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

lots of areas for thought . I guess it depends as usual on how far is far enough . My 68 Satellite is about 3780lb with me on the start line . The World block added 90lb over factory RB block. I have fibreglass bonnet and front bumper , front and rear brackets are cut down . Usual aluminium stuff in engine bay , no power steer ot power brakes . Only simple weight reduction would be to remove heater and front bench seat . Though as a regular street car a demister is good . No rear seat as it now has a cro moly rollbar , weight of bar was similar to seat .Thin marine carpet no underlay . Aluminium wheels and radial slicks , PBRs are 34ish lb each . Street exhaust to diff with 3"pipe and aerochambers .
I guess I could bore block to 4.5 that should drop a few pounds and add HP :lol:.
I do have 4 w discs , not wilwood , so no big weight loss but way better braking @ 130 . Gave up on rear 10"drums @ 125 .

oh yeah Im a skinny guy maybe 140lb give or take on a big day , that helps for sure .

Tex
 
fullmetaljacket said:
A friend who had a drive to the track, race and then go back home car had Dynalites on his front side. The rotors were not lasting with all that stop and go traffic and then racing rounds in a full interior/radio/heater 3700 Lb Charger. He was clocking mid 11's at ????? mph. They (the rotors)were light in that they were much thinner compared to the regular Dynalites. Am I right?
Click to expand...
Lee I haven't driven these front brakes yet but the front brake rotors are pretty beefy. I thought they might be a little light for my car but Doug(DVW) has the same brakes on his super sano 64 and his ride is MUCH faster than my row boat.
Gus
 
Tex013 said:
lots of areas for thought . I guess it depends as usual on how far is far enough . My 68 Satellite is about 3780lb with me on the start line . The World block added 90lb over factory RB block. I have fibreglass bonnet and front bumper , front and rear brackets are cut down . Usual aluminium stuff in engine bay , no power steer ot power brakes . Only simple weight reduction would be to remove heater and front bench seat . Though as a regular street car a demister is good . No rear seat as it now has a cro moly rollbar , weight of bar was similar to seat .Thin marine carpet no underlay . Aluminium wheels and radial slicks , PBRs are 34ish lb each . Street exhaust to diff with 3"pipe and aerochambers .
I guess I could bore block to 4.5 that should drop a few pounds and add HP :lol:.
I do have 4 w discs , not wilwood , so no big weight loss but way better braking @ 130 . Gave up on rear 10"drums @ 125 .

oh yeah Im a skinny guy maybe 140lb give or take on a big day , that helps for sure .

Tex
Click to expand...
Is it 3780 Lbs now with you and all the items and tricks that you mentioned or was that sometime before?

Yes, the how far is not far enough can be a slippery slope.

My friends '68 Bee tribute (below) is a little less at 3661 lbs with a Hemi Mega block up front, but he saw the stop sign for going over the edge and the black car ran right through it. I tried getting him to bite and sometimes it seemed he was going for the hook, but reality sets in. LOL.
Though, he has done some things that are laughably crazy even compared to my tactics. RMCHRGR here knows the drift.

John on here with his phenomenal Bitter Lime almost all steel '70 GTX totally blows my mind with his behind the curtain Wizard of Oz tricks.

unnamed-2.jpg
 
fourgearsavoy said:
Lee I haven't driven these front brakes yet but the front brake rotors are pretty beefy. I thought they might be a little light for my car but Doug(DVW) has the same brakes on his super sano 64 and his ride is MUCH faster than my row boat.
Gus
Click to expand...
I would think that lightweight disc set ups have come a long way in the last 15 years or so. My friend's Charger was running those Dynamite discs back in 2000 or so when they were the rage. They must have improved the designs or I am just stuck in the stone ages with a club in front of a bon fire. Very interesting.
 
This car is quasi sneaky.
As can be seen, the usual weight cutting practices are at full play here. No radio, no heater, antenna delete and a host of other things including rear stripe delete. Decals weigh you know. LOL.
But........ he does have power brakes with booster and all. It makes me cringe. LOL.
I must admit that I like the bench seat even as much as that weighs. Knowing me, I would have what would be known as a real split bench seat. One half would be for the driver and the rest would be paper mâché with vinyl covering. No need for passengers. LOL.

