Weight Reduction Questions.. Lets try and get at least one response here :)
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5.0Droptop
...all those nights we shared, and you're a dude??
Special Agent Mukity-Muck Whats in Charge Round Here
If it is a coupe i would guess around 3000#
If its a hatch I would guess around 3100-3300
Spare tire and jacks and anything in trunk to lighten it up.
Remove all the sound deadening stuff under the carpet.
Get weld rims or something lighter than the ponies.
Get aluminum heads to remove 50# of dead weight off front.
relocate battery to trunk.
If its a hatch I would guess around 3100-3300
Spare tire and jacks and anything in trunk to lighten it up.
Remove all the sound deadening stuff under the carpet.
Get weld rims or something lighter than the ponies.
Get aluminum heads to remove 50# of dead weight off front.
relocate battery to trunk.
88stangmangt
Active Member
tubular k-member...................with matching A-arms.............fiberglass hood...........no A/C or condensor.......
Tubular Kmember, lighter wheels & tires, lighter brakes with aluminum calipers, Coilovers in front, aluminum heads. Glass hood. Remove back seat. Remove dogbone. Aluminum driveshaft. Remove all of the gooey stuff stuck to the body interior. Glass trunk lid/hatchback.
I think that near 150 lbs can be lost this way. The unsprung weight loss is going to benefit performance more than anything else. Good brakes, wheels and calipers can actually increase acceleration and handling.
I think that near 150 lbs can be lost this way. The unsprung weight loss is going to benefit performance more than anything else. Good brakes, wheels and calipers can actually increase acceleration and handling.
GTthunder said:
I lost the sheet for when I weighed my seats. The seats in my 87 were not that heavy. If memory serves me it was like 75 lbs for all the seats. I was surprised how little they actually weighed.
heres what my car looks like with the rear gutted I still need to take off the seat belts and the frame of the rear seats.
GTthunder said:
I took all of the insulation out from under my carpet and it wasnt noticably loud at all seemed the same. Pulled my stock hood off and put a fiberglass one on and it felt like it was a little more peppy. My Front gt seat feels like it only weighs probabbly 30lbs or maybe even lighter the rear seats were lighter then both front. Get an aluminum drive shaft rear upper and lower control arms, Pull the dash out and get the insulation from behind there. If you dont want heat or a/c pull all of that ***** out you wont need that. Loose the smog pump if emissions isnt an option.
crazypete
All my crevices are greased.
I pulled 400 lbs of crap out of the car no problem, full interior, stereo.
Pull:
Weight under the rear axle pumpkin. It's a vibration damper but it's useless after switching gear ratios (and otherwise).
Aluminum driveshaft. Saves a few pounds but reduces rotating mass for faster response and less vibration.
Get a pair of SVO aluminum spares. These spares are polished aluminum that is so beutiful you could hang it on the wall as art. Putting them in the spare well is almost heresy. I can lift the wheel with 2 fingers dude. Swap the tire on this rim for a real Z rated tire and shave crazy weight off the front.
Soundproofing under carpets and underneath interior. The removable padding stuff is a go but dont waste your time on the stuff stuck to the floor. It's not much of a savings and makes the car REAL loud and you need to spend more than a weekend on this stuff with heat guns.
Rear seat reinforcement brackets and backplates. The middle double peg can hold rear upper seats in place by itself. They rest against the body lump in the back. I've had passengers tell me the rear seats are so comfortable because theyre super soft. Just dont sit in the middle: *ss breaking transmission hump
Go carb: you lose 1 intake, TB and 35 lbs of wiring and sensors. Look at my avatar. What a clean enginebay! Weight savings galore.
Strip the airbag stuff: 30 lbs at least. Again, how crazy are you?
Pull the entire heater/cooler assembly under the dash. This is a major pull. We dont need a 50 pound box full of plates to route air. Run an aluminum dryer hose from the drain tube fitting at the bottom of the stock blower case (this is like 50 lbs alone!) to the top of the header on the other side of the firewall. Free heat. Use a 10 gram computer muffin fan to pull 60-70 cfm of absurdly hot air into the cabin. I can sit up under my dash (sorta but you get the idea).
