dana 44 aluminum rear end
Thin aluminum rear bumper with dampers removed
Late model buckets/racing seats
Remove A/C if your above the 42 latitude... :jester
Rework Windows so A seatbelt bolted to the bottom of the glass is used to pull the window up. (old chrysler drag cars...)
Remove front bumper supports and fabricate in aluminum.
Running lights/front grill... rework that so it doesnt look horrible in the process though :jester


More expensive... Light weight flywheels/torque converters... Light weight guts for auto transmissions, non-latemodel 6 speeds for manuals (:jester)

Seriously, the T56 weighs what 150lbs? Thats a BIG honking number for a transmission to my eyes anyways... Beefy or not, thats heavy. A 4 speed with modified gears (most cities have the transmission show that can do it... or at least is advertised in the nickle classifieds... :jester )

In a quest for extremely low weight, I wonder about the 2 speed circle track transmissions, and a gear vendors overdrive... gives you a 4 speed again anyway! :jester Only reason I'm saying extremely low weight, is something 2000lbs can provide 1g of handling capability on semi-street tires (car craft has an article about the yellow gtr thing... mid engined beastie.) And if we cut the weight of the car standing still, the weight that can be thrown against the tires goes down. The weight that can be thrown against the tires goes down... the tires can go a little farther and then break loose into really wicked donuts into the runouts zones! :jester

The other real expensive stuff that could be done, would be completely rework the rear suspension... so it uses coil overs and thin halfshafts like a porsche.


:cheers:

 

Race weight fiberglass parts will save you a bunch of weight. My L-88 hood weighs almost half of what the factory hood weighed. Door skins shouldn't be to hard to fit up.

 

What is this "race weight fiberglass" you speak of?

 

I guess a thin skin that lacks the support of stock stuff? Thats just a guess though :confused:

 

Check out racing fiberglass manufacturers like http://www.hairyglass.com They offer fiberglass that is thinner than what is standard on a Corvette. They also offer carbon fibre parts if you want to get seriously light. Keep in mind though that these parts are not going to come to you looking like a part from Eckler's but lighter. They are going to need trimming, may need reinforcment to work with your intended use etc.

 

Hey, those fiberglass parts are kinda cool. Inexpensive too. I don't understand though, "68-82 VETTE CUSTOM (74) FRONT END..." does this mean that there is no 82 front end that looks like an 82 and not a 74?

 

Another random idea...

If we lowered our gas tanks down to where the rear tire carrier would be, I think doing that would lower our center of gravity on the back... by quite a bit!

I've always heard that the Nova's are such great drag cars because the tank is mounted so far back, everything leans back when you leave the line with a full tank of gas... because of the distance to the rear axle!

Makes me wonder about if we cant replace it because of distances we want to go on a tank... just lowering it and making a longer filler tube might be the key!

It also would let you extend the storage spot back a couple more inches, for some added space!

Also, the extended range C2 tanks that were fiberglass... has anyone made a nockoff version? That might be something that a few of us would be interested in... :cheers:

 

Sure it would help to move the tank lower. Maybe you could even go with an aftermarket fuel cell. Aren't those a bit lighter?

Do you think it could help the car on a track if a custom tank was somehoe fitted behind the seats and before the rear tires?

 

mine was 480 bucks or something like that from summit racing....they said the only one made for a 400 crank that is external balance is by ramm clutches... i wanna sell it, it's still new...like 15 or 16 lbs

 

Nobody has mentioned using a 1 piece Astro top. They weigh less than one of my fiberglass T-tops.

 

Here's one:

There is a 40 lb chunk of cast iron holding the steering column to brake pedal box to dash. I understand that GM changed it to fabricated sheet metal around about '82 or whenever they redid the interior and raised the steering column.

 

Let's step up to an aluminum block while we're dreaming about this project. How about one of these? http://www.brodix.com/onlinecatalog/...48/page47.html