Thread: dropping weight

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i just got a 84 camaro and im looking for ways to drop weight. any suggestions?

is this gonna be a strip only car? if so, cut out everything that looks useless. remove the bumpers just leaving the urethane nose and bumper cover. remove the crash bars from the doors. get 'glass hood, lexan, gut the interior (of course) theres plenty of ways to lighten a car

right now ill work on the light exterior stuff and interior. what would you suggest as far as stripping the interior?

Not to be a smartass, but would it help if the driver lost some weight?

Friend of mine with a strip only car got into the lightweight bit and came to the realization that him losing weight was cheaper than more unobtainium....

Originally posted by C9x
Not to be a smartass, but would it help if the driver lost some weight?

Friend of mine with a strip only car got into the lightweight bit and came to the realization that him losing weight was cheaper than more unobtainium....

AMEN! My car has lost 35 lbs since last July without me turning a wrench or screwdriver .

I cant help with the specifics on your Camaro, but I have been reducing weight in my truck and myself. The truck (1946 Ford) is down to 2740 lbs now (rear fenders and hood not mounted though). Replaced everything possible in motor with aluminum, aluminum hubs and calipers, lightened bumpers, aluminum fuel cell, aluminum steering wheel, lighter seat configuration, alum bell housing, etc. Someday will put in an aluminum flywheel. Aluminum replacements are expensive. Something like $40 per pound saving and above.

I found a torch is a good tool for lightening up a Camaro.

Replace sheet metal with fiberglass.

Use aluminum where ever possible.

If you want to really drain your pocketbook, replace parts with exotic materials like carbon fiber/titanium, etc.

Didnt Lance Armstrong use the body parts removal method to remove weight? It sure worked for him.

Originally posted by muteboy49
i just got a 84 camaro and im looking for ways to drop weight. any suggestions?

Muteboy, I used to have an '84 Camaro that weighted 2800 pounds the last time I weighted it. And I removed a lot more after I weighted it last. I'll give you a brief run down of what I did but the best thing to do is go to www.camaroz28.com & search under 'weight loss'. My user name over their is billsbird [just one less L than here}. They have lists of what every part on your car weights so you can just figure what you want to weight before you start cutting. Anyway, I cut off all of the collapable safety bumper stuff {front & rear}, an aluminum radiator, aluminum heads, sway bars removed, I made a cold air intake by removing the inside headlight on each side and made a set up out of Home Depot ducking {pictures over at Camaroz28, not of mine but others}, Wagner plastic headlights on the outside lights {the wiring is simple to do this}, removed; air conditioning, power steering, no smog stuff. Totally gutted the doors, including side safety beams {I made aluminum door panels for it}, Plexiglass side & rear windows {just manually pulled them up/down}, never got around to Plexiglass windshield { but, it was on the 'removal list'}, Jaz bucket seats, no heater, no radio, no cruise, no horn, ALL interior panels out, I cut off all of the extra bolt length on the front of the car {meaning; if a bolt had 1/2 inch sticking out past the nut {after it was tight} I cut in down to 1/4 inch. No back seat, center councel, all carpet & pad removed, heater out & removed all of the undercarrage sound deadener, headers with light mufflers, I had a jaz light weight fuel cell but never got it in. It had drum brakes & I got some aluminum brake stuff from Wilwood, also light weight front end parts {springs & ?} from a place in Washington State. Fiberglass hood {Unlimited Fiberglass, only $219} with 4 hood pins holding it on. replaced some of the metal brackets on the front end with aluminum.
So go buy a torch and go nuts with it! When I blew up the 305 that it came with {to much nitrous .... I put a 415 small block in it that made 499 Tq & 438 HP {flywheel dyno}. Of course this made a HUGE difference. But I didn't start removing any weight until AFTER I had this motor & the weight removal also made a HUGE difference! Every 100 Pounds is equal to 10 HP. I don't know how much weight I finally removed but I wouldn't be supprised it it wasn't 900 pounds, so that's 90 HP!!! I drove on the street all the time {I didn't take the windshield wipers off}..... So basically if it didn't make my car go faster, I cut it off..... hope this helps ya, Bill

ps, believe it or not there are examples over at camaroz28.com that are even more extreem!!!

I would stay away from the pumpkin and pecan pie.

Originally posted by Corvette64
I would stay away from the pumpkin and pecan pie.

NO WAY. I HAVE TO HAVE MY PECAN PIE . JUST BUY A DONOVAN BLOCK .THAT IS WHAT I DID 460 POUNDS FOR OVER 630 CID AND I STILL CAN HAVE MY PECAN PIE

"I cut off all of the collapable safety bumper stuff " ive heard of these but have no idea what or where they are. can anyone tell me where their at and how to remove them. and how do i get to/remove the door safety beams?

Originally posted by muteboy49
"I cut off all of the collapable safety bumper stuff " ive heard of these but have no idea what or where they are. can anyone tell me where their at and how to remove them. and how do i get to/remove the door safety beams?

....starting right behind the plastic bumpers just remove EVERYTHING. It's been a while since I did this but I believe that there is this foam stuff, and metal brackets and such. Just take it all out, don't worry about ruining it, just cut & rip it out. I used a torch, a little Makitta grinder and a sawzall. I put aluminum braces from the plastic bumbers to the car body to keep them from bouncing around. The door safety beams are right up against the outside of the door but they are in the inside. I took the door panel off, then cut out the metal that the door panel was covering. You'll see the door safety beams, they are metal braces that run horizonally, half way up the door & are attached to the door. Just cut them out. I then made an aluminum panel to cover the door. Installed the stock door handle & lock in the aluminum. Took out the windows and cut Lexan to fit. I either left the windows all the way down or all the way to the top. Make sure your serious about totally gutting your car before you go to all this trouble. You could probably save more weight doing something else. Unless of course your doing everything else also .... Also keep in mind that your car isn't going to be worth much when you finish. Oh take the spare, jack, lug wrench & tools out {I signed up for AAA so I just let THEM tow me home when i broke or had a flat. Oh, 4 x 15 in drag racing wheels in front with skinny tires help.... I've still got some of the stuff that I bought to lighten mine. Let me know if your interested, but you can take off a whole bunch of weight for NO money .... Yeah, I went nuts, a light weight starter cost me almost $200bucks and saved 3 pounds or so. The Wagner plastic headlights were $50 bucks and they saved a pound...... But then 1 pound is worth 1/10 of a HP, isn't it??? {I'm just proving that I'm nuts.... bill

Its surprising how much weight can be removed after u remove all that stuff that has been talked about.Go get a cheap set of metal hole saws and u would be real surprized as to how much 1500 little round disks ranging from 1/2 to 1 1/2 add up to!!!

billsbird, a couple questions on the plexiglass, as I have been thinking of replacing the door glass with such. What is the best way to cut it? Do you have satisfactory visibility through it? Seems like it would easily accumulate scratches. When I last looked at plexiglass stock, there were two grades as I recall. Which did you use? Thickness of .22 inches?
Mike