While you're at it, pull the back frame for the dash. The 5 screws across the top and two diagonally on the side into the kickpanels will hold the dash just fine...2 years and counting with no probs. Seriously. The dash isnt heavy at all. The reinforcement was to prevent absolute idiots from breaking their dashes. Just make sure people dont hoist themselves up using the dash. The glovebox can be screwed into the plastic and is fine if you dont put barbells in it.
Rip out your AC. Crazy weight savings. 100+ pounds and cleans the enginebay like nothing else does, reduces parasitic drag. Great all around weight reduction.
Front and rear bumpers and supports - 150 pounds. How crazy are you? This is dangerous. Removing bumpers depends on how many idiots/old people/cellphone talking swerving sport utilities you have in your neighborhood. I ended up putting them back on after a couple close shaves. My life is worth an extra 125 lbs of car. Supposedly the 79 4 cyls have an aluminum rear bumper but I have been unable to obtain one.
Airpump and tube: 30 lbs. Nuff said. Depends on how motivated the cops/inspection stations are in your area.
Radio support. The plastic interior frame holds the radio in just fine. Really.
Front swaybar. No need for it. I take highway exits at 65 mph. I think I detect a little bit of body roll at the fastest turn. I also have 650lb FMS front springs. A coilover kit might be a good idea. I have one not installed but the spring I could lift with 2 fingers. The stock/FMS spring is like 40-50 pounds.
For a gt, drop those idiot foglight bars and supports. There is no need for 50 lbs of plate to hold 2 plastic lights. Use the clamp in the back of the fog and pinch the outside rim of the foglight hole on the inner side of the circle and tighten the bolt. Held them 2 years now like this.
Then get a tubular k-member and you'll be all set. The coilovers and tubular a-arms are a great kit. They have this on ebay for $500 for the k,a arms and coilovers.
I've heard so many bad things about FG hoods, you should stick with the metal ones. FG ones blow off, require hours of work to look good out of the box and usually requires hood pins. I also heard that the door supports keep the door from sagging/deforming under it's own weight. I might think keeping these would be a good idea. Aluminum heads if you have $$$ or an aluminum block/flywheel.
On this subject, get an underdrive pulley kit. It reduces parasitic drag and is sorta like weight reduction for the engine.
Good luck dude!
PS. I did everything above all at once and 2 years running no probs.
Crazypete
Pull:
Weight under the rear axle pumpkin. It's a vibration damper but it's useless after switching gear ratios (and otherwise).
Aluminum driveshaft. Saves a few pounds but reduces rotating mass for faster response and less vibration.
Get a pair of SVO aluminum spares. These spares are polished aluminum that is so beutiful you could hang it on the wall as art. Putting them in the spare well is almost heresy. I can lift the wheel with 2 fingers dude. Swap the tire on this rim for a real Z rated tire and shave crazy weight off the front.
Soundproofing under carpets and underneath interior. The removable padding stuff is a go but dont waste your time on the stuff stuck to the floor. It's not much of a savings and makes the car REAL loud and you need to spend more than a weekend on this stuff with heat guns.
Rear seat reinforcement brackets and backplates. The middle double peg can hold rear upper seats in place by itself. They rest against the body lump in the back. I've had passengers tell me the rear seats are so comfortable because theyre super soft. Just dont sit in the middle: *ss breaking transmission hump
Go carb: you lose 1 intake, TB and 35 lbs of wiring and sensors. Look at my avatar. What a clean enginebay! Weight savings galore.
Strip the airbag stuff: 30 lbs at least. Again, how crazy are you?
Pull the entire heater/cooler assembly under the dash. This is a major pull. We dont need a 50 pound box full of plates to route air. Run an aluminum dryer hose from the drain tube fitting at the bottom of the stock blower case (this is like 50 lbs alone!) to the top of the header on the other side of the firewall. Free heat. Use a 10 gram computer muffin fan to pull 60-70 cfm of absurdly hot air into the cabin. I can sit up under my dash (sorta but you get the idea).
While you're at it, pull the back frame for the dash. The 5 screws across the top and two diagonally on the side into the kickpanels will hold the dash just fine...2 years and counting with no probs. Seriously. The dash isnt heavy at all. The reinforcement was to prevent absolute idiots from breaking their dashes. Just make sure people dont hoist themselves up using the dash. The glovebox can be screwed into the plastic and is fine if you dont put barbells in it.
Rip out your AC. Crazy weight savings. 100+ pounds and cleans the enginebay like nothing else does, reduces parasitic drag. Great all around weight reduction.
