The Elephant In The Room: unloading the load from a B-body.

[fullmetaljacket]

Here's the bridge in rough form before final filing here and there and some first step sanding. Once its finished with the rough sand to shape it all together, a multi-step sanding cycle starts to bring the raised fine edges up to a chrome like luster.

 

[fullmetaljacket]

A factory stock bridge complete with the C O R O N E T letters etched across the face on the top and the aluminum bridge before the etching on the bottom.

 

[fullmetaljacket]

Mocking up the bridge with the ring.
Some sections of both the bridge and ring would have to be polished before getting tig welded together.

 

[fullmetaljacket]

Here's a mock up of the aluminum horn ring on the top before final Tig welding. It weighs in at a whopping 3/4 of a pound.
In comparison is a stock horn ring image on the bottom that was found on the net. I don't have those weights at this moment, but I'm thinking anywhere between 1-1/2 - 2 Lbs at most. I'll post up those numbers as soon as I can get it on the scales.
When all is said and done, the prediction will be a 3 Lbs loss between the wheel and the horn ring.

 

[fullmetaljacket]

This morning, the scale read 2-1/2 Lbs for both the wheel and horn ring in unfinished form as you see them here during development a while back. Factoring in the finishing weld beads, primer and paint and I would safely say that it will be coming in at 2-3/4 Lbs compared to 4-3/4 lbs for the stock wheel alone. In short order, the stock horn ring will be weighed and the final numbers will be posted.

 

[Badvert65]

When I created my lightweight column, I had the chance to weigh steering wheels from a stock 65 Belvedere I and a 65 Dodge B body (wagon).
I weighed the wheels complete (wheel and horn rings). My Grant wheel is a classic 15 inch three spoke metalflake blue one. It doesn't have the cool factor yours has, but it works for me.

steering wheel	2.5lbs	complete assy, Grant
steering wheel	5.8lbs	complete assy, OE 1964
steering wheel	5lbs	complete assy, OE 1965

 

[fullmetaljacket]

When I created my lightweight column, I had the chance to weigh steering wheels from a stock 65 Belvedere I and a 65 Dodge B body (wagon).
I weighed the wheels complete (wheel and horn rings). My Grant wheel is a classic 15 inch three spoke metalflake blue one. It doesn't have the cool factor yours has, but it works for me.

steering wheel	2.5lbs	complete assy, Grant
steering wheel	5.8lbs	complete assy, OE 1964
steering wheel	5lbs	complete

As soon as I get back to town, I’m gonna weigh the ring. I think it weighs 1-1/2 lbs IIRC.

 

[fullmetaljacket]

As soon as I get back to town, I’m gonna weigh the ring. IIRC it weighs 1-1/2 lbs. I’m not familiar with a ‘65 wagon steering wheel setup.

 

[fullmetaljacket]

Let's take a break for a moment and look at the front windshield or windscreen.
In theory, this is both exterior and interior weight removal right at the point where region #1 (front end) meets region #2 (mid section).
Is it looking in or looking out? Is the glass half full or half empty. LOL.

A stock glass can weigh as much as 35 lbs whereas a Lexan shield can be as little as 10 lbs. For an all out race car, unformed Plexiglas (old school) or scratch resistant Lexan (new school) can be a pain to install without using unsightly pop rivets or sheet metal screws to hold it in place, not to mention the center support brace needed to keep it from collapsing within.
This may not be feasible for a street car, but there have been some handsomely executed 3/16 thick Lexan examples running around out there without the use of a center support brace. Carefully maintained, cleaned and polished, they can fool the most avid naked eye to think that it is factory glass. Sneeeaaky.

Recently and even sneakier are the use of offshore repro glass pieces by serious racers for their easy availability, but also for their lighter weight because of the thinner and less dense glass panes used to make them. It can be anywhere between 1-2 Lbs lighter than an original factory unit. Not much to celebrate about, but still a couple of pounds is better than no pounds deleted.

