Weight Hunt

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Weight Hunt

Postby Stivan » Wed Oct 31, 2007 1:35 am

Just some info I found out for myself, and thought I'd pass it on.

I went on a "weight hunt" on my '80 H/B, and found the following:

1) Took side crash bar out of door, and trimmed the skin a little, and cut the bottom, and re-welded it to get it out. Window still rolls up fine. Weight - 45lbs. . . times 2 = 90lbs

2) Replaced Door glass w/Lexan window. Weight - Glass 28lbs, Lexan - 2.25 lbs. . . times 2 = 52 lbs

3) Replaced Rear Side Windows w/Lexan. Weight - Glass 8 lbs, Lexan - 1.1 lbs. . . .times 2 = 14 lbs

4) Replaced Rear Hatch Glass w/Lexan. Weight - Glass 68 lbs, Lexan - 6.8 lbs . . . . . 51 lbs

5) Trimmed reinforment out of front/rear bumpers. Weight Trimmed
52 lbs


Just something to think about !!!!
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Postby 2lucke4u » Thu Nov 01, 2007 8:28 am

awsome,,sounds like a winter project for me,,,thanks
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Postby Dick73Vega » Tue Nov 06, 2007 11:33 pm

Did you use a window kit and how tough was it to install ?
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Postby Stivan » Mon Feb 25, 2008 1:35 am

I bought a piece of .125 Lexan. 4'x 8'. . .cost me $200. Took each glass out, rough cut it in size. Took a "big" electric heat gun (for taking off decals) very "slowly" heated up Lexan, and formed it around the glass I took out. It all went back together quite easily. I did however, bolt in back glass with #12 screws. Be sure and warm area when you're drilling close to the edges, to keep from cracking, and use a slow speed on the drill.
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Postby 73Sedan » Mon Feb 25, 2008 10:35 pm

Does the heated and formed Lexan have a milky appearance or could it pass for looking like regular glass??
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Postby Stivan » Mon Mar 03, 2008 10:33 pm

It's clear enough, but you can still tell it's Lexan. And, it will scuff pretty easily when trying to clean it. I have taken all the scratches out, with 3M Micro ??? buffing compound, and a high speed buffer. But it's a lot of work.
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Re: Weight Hunt

Postby bill1978v8 » Sat Sep 13, 2008 9:17 pm

Is there any other way to reduce weight other than lexan, fiberglass, cutting etc? I have a street car that I'd like to lose some weight on but don't want to do the race mods. My goal is to take 100-150 lbs off the front end. I'm shooting for 2600lbs with out driver.

Thanks,

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Re: Weight Hunt

Postby spyder_xlch » Sun Sep 14, 2008 12:07 am

Pull the nose off and drill big holes with a hole saw in the bumper then reinstall the nose. Other than stripping parts, going to fiberglass, etc that's all I have. Well, you could remove those things inside your doors. What are they called?
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Re: Weight Hunt

Postby spyder_xlch » Sun Sep 14, 2008 12:15 am

Oh, what about moving the battery? Do you have power steering?
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Re: Weight Hunt

Postby bill1978v8 » Sun Sep 14, 2008 11:01 am

It's manual steering, manual brakes. I could movethe battery but I'd need a cut off switch and didn't want to do that. The bumper mod sounds good. I'll make that a winter project.

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Re: Weight Hunt

Postby spencerforhire » Sun Sep 14, 2008 2:36 pm

Lots of ways to lose weight- switch from brass to aluminum rad, swap out your glass headlights for plastic ones(they were original equipment in a lot of 80's cars, you might have to do some junkyard hunting to find them). If you refuse to move your battery to the trunk, use the smallest one that will still start the car; think Civic/Metro size. My personal favorite is to give the "swiss cheese treatment" to all the front bumper bracing; that stuff weighs a ton.
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Re: Weight Hunt

Postby GizmoN » Sun Sep 14, 2008 2:59 pm

Consider a Rock Racing Battery #1257. I have an old Holley Annihilator (no longer available) battery that seems to be the same as this one. Its specs are exactly the same, so I think this is the original source for the old Holley battery. It's expensive (280), but weighs 31 lbs, which was 15 lbs lighter than a stock-size unit, plus you don't have all the weight of the battery cable to the rear, battery box, switch, etc. It is a sealed lead acid battery with plenty of capacity. Just another idea...
http://www.rockracingbattery.com/specs.php
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Re: Weight Hunt

Postby bill1978v8 » Sun Sep 14, 2008 3:52 pm

Good ideas. I'm going to do the following this winter:

Drill holes in the bumper (I have a spare)
Lighter battery
Aluminum radiator

I may go with a bolt on fiberglass hood but I like the flat stock hood. I'm going to have to add weight in a roll cage.


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Re: Weight Hunt

Postby rtm » Sun Sep 14, 2008 8:18 pm

front bumper drilled,reinforcement removed from behind it.(except for mounting points)
someone suggested drilling even more holes, but i only drilled where the oblong slots were that held on the bumper moulding
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Re: Weight Hunt

Postby Stivan » Sun Sep 14, 2008 9:42 pm

Looks Good. . . However, I went one step further. I "built" my front bumper. . .. . After removing the front bumper, and all the "Bullhorns" holding it on. . .
I took the front spoiler off of a S-10 pickup. Turned it over. . . ..took about a 6" piece out of the middle of it, and used the piece I took out for a splicing piece.

Drilled holes, and used #10 screws , and attached it to the bottom of the grill area. The S-10 unit is made from some type of flexible plastic, and is easily manipulated to conform with the bottom of the grill. By turning it upside down, the old mounting holes are exposed in the bottom of the new bumper, giving it that "euro" look. .. . I currently working out of town, and won't be back home for a week or so, but when I do get back home, I'll send some pics, and see what you think. . . . Anyway, where all the splicing took place, in the middle. . . .. I just stuck the license plate over it. . . .

I was just thinking. . . .there's a pic of the above mod, in my "Latest Effort For '08" post, in this Section. . . . if you want to see it. . . . It's the second pic.



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