Front and rear bumpers and supports - 150 pounds. How crazy are you? This is dangerous. Removing bumpers depends on how many idiots/old people/cellphone talking swerving sport utilities you have in your neighborhood. I ended up putting them back on after a couple close shaves. My life is worth an extra 125 lbs of car. Supposedly the 79 4 cyls have an aluminum rear bumper but I have been unable to obtain one.
Airpump and tube: 30 lbs. Nuff said. Depends on how motivated the cops/inspection stations are in your area.
Radio support. The plastic interior frame holds the radio in just fine. Really.
Front swaybar. No need for it. I take highway exits at 65 mph. I think I detect a little bit of body roll at the fastest turn. I also have 650lb FMS front springs. A coilover kit might be a good idea. I have one not installed but the spring I could lift with 2 fingers. The stock/FMS spring is like 40-50 pounds.
For a gt, drop those idiot foglight bars and supports. There is no need for 50 lbs of plate to hold 2 plastic lights. Use the clamp in the back of the fog and pinch the outside rim of the foglight hole on the inner side of the circle and tighten the bolt. Held them 2 years now like this.
Then get a tubular k-member and you'll be all set. The coilovers and tubular a-arms are a great kit. They have this on ebay for $500 for the k,a arms and coilovers.
I've heard so many bad things about FG hoods, you should stick with the metal ones. FG ones blow off, require hours of work to look good out of the box and usually requires hood pins. I also heard that the door supports keep the door from sagging/deforming under it's own weight. I might think keeping these would be a good idea. Aluminum heads if you have $$$ or an aluminum block/flywheel.
On this subject, get an underdrive pulley kit. It reduces parasitic drag and is sorta like weight reduction for the engine.
Good luck dude!
PS. I did everything above all at once and 2 years running no probs.
Crazypete
I disagree about taking the insulation out then leaving the funny tar-like stuff... That stuff is worth about 25 LB in a notch, and MORE in a hatch car because it covers the whole rear hatch area.. get a heat gun and get that stuff outta there!! And it took us about 6 hours from front of the car [firewall] to the hatch area to strip every last square inch of that tar out/off the floor/hatch area...in the winter no less, using a heat gun and putty knife... So it does NOT not take an entire weekend... and you've got the interior out anyways... 
You WILL have some extra road noise but... turn yer radio up.
Funny, I just found the paper from what we got out of my notch. The stuff below as all weighed with my buddy on an accurate bathroom scale and me handing the parts to him slowly, and recording the diff..:
Front sway bar - 22 LBs
Dogbone on rear - 8 LB
Smog pump and hardware - 8 LB incl the tubing..
Spare tire and jack etc - 40 LB
Mufflers [Dyno max turbos] - 22 LBs [put straight pipes in cause I have the cats]
Sound deadener and tar:
Bag 1 - 10 LB
Bag 2 - 10 LB
Bag 3 - 32 LB - contained the "tar stuff" on floor & under rear seat. It's heavy trust me.
stock to alum driveshaft saved - 8 LBs
Rims: from 10 holes with street tires to Weld Draglites w/ street tires and skinnies:
Both rear Welds saved 16 LB
Both front skinnies saved 30 LB.
I have Convo Pros now so prolly same.
87 - newer fiberglass Front bumper insert/reinforcement and struts - 24 LBs.
Funny I never could find the paper with this stuff written down and today I find it here under some stuff.
Hatch cars.. We got 97 LBs of sound deadener and tar alone..... out of my buddies 1986 GT, but that was removing all the panels in the back, and gutting behind there, and removing the rear seats and scraping off the tar under the seats and whole rear hatch area.
You WILL have some extra road noise but... turn yer radio up. Funny, I just found the paper from what we got out of my notch. The stuff below as all weighed with my buddy on an accurate bathroom scale and me handing the parts to him slowly, and recording the diff..:
Front sway bar - 22 LBs
Dogbone on rear - 8 LB
Smog pump and hardware - 8 LB incl the tubing..
