This is Weight Reduction in c5 z06.. and alot is meant directly to drag racing I'd say I post it here....... in no particular order...

1- valve covers,,. I figure those $700 carbons and elimimating coil pack brackets I could save 5-6 lbs, but after getting final weight with fasteners is 4lbs, oem with fasteners and gasket is 5.5lbs

2- OEm starter I research and many say 12lbs,. so ordering 7.5 lb powermaster would get me there.... oem starter is actually 7.9 lbs with 15 years of grease, I sent the powermaster back because actually weighed 8.4

3- oil pan weighs 17 clean and dry,. Im hoping fabricated aluminum comes in at 15lbs but this is doubtful.. oem is sold and new is a wash at $0 so wont go back now ... but net 0 lbs

4 - fuel pumps/system--- im going fuel cell for many reasons and thought would save weight overall and this will NOT be true... every line and pump and braket is VEry light in the car...

5- thought some new heads (since cam will be heavier Im sure) ported and polished but yet I hear weight many lbs more so 243s flow good for stock cubes so def keeping these..

disspointed hit road blocks on maintaining weight but just a quick FYi where Im really impressed how light this car was made with so much durability and drivebility in mind ...

 

What car are you talking about?

 

He has a C5.

And he's completely correct. Dropping weight off these cars is tough if you plan to swap items. The best way is to remove items. But, that can't always be done.

My steering wheel weighs 11 ounces. That was a big help.

Even the TRZ tubular K member doesn't save much weight if you already have drag breaks and coil over shocks. Pulling a big chunk of aluminum off and installing the CM piece really doesn't add up to much.
Tubular A arms? The OEM ones are really light already.

Takes a lot to get these cars below 2800# dry.

 

sorry I revised.. somethings could be true for c4 and alot more for c6 .. I think the c6 would benefit from interior removal pieces has they are heavier.... and car is smaller overall .. but Im not removing ANything from my c6 Just ALL from the c5 LOL...

Pleasure meeting you at the rentals... you inspired me with your genius set up of cooling and fueling...

Interesting you mention the K-member... .. I went deep into 10s with nitrous only FUll weight... I started trapping 136 while learning how to tune with bad sixties and started to think those temporary gto tires say max 50mph...I could hit 9s and 140 in november... so I wanted to order front runners... but why not go 15s.. so as I get to the website checking out front the brakes.. theres a Trz spindle option.. WElll lets say the car never made it out of rear garage for 8 months as I removed everything I could find and sell.... so let me add items prior to this...

1)k-member and front suspension --- I bolted the complete front end off and rolled it away.. as I sold parts I started to realize how light all those pieces were... didnt have a good scale back then.. but I'd say piece by piece the oem aluminum was not heavier.. whereI lost is on the brakes and hubs -- the brakes are meant for road course and street so go figure.. where I saved most weight is removing power steering and Abs... I actually still have k member and its so light I may go on a Ls swap (non Ls car) and be light VERy Light

2) the Radiator.. OH boy... I spent months researching >>. NOTHING I say Nothing aftermarket is Lighter.. its actually heavier.... MUCH heavier... thats how I ended up with honda civic radiator.. and where the weight drops is the combo of deleting the tower-- which Btw only weighs 8 lbs... and not having resevoir saves water weight... all in all I saved weight but Im not keeping the car cool enough YET>...

3) the glass windows... only ONLY reason I removed them was to weld the cage easiest.. the plexi is not at all that much lighter... this is NOT true for many other cars ... the c5 (z06 especially ) I believe stands lonely in this department

4) rear brakes weigh under 38lbs which is only slightly heavier then the Lightest drag brake you can find...which brings up Leafs and sway bars weigh NOTHING on this car... people mention coil overs to save weight.. but the shock to hold a coil weight Double the stock shock..

5) interior parts are VERY very light,.. I sold some and Had to buy back... where weight is saved is in removing speakers (radio is light) air bags,. and air conditioning stuff... the carpet is Heavy but its just because I didnt expect it.. but it does its job.... so only way to reduce it is by elimintaing .. and the power windows mechanics weighs next nothing.. so power windows and full interior stays in my Ride

6) the chassis is where it gets interesting... its light, Yet I hear C6Zs and c7 aluminum saves weight.. YET for a drag car I think this is not true.. I built my 8.50 cage by adding 70 lbs... if I was aluminum I believe that number go up significantly by having to wrap the chassis at weld points with more steel...

last year I made a list of over 250 items and I sold and removed/swapped at least 200 --- the re-Wiring saved 100lbs but this is not for the faint at heart-- this was on my list for one of last items but I was too into it to Go back .... I made a list of 25 for this winter and my OP ilimantes alot of them... Ill list what seems like will keep me on my diet plan ,,,

1-- Hood --- this has been a long awaited and researched... I have AFV fabricating a stock figerglass unit to pin down.. wont safe much weight on hoood yet will save weigh on the hinges etc...


