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

[Big bill]

Dang that’s a fast street car great job.

 

[fullmetaljacket]

Dang that’s a fast street car great job.

Thank you for the acknowledgements, but it's nothing compared to the ruthlessness out there carrying a whole lot more weight. I would be minced meat in a comparison run against cars at 4000 Lbs with two hair dryers and digital fuel injection pumping in power from all corners.
I just like the fact that an average project can be a Trojan horse in some circles.

Dang that’s a fast street car great job.

 

[fullmetaljacket]

Thank you for the acknowledgements, but it's nothing compared to the ruthlessness out there carrying a whole lot more weight. I would be minced meat in a comparison run against cars at 4000 Lbs with two hair dryers and digital fuel injection pumping in power from all corners.
I just like the fact that an average project can be a Trojan horse in some circles.

Here's my friends bench seat three pedal tribute '68 Hemi Super Bee. It should be weighing at 3800-3900 Lbs with the mega Hemi block it carries upfront, but a few well known diet tricks have been applied here to bring it down to 440 wedge weight. 3640 Lbs at it sits.
If you were to ask me, YES, there's a lot left on the table as far as more extreme tricks that could possibly bring it to a realistic 3500 Lbs, but he loves it as it is, so I just bite my lips. LOL.

 

[fullmetaljacket]

Here's my friends bench seat three pedal '68 Hemi Super Bee. It should be weighing at 3800-3900 Lbs with the mega Hemi block it carries upfront, but a few well known diet tricks have been applied here to bring it down to 440 wedge weight. 3640 Lbs at it sits.
If you were to ask me, YES, there's a lot left on the table as far as more extreme tricks that could possibly bring it to a realistic 3500 Lbs, but he loves it as it is, so I just bite my lips. LOL.

View attachment 1477103

Here's the '68's aluminum driveshaft painted and patina'd to look like a fresh steel shaft complete with faked weld bead heat marks. This is at the now infamous Area 51 garage.

 

[fullmetaljacket]

Here's the '68's aluminum driveshaft painted and patina'd to look like a fresh steel shaft complete with faked weld bead heat marks. This is at the now infamous Area 51 garage.

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So here is the engine compartment. Nothing special other than it is nestling a Hemi. Though the mega block is heavier by a few pounds from an original block, the car was able to obtain Wedge weight stance by use of the usual suspect parts. Aluminum water pump, aluminum water pump housing, aluminum thermostat goose neck, home made aluminum alternator brackets complete with the factory dimple stamped out for good measure, aluminum intake manifold, aluminum heads, all painted Hemi orange.
Take note to the heater delete plugs and coffee can lid block off plate on the upper left firewall. Looks like something that could be factory.
The exhaust manifolds which were extrude honed by Dudek's team were relieved of a couple of pounds through the procedure which also makes them flow much better. This is a F.A.S.T class trick already out in the open for sometime now, so I'm not revealing or holding onto TOP SECRET classified information.
Suspicion is that another 20 -30 Lbs could be shaved by aluminum fender bolts, stamped aluminum anodized valve covers masqueraded with wrinkle finish black paint, aluminum air cleaner top lid, lightweight starter underneath, aluminum factory looking brake reservoir.

 

[bearman]

Nice work.

 

[fullmetaljacket]

Nice work.

Thank you. I'll let him know.
Here's a big difference in weight for the under fender rubber flap seals. The metal splash shields themselves have been chemically milled to wafer thin. The metal splash shields weigh practically nothing now from a couple of pounds ago.

 

[fullmetaljacket]

I'll let him know.
Here's a big difference in weight for the under fender rubber flap seals. The metal splash shields themselves have been chemically milled to wafer thin. The metal splash shields weigh practically nothing now from a few pounds ago.

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Here's the splash shields mounted underneath. Wafer thin I tell you.

 

[bearman]

Keep it coming great ideas.

 

[bearman]

What about front wheel hubs, strut arms etc. So much in the front end parts is the weight loss i'm looking to change. Pricing has to play part of weight lose.

 

[fullmetaljacket]

What about front wheel hubs, strut arms etc. So much in the front end parts is the weight loss i'm looking to change. Pricing has to play part of weight lose.

Front ends. A chapter in itself.
Weight: A factory front drum brake setup is lighter than a factory front disc brake setup. Some drums are lighter than others, particularly the non finned/non cooling types. The smooth outer face ones are lightest depending on manufacturer and material content. Bendix seems to be the lightest.
Now if an aftermarket lightweight disc brake setup is preferred, then that's a different story. There's countless makes out there.
On a drag car that is not too fast and has enough shut down area to stop, a good working drum brake system will do the job without the drag that disc brake rotors have. I believe that slamming brakes with either discs or drums is NOT a necessary thing at the track. Tapping a few times and then using the last turn off is always cooler for the brakes and your nerves.
Of course less weight comes with this advantageous territory. Less weight, easier and shorter stopping. More weight, freight train blues.
Some guys have been known to back off the contact drag on the drum shoes to free wheel the car for less drag. Old Super Stock trick.
There's a bunch more (working within reason) with the all the other front end parts that have been done out there. TBC with pictures.

 

[fullmetaljacket]

Front ends. A chapter in itself.
Weight: A factory front drum brake setup is lighter than a factory front disc brake setup. Some drums are lighter than others, particularly the non finned/non cooling types. The smooth outer face ones are lightest depending on manufacturer and material content. Bendix seems to be the lightest.
Now if an aftermarket lightweight disc brake setup is preferred, then that's a different story. There's countless makes out there.
On a drag car that is not too fast and has enough shut down area to stop, a good working drum brake system will do the job without the drag that disc brake rotors have. I believe that slamming brakes with either discs or drums is NOT a necessary thing at the track. Tapping a few times and then using the last turn off is always cooler for the brakes and your nerves.
Of course less weight comes with this advantageous territory. Less weight, easier and shorter stopping. More weight, freight train blues.
Some guys have been known to back off the contact drag on the drum shoes to free wheel the car for less drag. Old Super Stock trick.
There's a bunch more (working within reason) with the all the other front end parts that have been done out there. TBC with pictures.

