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

Badvert65 said:
I also did some similar with the K frame on my 65 Belvedere. It went from 43 pounds (with debris inside) down to 34 pounds. I could probably cut more holes in it, but I am a little concerned about going too far.

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Down to 34 Lbs from 43Lbs? Badvert.
Down to 32 Lbs? Cranky.
How much do these things weigh? I've never weighed mine.
I was going to create one out of titanium by basically installing an original K on a jig and copying its very form. Very time consuming and wallet amu$ing.
 
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If I recall correctly, my stock K frame weighed 39 pounds after digging gravel out and pressure washing.
So, I basically removed 5 pounds by adding extra holes.
While we are on the front suspension, I used stock replacement Monroe 3022 shocks. They weighed 2.75 pounds each, out of the box. I cut the dust shield from it and it weighed 2.2 pounds. The rear Monroe shocks are longer and they went from 3.48 pounds to 2 pounds each after taking off the dust shield. No one has ever noticed that the dust shields are gone.
 
fullmetaljacket said:
Not often much of a thought, but the driveshaft loop could/should be a strong piece for obvious reasons and can also be a little lighter piece. A little lighter only because this is an item you don't fool around with for the sake of weight loss, so Chrome Moly gets the nod as the material.
The one seen under here is a Competition engineering chrome-Moly loop that ties into the frame connectors. It was a little lighter than the mild steel one and it helps box the frame a little more.
I've seen some units made out of aluminum, but that is not

Down to 34 Lbs from 43Lbs? Badvert.
Down to 32 Lbs? Cranky.
How much do these things weigh? I've never weighed mine.
I was going to create one out of titanium by basically installing an original K on a jig and copying its very form. Very time consuming and wallet amu$ing.
Click to expand...
I remember taking 10 lbs off of mine.....came out of a 70 Challenger.
 
Not often much of a thought, but the driveshaft loop could/should be a strong piece for obvious reasons and can also be a little lighter piece by using Chromoly. A little lighter only because this is an item you don't fool around with for the sake of weight loss, so Chromoly gets the nod as the material.
The one seen under here is a Competition Engineering chromoly loop that ties into the frame connectors. The top of the loop arch is welded to the floor boards. It was a little lighter than the mild steel one and it helps box the frame a little more.
I've seen some units made out of aluminum, but that is not a good idea even for a weight conscious project like this one..

One area that I definitely did not think through was the material of the frame connectors when they were installed back in the early 90's. I probably could have saved at least 5-8 Lbs using Chromoly box tubing instead of mild steel.

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fullmetaljacket said:
Not often much of a thought, but the driveshaft loop could/should be a strong piece for obvious reasons and can also be a little lighter piece by using Chromoly. A little lighter only because this is an item you don't fool around with for the sake of weight loss, so Chromoly gets the nod as the material.
The one seen under here is a Competition Engineering chromoly loop that ties into the frame connectors. The top of the loop arch is welded to the floor boards. It was a little lighter than the mild steel one and it helps box the frame a little more.
I've seen some units made out of aluminum, but that is not a good idea even for a weight conscious project like this one..

One area that I definitely did not think through was the material of the frame connectors when they were installed back in the early 90's. I probably could have saved at least 5-8 Lbs using Chromoly box tubing instead of mild steel.

View attachment 1559557
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Didn't know box tubing was made in CM.....
 
Cranky said:
Didn't know box tubing was made in CM.....
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Yes, pretty much any size and shape in 4130 chromoly. My friend who was building mean street race cars back in the day was using the stuff only with customers that had the capital. It was expensive back then. I could have taken a few scraps and made my connectors, but instead went with the mild steel. Bummer.
 
Here's the the trans member as inspected just recently. The color allows for visual inspections to give away any cracks and or distortions. It's a snugged and buff piece. Titanium fasteners all over the place.

0-5.jpeg
 
fullmetaljacket said:
Rear tranny ears to reduce forward-backward movement. It has a front engine plate. Radius rods allow adjustability and flex up and down. Long titanium bolts and nuts hold things together.
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Was thinking that's what they were. Had a car once that someone else built that had a front plate and nothing but the firewall to keep the engine/trans from going back.....lots of issues with that car including a too tight for me full cage and I'm not that big of a guy.
 
Cranky said:
Was thinking that's what they were. Had a car once that someone else built that had a front plate and nothing but the firewall to keep the engine/trans from going back.....lots of issues with that car including a too tight for me full cage and I'm not that big of a guy.
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The trans mount is urethane which is a good thing. Not solid, not soft like a factory mount neither.
The engine plate upfront has four points of chassis connection. Two mig welded sandwich (L) shape points on top of the longitude frame and two one sided plate points underneath on the vertical wall of the longitude.
 
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fullmetaljacket said:
The trans mount is urethane which is a good thing. Not solid, not soft like a factory mount.
The engine plate upfront has four points of chassis connection. Two mig welded sandwich (L) shape points on top of the longitude frame and two one sided plate points underneath on the vertical wall of the longitude.
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Not sure I get what you're saying....sandwiched brackets where the front E-plate sat? Mine had L brackets but nothing was sandwiched...one on each side. But could see the engine plate having a slight 'bow' in it because there was no fore/aft strut. The car ran in the 9's and have to say it wasn't done all that well and was surprised it ran that good.
 
Cranky said:
Not sure I get what you're saying....sandwiched brackets where the front E-plate sat? Mine had L brackets but nothing was sandwiched...one on each side. But could see the engine plate having a slight 'bow' in it because there was no fore/aft strut. The car ran in the 9's and have to say it wasn't done all that well and was surprise it ran that good.
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Pardon, I know it read a little abstract. Note the sandwiched L shape plates on the top point and the single L shape on the bottom side. Plates gets to rest on top of the longitude for no up or down movement. Plate is arrested in place.

0-6.jpeg
 
Here's a rhetorical question to myself. Would it bother me to remove 40 or so Lbs from underneath to assist with acceleration? This one's a doozy.
 
Badvert65 said:
Oh-Oh...I think I know the answer to that......
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AAAAhhh, you thought I was going to expose the whole enchilada. LOL. For some reason, I can't remember how I got to break form these babies with those two tight 90 degree breaks, but it worked out nicely. The stockers weighed 2 Lbs with nuts, surface rust and all. The aluminum ones weighed 1/2 Lb combined with aluminum nuts. Shaved 1-1/2 Lbs.

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Badvert65 said:
Wait, WHAT!?!.....
Aluminum exhaust Clamps!???!
Mama Mia, How does that work?
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Yes. They have been in service since 2012.
At the time, I wish I had the time to make the clamp hangers themselves. I sourced the rubber at a local rubber surplus store, but just didn't have the time. I also thought the thick rubber was heavier than the metal. LOL.
 
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