Bumper Bracket Mods

[Cranky]

Cranky,
PLeaassee give us a list of what you did to got to 2950lbs. My 66 Coronet is at 3500 lbs empty, no driver, no gas....It has fiberglass front fenders, hood & Scoop and front and RR Bumpers. 2 45 lb Optimas and 2 30 lb Recaro type front seats. No back seat. Full Carpeting with Pad. Dana 60 with MonoLeaf springs. Fuel Cell, no gas tank. Regular crank up an down windows and full dash board. Regular Roll Bar, not a full cage. Aluminum Heads and that adds up to 3500lbs empty, no driver, no gas.

It was 3370 when I got it..../6, auto with factory AC 2dr sedan rubber mat car. I put on a glass hood on it (light weight), pulled the front bumper off, removed the rear seat and window regs, hole punched the doors, removed undercoating, rubber mat but used floor mats in front and did some work on brackets etc. The car had a ton of undercoating plus someone painted the car many times. Looks like all they did was scuff it and lay on more paint. Probably removed 50 lbs of undercoating and 20 lbs of paint! 36 grit disc was taking too long and someone mentioned to try a razor blade so I did and it came off in sheets lol.

 

[malex]

^^^^^^^ THIS is Hot Rodding ^^^^^^^^




^^^^^^ This is buying stuff ^^^^^^^

I read a post a couple of weeks ago and it hit the nail right smack on the head for me. It said:
Restoration is paint by numbers and
Hotrodding is art.
I've never been able to say it better than that.

 

[malex]

It was 3370 when I got it..../6, auto with factory AC 2dr sedan rubber mat car. I put on a glass hood on it (light weight), pulled the front bumper off, removed the rear seat and window regs, hole punched the doors, removed undercoating, rubber mat but used floor mats in front and did some work on brackets etc. The car had a ton of undercoating plus someone painted the car many times. Looks like all they did was scuff it and lay on more paint. Probably removed 50 lbs of undercoating and 20 lbs of paint! 36 grit disc was taking too long and someone mentioned to try a razor blade so I did and it came off in sheets lol.

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It's amazing how much weight a fellow finds to remove out of cars. It's always the experienced guys that find the most I've come to learn too. I'll use DVW as the example. He removed weight from his 64 in places that many guys would never dream of and it starts right at day 1 of the build.
Wondering how much weight those rear window regulators accounted for. I wonder because I left all mine in place and they are of no use, the main hoop is right in the way of the window crank. My rear windows have yet to roll down with the factory crank.

Anyone have any idea on the approximate weight of those rear window assemblies?

 

[Cranky]

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It's amazing how much weight a fellow finds to remove out of cars. It's always the experienced guys that find the most I've come to learn too. I'll use DVW as the example. He removed weight from his 64 in places that many guys would never dream of and it starts right at day 1 of the build.
Wondering how much weight those rear window regulators accounted for. I wonder because I left all mine in place and they are of no use, the main hoop is right in the way of the window crank. My rear windows have yet to roll down with the factory crank.

Anyone have any idea on the approximate weight of those rear window assemblies?

View attachment 571540

My rear window regs weren't all that heavy but every ounce counts. Fasteners account for a large bit of weight and will work on them too. Use aluminum or plastic where you can and gun drill the stock stuff that can't be replaced. It's a bunch of work but it's cheaper than adding horsepower in most cases. Any screw or bolt that has exposed threads get trimmed down. Having a lathe and a milling machine helps for sure but a lot can be done on a regular drill press and bench grinder. I even trim down the stock door hinges. Those things are overkill even for a stock door lol

 

[66Satellite47]

Here are some pixs of my lightweight bumper brackets. Now remember, I am just holding up a fiberglass bumper with these brackets.
View attachment 570691
Fronts before
View attachment 570692
Fronts after making them lighter

I did the rears also but my picture wouldn't post,
saved about 18lbs

Note: I absolutely would NOT try to hang regular steel bumpers on these brackets after making them lighter.

Mike looks great. An excellent inspiration for me. Haven't done much lightening on my Satellite. Need to start looking at it. Lots to be had.

 

[Mike Gaines]

Mike looks great. An excellent inspiration for me. Haven't done much lightening on my Satellite. Need to start looking at it. Lots to be had.

Only thing is, when I fired the car up after installing the really lightened front bumper brackets, my fiberglass bumper "vibrates" like heck. Kinda like what the front fender on a big Harley shakes like when idleing.....but...I am ok with it.

 

[Mike Gaines]

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Thanks Mike!
You've got to be lighter than 3500? You sure the scale was correct?

Yup, 3500 it is. Weighed twice at NHRA meet....NHRA California Hot Rod ReUnion Race and NHRA March Meet Race.
Maybe....it has lots of undercoating plus it has a submerged steel box welded into the floor of the trunk to protect the fuel cell on street use....That could weigh 50lbs....going to cut it out maybe.

 

[dvw]

Lexan door, 1/4 side, rear and vents. No rear regulators. Fronts go up and down with a strap. Vents open /close. Doors inners are cut. windshield is still glass. Saved 85lbs. Seats weigh 18lbs each with floor brackets. Steering shaft and strut rods are moly tube. Aluminum drive shaft, radiator, and fuel cell. Still has lots of heavy stuff, 2 batteries, mega block, Real American wheels, Dana, real bumpers. Car weighs 3110 without me or fuel.
Doug

 

[not so famous bob]

My rear window regs weren't all that heavy but every ounce counts. Fasteners account for a large bit of weight and will work on them too. Use aluminum or plastic where you can and gun drill the stock stuff that can't be replaced. It's a bunch of work but it's cheaper than adding horsepower in most cases. Any screw or bolt that has exposed threads get trimmed down. Having a lathe and a milling machine helps for sure but a lot can be done on a regular drill press and bench grinder. I even trim down the stock door hinges. Those things are overkill even for a stock door lol

I have no window cranks in the rear of my fastback, and reskinned the new interior panel to cover the crank holes, the whole rear interior is finished like a business coupe, I left the mechanisms in because I was tired of messing w/ putting the windows back in the basket case. I have always wondered what they weigh tho . I don`t really want plexiglass windows in my streetcar, because they end up getting scratchy looking.