The other alternative has been a molded and formed Lexan wind screen in MR 5 scratch resistant dressing. An example of a rare bubble screen can be seen in this comparison photo where the white car in the background has a factory screen weighing anywhere between 30- 35 lbs and the black car in the foreground has a Lexan bubble screen weighing in at exactly 11-1/2 Lbs. In this case, it was an 18-1/2 lbs savings.

Which one would you think was the winning car and more aerodynamic? Hint: the black car caught and sandboxed the altered at the stripe.
Photo credit: Hemi-itis.

 

[Cranky]

Not sure how to empty my mailbox. Simple instructions? Never did it.

I haven't emptied mine in a long time but remember it was fairly easy to do the last time I did it.... but it wouldn't hurt for me to go dump a few so I'll take a look and let you know if you still need to know how to do it....

 

[fullmetaljacket]

I haven't emptied mine in a long time but remember it was fairly easy to do the last time I did it.... but it wouldn't hurt for me to go dump a few so I'll take a look and let you know if you still need to know how to do it....

I still have to find out and write it down.

 

[fullmetaljacket]

I still have to find out and write it down.

Talk about weight loss. I need to empty my mailbox when I return.

 

[fullmetaljacket]

Moving on to the door side wing vents, main window panes and rear quarter windows, it is here where money can be well spent and the real weight cut off. This is especially high and within the mid section (Region #2) of the car.

The post sedan cars like this one below lend themselves very nicely to lightweight glass either in the fixed position or functioning when using the post doors. Hardtop cars have a hard time keeping glass in place without a support brace to make up for the post frames which in turn dictates that the glass stays in the closed position and is non functioning.

Here the wing vent assemblies haven't yet been installed, but once they are, they will function as intended from the factory. There's an option to delete the wing vents altogether shaving at least 6 Lbs per door including the vent window glass, but then it becomes a PITA to make the main panes go up and down as well a total giveaway that it is a lightened car. The wings somehow make it look more civilian like and innocent.

Here the main side window panes in Lexan function as factory. The rear quarter panes are fixed in the closed position and their regulators removed just like it was done to the A-865's and A-990's.

All together, all the factory side glass pieces mentioned above and the two rear quarter window regulator assemblies added up to a porky 42 Lbs.
The Lexan replacements come in at feathery 8 Lbs. That's a 34 lbs savings right there.

Last but not least is the rear windshield. I believe the hardtop windshields are heavier than the sedans because the shape and form makes up for the receding rear sail panels or C pillars. On the contrary, the factory sedan rear glass which more or less is flat across weighs 22 Lbs. The thin lightweight Corning glass from Kramer's weighs 12-1/4 Lbs.
That's a 9-3/4 Lbs savings.

After all is said and done, 43-3/4 Lbs was removed.

 

[Badvert65]

I also went with Lexan side windows in my 65 post Belvedere. The rear ones are pinned closed and the front are currently pinned closed until I figure out a reliable method of raising and lowering them. I haven't done the vent wings yet. The door window regulators weighed in at 5 pounds per door.
My windshield is a factory stock piece. I am on the fence when considering replacing the rear glass. I thought it was in an area over the rear axle and I would benefit with weight there. I haven't really considered weight reduction past the rear seat, but 9 3/4 pounds is a big chunk to lose in one shot.

 

[fullmetaljacket]

I also went with Lexan side windows in my 65 post Belvedere. I haven't done the vent wings yet. My windshield is a factory stock piece. I am on the fence when considering replacing the rear glass. I thought it was in an area over the rear axle and I would need the weight there. I haven't really considered weight reduction past the rear seat, but 9 3/4 pounds is a big chunck to lose in one shot.