0-7.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Not trying to change subject from brakes but still down low… Is there an aluminum clutch cover/inspection cover for a small block (or big block) four speed. It seems all I find for my small block 4 speed is steel - anything light weight out there?
 
dart1962_440 said:
Not trying to change subject from brakes but still down low… Is there an aluminum clutch cover/inspection cover for a small block (or big block) four speed. It seems all I find for my small block 4 speed is steel - anything light weight out there?
Click to expand...
Not sure if the '63-'64 Max wedge stick cars had the covers casted in aluminum being that the four speeds were starting to get popular by '64. The '62's had three speeds and I am not sure as to their bell housing set ups. I would suspect steel.
 
dart1962_440 said:
Not trying to change subject from brakes but still down low… Is there an aluminum clutch cover/inspection cover for a small block (or big block) four speed. It seems all I find for my small block 4 speed is steel - anything light weight out there?
Click to expand...
I've been doing 4 gear stuff for about 40 years and I haven't seen an aluminum cover but I have heard they used them on the Feather Duster A-bodies.
Gus
 
fullmetaljacket said:
Is it 3780 Lbs now with you and all the items and tricks that you mentioned or was that sometime before?

Yes, the how far is not far enough can be a slippery slope.

My friends '68 Bee tribute (below) is a little less at 3661 lbs with a Hemi Mega block up front, but he saw the stop sign for going over the edge and the black car ran right through it. I tried getting him to bite and sometimes it seemed he was going for the hook, but reality sets in. LOL.
Though, he has done some things that are laughably crazy even compared to my tactics. RMCHRGR here knows the drift.

John on here with his phenomenal Bitter Lime almost all steel '70 GTX totally blows my mind with his behind the curtain Wizard of Oz tricks.

View attachment 1575403
Click to expand...
FMJ ,
thats as it weighs now with all the aluminium parts . Better than my mates 62 Belair with full aluminium block W motor that still weighs 4000lb race ready with him in it

Tex
 
fullmetaljacket said:
Is it 3780 Lbs now with you and all the items and tricks that you mentioned or was that sometime before?

View attachment 1575403
Click to expand...

Tex013 said:
FMJ ,
thats as it weighs now with all the aluminium parts .
Click to expand...
Somebody packed lead in the quarters lol
my all steel 67 came in at 3250(Charger).
but I do remember back in the day when we'd hit the scale at the track, the trick was to pack as much tools and **** in right before you weighed.
It's all about bullshitting. Everyone runs around in 4500LB cars these days

Lol
 
Tex013 said:
FMJ ,
thats as it weighs now with all the aluminium parts . Better than my mates 62 Belair with full aluminium block W motor that still weighs 4000lb race ready with him in it

Tex
Click to expand...
I guess as time allows, there can be some reduction with the smaller things. You're only about 100 Lbs heavier than my friends Bee and he's not interested in going to the LIGHT side. I guess it depends how HEAVY your resolve is.
 
Quite some time ago, but I believe they can pull 100lbs out of the heavy cast blocks by CNC ING them. Lots of unnecessary weight
 
fullmetaljacket said:
I guess as time allows, there can be some reduction with the smaller things. You're only about 100 Lbs heavier than my friends Bee and he's not interested in going to the LIGHT side. I guess it depends how HEAVY your resolve is.
Click to expand...
FMJ , in reality im not really too worried . The car is only legal to 10.00 , it wont get a full cage . And i dont want to deal with sub 10.00 sfi requirements . Also sub 10.00 i will have to change classes and use a box , currently i am footbraking in a no box class though i do have a transbrake . If i change class even now as i am legal , i can drop the exhaust so there is maybe 25 kg or so . But will need a box to truely compete .
If perchance they apply HANS compulsory for teched cars , mine , then i guess a Jazz or similar driver seat and light weight tilt passenger seat will arrive .

Tex
 
dart1962_440 said:
Not trying to change subject from brakes but still down low… Is there an aluminum clutch cover/inspection cover for a small block (or big block) four speed. It seems all I find for my small block 4 speed is steel - anything light weight out there?
Click to expand...
Probably the only safe way to cut weight here would be titanium. Big bucks.
 
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