 

[Cranky]

I have no window cranks in the rear of my fastback, and reskinned the new interior panel to cover the crank holes, the whole rear interior is finished like a business coupe, I left the mechanisms in because I was tired of messing w/ putting the windows back in the basket case. I have always wondered what they weigh tho . I don`t really want plexiglass windows in my streetcar, because they end up getting scratchy looking.

I made some stainless steel clips to hold my stock windows up in my sedan.

 

[malex]

I made some stainless steel clips to hold my stock windows up in my sedan.

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That's going to be an option for me Cranky. My car is good to go 10.0 and I've done quite a few upgrades over the off season; could be getting close to that mark, wasn't that far off as it was. If I come up short I'll consider loosing them. Thinking about those assemblies, there's probably 15 to 20 lbs that can easily come out.

 

[RVW]

Home made is where it's at. I could have never afforded to buy what I built. Building is as much fun as racing it.
Doug

I totally agree with you Doug. Building it your self is just as fun as using the car. To some of us it is a sickness. I just got done with the 64 Savoy and with in weeks had to have a new project.

 

[Cranky]

Why work so hard and use up all your spare time on making your lightweight brackets when you can buy something that is half the weight of your projects. It just doesn't make cent$. Just call Jeff Linginfelter and he can ship you some next day usually.

Have you ever thought that many enjoy building their own stuff? I'm one of them. And many of us spend time and money on raising a family and can't really afford to just go out and buy everything for their hot rods. I also fit into that category. It's also why so many of us get sooo pissed off when they do spend good money for stuff that they can't build or do not have the know how or the room to build it (fiberglass parts?) and they end up with junk! My glass hood wasn't all that great (not from you) but I was able to fix the structural flaws in it and use it. The quality of it wasn't all that nice but it worked well enough for the ratty car it was going on but imo, I still over paid for it and never bought glass products from them again.

 

[malex]

I'm glad that I'm not the only one with the sickness... Which is why all of this has been going on..
The next project. Coming home in April. Will be a filler between race days and season(s)

Has been off the road for decades, got to work around the title end of things so that I
get it over the border. The fellow bought it decades ago with no title, has sat since...

The 727 that I built is for the Dart.

The Dart is the perfect home for this pump gas 526. Yep, it is a sickness. And it's gonna have a Dana under it.

 

[malex]

Exactly right Cranky, it's a passion... But best that we not get started on the subject of garbage fibreglass. lol.

 

[Budnicks]

Exactly right Cranky, it's a passion... But best that we not get started on the subject of garbage fibreglass. lol.

 

[Budnicks]

Not trying to start yet another pissing contest
but the Lingenfelter alum. bracket aren't very expensive
IIRC I paid like $50 a couple years ago, pretty cheap/reasonable at the time
The guy didn't want his Org. bracket modified either,
just incase he was gonna' go back to stock, he wouldn't have to buy someone else's old junk

I bought them pretty early on, he was 1st doing them

I've made several set too, of my own style
in various styles & different materials

But at the time, when I purchased his,
I wanted something now,
I didn't want to wait, more important a paying buddy, didn't want to wait
& it would have took me off other things, more important things,
just to spend days on/or to make some simple bumper brackets...
I had a buddy that was really anxious to get his car, my time is worth far more than $50
I wanted to get my $$$ too, I didn't have any issue buying them...

IMO they are extremely light weight too, very well made/clean streamlined
BUT; maybe too light if you plan on street use
especially with a "light race-weight" fiberglass bumpers & light brakets
But when building a racecar, every little bit helps, even if it's only a couple pounds
"here & there", it makes a difference, it's all about HP to weight ratios...

But they are pretty simple to make too,
can easily be duplicated that style of brackets

I'm certainly a true racer since 1974, 25+ races a year for 35+ years, a real Hot Rodder,
a hands on type of guy, not just some "purchaser" or some check book builder,
time is a constraint/factor in some cases, don't be so judgmental
{I'm certainly not defending that Fiberglass guy, who recommended them either,
I was told about them by @bobtile here on FBBO, he had them on his GTX,
I figured that'd be easy & WTF, why not, saved me a few days, save my buddy some $$$ labor &
$$$ material expenses too}
I think I know how to build a car, sometimes it's just a bail out too,
I've done some 28 racecars from the ground up now, over some 40+ years, doing it...
At least "Dozens" more help buddies build theirs too...

 

[Cranky]

That's been one of my problems.....always helping others build something instead of working on my own junk. Oh well. Sometimes that's pretty satisfying too when you see someone doing well with something you built for them and had a lot of fun along the way too.

 

[BobJ]

On my 68 GTX convert the back regulators were 3.5 lbs each and the fronts something like 3 lbs. You could drill out at least 1/2 lbs from each.

 

[not so famous bob]

I totally agree with you Doug. Building it your self is just as fun as using the car. To some of us it is a sickness. I just got done with the 64 Savoy and with in weeks had to have a new project.

I was there also, until yesterday, something happened to the 505, haven`t figured it out yet.