Yes, I agree on your theory about not being concerned with weight reduction passed the rear seat, but that very same weight can then be managed lower and added to areas even more north of the rear seat in region #3 for some real advantageous gains.
DVW on here has done an excellent job with the windows panes including the vents to mimic the factory stuff. He went as far as to sand them to have the semi-elliptical edges. I wanted to do the same, but had no time or patience and went the fast route.
By the way, a pair of the factory glass vents alone weigh 3 Lbs.
I've been thinking off fabricating the vent window channels and track out of aluminum, because that is where most of the weight is.

 

[dvw]

The insides of the doors have had the inner steel removed. 1/2"x1/2"x 1/8" aluminum is used to mounut the inner door handle. It's reinforced with a piece of 3/8" steel tube welded from the handle mount to the vent channel. The lower bracket for the rear window channel was cut off. Then rotade 90 degrees and rewelded to the bottom of the door. All side and rear back light windows except the vents are 1/8" Lexan, vents are 1/4" to staibilize the door window it has 1/4"x1/4"x .060" aluminum bolted to the bottom. A Home Depot closet door roller is affixed to stabilie it going up and down. In retrospec the door window probaley should have been made from 1/4". Just did my sons 62 that way and it works better. Straps pull the windows up. They have a snap to retain the strap in the up or down position. My car lost 88lbs doing these mods.
Doug

 

[fullmetaljacket]

The insides of the doors have had the inner steel removed. 1/2"x1/2"x 1/8" aluminum is used to mounut the inner door handle. It's reinforced with a piece of 3/8" steel tube welded from the handle mount to the vent channel. The lower bracket for the rear window channel was cut off. Then rotade 90 degrees and rewelded to the bottom of the door. All side and rear back light windows except the vents are 1/8" Lexan, vents are 1/4" to staibilize the door window it has 1/4"x1/4"x .060" aluminum bolted to the bottom. A Home Depot closet door roller is affixed to stabilie it going up and down. In retrospec the door window probaley should have been made from 1/4". Just did my sons 62 that way and it works better. Straps pull the windows up. They have a snap to retain the strap in the up or down position. My car lost 88lbs doing these mods.
Doug

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True to that is that the 1/8 is lighter, but flimsy in that it needs a little hand persuasion and guidance to seat in the upper door channels when bringing them up to the closed position. Once they're in there, they're in there. They do give away their cover when the car is on though, because they look like they're in the midst of a 7.5 Earthquake.
That said, I was thinking of 1/4' thick Lexan, but I was so much weight conscious that I just went with the thinner stuff.

DVW's approach as to the up and down functioning of the window panes is probably the lightest and most cost effective way to go, but there are factory ways that can be followed and get impressively decent results. One of them can be pricey and almost unobtainable and the other can be achievable with some pizzas in the box.
I'll elaborate more on the mods when I return to the doors themselves.

 

[Badvert65]

I used 1/4" Lexan for my side windows. The 1/4" fits nicely in the factory glass channels. The rear side window cut to same size as the glass weighs 2.55 pounds, the front weighs in at 3.92 pounds, making 12.94 pounds total, without the vent wing windows.

 

[fullmetaljacket]

I used 1/4" Lexan for my side windows. The 1/4" fits nicely in the factory glass channels. The rear side window cut to same size as the glass weighs 2.55 pounds, the front weighs in at 3.92 pounds, making 12.94 pounds total, without the vent wing windows.

For comparison sake, here's an 1/8 thick Lexan vent window that was cut out as extra stock years ago. It weighs just below a half a pound compared to the 1-1/2 Lbs for a single stocker.

 

[fullmetaljacket]

Finally got to the ring and threw it on the scale for a reading. Like predicted, it came in at a few hairs over 1-1/2 pounds.

Factoring in both the stock wheel and the ring, it all came in at 6-1/4 Lbs.

The aluminum version of the horn ring in its current state is 3/4 Lbs. If all is correct, both the aluminum wheel and aluminum horn ring will be 2 Lbs total at the finish line. I'll weigh it soon enough to confirm.