2- front springs.. cars so light I can come down on spring rating to save 5lbs

3- maybe will pin down trunk as well to save few lbs on hinges since bringing the nitrous bottle up front

4- looking into balancer options-- havent been able to crack bolt free to weight oem but im hopeful..

5- now that pulled frame off drivetrain theres few ounces of straps and bolts that might go away....

 

I remember at one time you said you had a spare steering wheel you wanted to sell. Do you still have it? I'm killing myself here trying to take weight off my car as I'm still at least 200 pounds heavier than pretty much anyone else out there racing their car. How much did you actually save changing the steering wheel out?

 

If he doesnt have it I do have a NGK Nice swede steering wheel,. VERY light,.. Only reason Why I didnt put it on because in the middle of weight reduction I decided to remove the stock column and then ordered a strange quick release which is 5 bolt patter not 6 like the NGK.... I can weigh it but I dont think its 11 onces like Caphuff ...

and there was Dissapointment there too has if I gutted the stock column it wouldnt be heavy at all..and would of had stock look and til which helps alot geting in and out with cage.....

 

I still have it. $65 shipped.

You will have to buy the quick disconnect. One piece is a sleeve that bolts onto the steering shaft and the other piece bolts to the wheel.

I'll look for the part numbers tomorrow.

 

Okay finally a swap that saves weight !!!! Mmm now to remove 20 lbs of dust from the car this spring

 

 

How do you like the quality and installation of those hood pins?

I might like to get them for my car.

 

I love how light ; inexpensive ; and flush they look ; the tear drop oval design made it very easy cutting with drimmel ; they don't bring much instruction which is perfect because I don't read them anyway lol

I did the drilling and cutting to mount them just for getting it ready once hood gets painted ; I barely even tried having them snug and they hold well ; 3 out of 4 didn't even wiggle with only few screws and tighten bolts on frame ; I think the 4th wiggled because this seems to like the pin and slot at an angle ; there's also rubber boot that I believe may be used to snug it in place ;

Again I don't have enough time with them but it seems once I get hood painted and all of it installed adjusting will get them near perfection !!!!

 

Note how I installed ; I started by picking location where bolt at the frame then drilled and screw it in ; then got hood flush and drilled where the latch and pin would meet ; then I would latch them and outline with marker where to cut around the hook jig; I did NOT use the templetates it came with because I wouldn't see how you would know where the bolt would end up ; and there's no going back from cutting that out ; drilling a hole in middle there's adjusting before final cut ; actually on my forth near the plastic overlay I drilled first cause I was cocky at that point and found out that the plastic shroud at windshield doesn't not go over the firewall toward driver !!! So I had no structure there and had to move it over !!! I made it work but not sure you can see those 2 points won't be assymetrical !!!.

Then again I don't think you have that structure anymore ?

 

Those hood pins are fantastic looking. We went with the old school black anodized ones with the locking ring that goes through it. This weight reduction kick I've been on this Winter with the car, though expensive, has been quite satisfying. Now I went and threw all that hard earned weight reduction out the window. Mayhem Motorsports is putting a cage in the car end of the month. So all the hard earned weight reduction has just been lost to safety concerns. We'll be slower but might live to tell the take should something bad happen. We're probably looking at a race weight of around 3300# like last year now instead of the 3200#'s I was expecting earlier. Gotta find a way to up the power by another 100 or so to make up for it.

 

I custom built my 12 point cage so it only added 50lbs but I found 150lbs to shed ; that was last year this year I added parachute and got nuts looking to lose that weight so somehow I have lost another 200 at least hoping ; the scales will tell in couple of months

 

Any idea how much you saved? I was contemplating doing this and if I remember it was a max of about 5 lbs.

 

Do you mean the hood pins ? I saved 50lbs by getting OEM looking hood; and pins ; by removing all hardware and replacing with pins I suspect right around that 5-8lb mark ; well worth it to me because I need to get light to go fast and not snap trans and diffs;

for boosted auto guys just turn 1lb of boost up and you re faster with no pain

 

Oh wait !! You re talking about c6 ? C6 hood stuff is lighter then c5 so your estimate of 5 is even more plausible !!!

 

just got Hinson motormounts and that saves me 3lbs+ , Not sure if Pfdat would of been lighter couldnt get my hands on a set; it met my $100 per lb rule Just Nicely