Meanwhile back at the ranch..... these are the inner doors of the '68 before being sealed up with their upholstered door panels. Note the drilled out window crank arms and very carefully trimmed inner door skins. The main rooster wheel can not be seen in this picture, but trust me, it's got a few ventilation holes. Looks factory ahh? Removed about two pounds per door and the windows slide up and down with no effort at all. Don't laugh, every ounce counts where it counts.

 

[fullmetaljacket]

Meanwhile back at the ranch..... these are the inner doors of the '68 before being sealed up with their door panels. Note the drilled out window crank arms and very carefully trimmed inner door skins. Looks factory ahh? Removed about two pounds per door. Don't laugh, every ounce counts where it counts.

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Meanwhile back at Area 51's skunkworks with the mysterious Dodge. A finished and now functioning door striker in T-7075 aluminum in comparison to its stock sibling on top.
Stock types weighed 3/4 Lb each. Aluminum types 1 Lb for both. Shaved 1/2 Lb.
Why so little?
T-7075 has a modest amount of titanium, chromium, copper and other alloys in the mix aside from the aluminum itself that make up its strength. Since installed after this picture, they have been coated with a thin layer of zinc phosphate color and a tint of yellow/green transparent spray paint to give them that stock cosmoline look. Only the strike marks underneath the teeth reveal its true DNA.

 

[Big bill]

I changed out my front tires yesterday I took the stock steel wheels and tires off and replaced with vintage direct bolt cragar SS 4” wide . It took 19 pounds off the frontend I did it more for looks than anything else .

 

[fullmetaljacket]

I changed out my front tires yesterday I took the stock steel wheels and tires off and replaced with vintage direct bolt cragar SS 4” wide . It took 19 pounds off the frontend I did it more for looks than anything else .

Wow, that's a very decent amount of rotating weight removed. Pays high dividends on all sectors of a pass. I guess the spacing between those iconic spokes on SS's and the slender 4" rim width cuts down on the lard.
My replacement of aluminum centerlines smoothies with a more stock looking (steely Dan's attached below) aluminum wheel actually added a pound or so over the centerlines, but still lighter than a real steel wheel. I'm happy with the relatively light health and stealth since I'll find the pound or so elsewhere.

 

[fullmetaljacket]

Wow, that's a very decent amount of rotating weight removed. Pays high dividends on all sectors of a pass. I guess the spacing between those iconic spokes on SS's and the slender 4" rim width cuts down on the lard.
My replacement of aluminum centerlines smoothies with a more stock looking (steely Dan's) aluminum wheel actually added a pound or so over the centerlines, but still lighter than a real steel wheel. I'm happy with the relatively light health and stealth since I'll find the pound or so elsewhere.

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Here's the rear sets which are still onboard . Photo credit: Hemi-Itis.
They are new-old school (rivet) aluminum Centerlines with a custom spun aluminum hubcap that hides the rivets and gives that STOCK look. The cap slides over the studs and nestles in with large washers and lug nuts. By the way, those are 6AL-4V Titanium lug nuts on board.
Even some Mopar guys, at night would chastise me for running HEAVY wheels. I would simply counter with "I'll get a set of aluminum wheels when I get a chance" to obviously escape what I called "Friendly Fire".
Sometimes your own buddies can blow your cover by wanting to be the first "Breaking News" correspondents. LOL.

 

[33 IMP]

My steelie street tire setup is 80 lbs heavier than my centerline/skinnies/slicks setup. If I drop off the exhaust too, I can save 150 lbs.
I'm thinking about a much less extensive exhaust system as an experiment.
I think I can cut exhaust weight in half.

 

[fullmetaljacket]

My steelie street tire setup is 80 lbs heavier than my centerline/skinnies/slicks setup. If I drop off the exhaust too, I can save 150 lbs.
I'm thinking about a much less extensive exhaust system as an experiment.
I think I can cut exhaust weight in half.

Exhaust, a whole other chapter in itself.

 

[fullmetaljacket]

Exhaust, a whole other chapter in itself.

This was Pontiacs attempt at unloading the load from its factory exhaust header systems. A no, no when using pure aluminum. They did achieve one thing though for a pass or two, they shaved more than 40 Lbs off the front ends at 27 Lbs compared to the purported 72 Lbs for the cast iron types.
65 years later, I myself witnessed my first set of Max Wedge aluminum Long horn exhaust manifolds on a running Max Wedge car. SNNEEEEEEAAKY. You dirty dog you!
As far as I know, they're still huffing and puffing the exhaust notes without a problem. How? probably because of the mixed alloys in today's T-356 material and beyond enables them to take the heat in the kitchen.

 

[Big bill]

Wow, that's a very decent amount of rotating weight removed. Pays high dividends on all sectors of a pass. I guess the spacing between those iconic spokes on SS's and the slender 4" rim width cuts down on the lard.
My replacement of aluminum centerlines smoothies with a more stock looking (steely Dan's attached below) aluminum wheel actually added a pound or so over the centerlines, but still lighter than a real steel wheel. I'm happy with the relatively light health and stealth since I'll find the pound or so elsewhere.

View attachment 1477849

Where did you get those very cool.