Spare tire and jack etc - 40 LB
Mufflers [Dyno max turbos] - 22 LBs [put straight pipes in cause I have the cats]
Sound deadener and tar:
Bag 1 - 10 LB
Bag 2 - 10 LB
Bag 3 - 32 LB - contained the "tar stuff" on floor & under rear seat. It's heavy trust me.
stock to alum driveshaft saved - 8 LBs
Rims: from 10 holes with street tires to Weld Draglites w/ street tires and skinnies:
Both rear Welds saved 16 LB
Both front skinnies saved 30 LB.
I have Convo Pros now so prolly same.
87 - newer fiberglass Front bumper insert/reinforcement and struts - 24 LBs.
Funny I never could find the paper with this stuff written down and today I find it here under some stuff.
Hatch cars.. We got 97 LBs of sound deadener and tar alone..... out of my buddies 1986 GT, but that was removing all the panels in the back, and gutting behind there, and removing the rear seats and scraping off the tar under the seats and whole rear hatch area.
crazypete
All my crevices are greased.
That much for the tar crap, huh?....I guess I didnt pull off enough of it
I guess I have a project for this weekend!
I guess I have a project for this weekend!
94Silverbullet
Member
. I wish I had known that sooner.
crazypete
All my crevices are greased.
Man that's not everything either. There are SO many useless metal brackets everywhere.
For instance:
There is one that holds the fuel filter in place. There is no need for a steel bracket to hold a 1 pound fuel filter. You can put in 2 zipties and toss the 3-5 pound metal bracket and spray the rust that is underneath it from trapped moisture over the years.
There are more useless brackets under the dash than you could shake a stick at.
Plus..... dont even get me started on wires! When I went carb, I had this inkling feeling that there were some extra harness throughout the car. Well....
I had a free week so I went and pulled all the interior panels and pulled up all of the harnesses and cut them open so it was bare wires. 2/3 of the wire in a mustang doesnt need to be there. The airbag system alone is no less than 3 modules and looms upon looms of wires. I reduced 4 huge fistsized bunches of wires down to a single half fistfull of wires.
And things like the heater/blower system. There are vacuum modules, flaps, cores and a huge module that fills your entire dash plus a 30-40 pound squirrel cage fan. Oh and a huge rail on top of the engine and 4 lengths of hose and fittings on the engine. All to do..... what? Blow some hot air. Man, you could tear all that out and suck some air with a single aluminum (so it doesnt melt ) tube from the top of an exhaust pipe or a catalytic conveter or even the intake top (or even run it up to the radiator) and get a 60 cfm pc fan or some tiny little 12 volt fan that weighs 1/100th of that huge assembly. Hook it to the middle vents on the dash. Now you can aim it and it blows hot air when you turn the fan on. If you feel really motivated, you could split the hose and run the other side to the top runner so you can blow hot air at the window.
How many threads have I read about people complaining about their heater cores? Complex systems break thats why. Factory cars are usually overkill for saftey reasons and DOT requirements.
oh, I forgot, you can also pull the cruise control system out for a few more pounds of weight reduction
Have fun everyone!
For instance:
There is one that holds the fuel filter in place. There is no need for a steel bracket to hold a 1 pound fuel filter. You can put in 2 zipties and toss the 3-5 pound metal bracket and spray the rust that is underneath it from trapped moisture over the years.
There are more useless brackets under the dash than you could shake a stick at.
Plus..... dont even get me started on wires! When I went carb, I had this inkling feeling that there were some extra harness throughout the car. Well....
I had a free week so I went and pulled all the interior panels and pulled up all of the harnesses and cut them open so it was bare wires. 2/3 of the wire in a mustang doesnt need to be there. The airbag system alone is no less than 3 modules and looms upon looms of wires. I reduced 4 huge fistsized bunches of wires down to a single half fistfull of wires.
And things like the heater/blower system. There are vacuum modules, flaps, cores and a huge module that fills your entire dash plus a 30-40 pound squirrel cage fan. Oh and a huge rail on top of the engine and 4 lengths of hose and fittings on the engine. All to do..... what? Blow some hot air. Man, you could tear all that out and suck some air with a single aluminum (so it doesnt melt ) tube from the top of an exhaust pipe or a catalytic conveter or even the intake top (or even run it up to the radiator) and get a 60 cfm pc fan or some tiny little 12 volt fan that weighs 1/100th of that huge assembly. Hook it to the middle vents on the dash. Now you can aim it and it blows hot air when you turn the fan on. If you feel really motivated, you could split the hose and run the other side to the top runner so you can blow hot air at the window.
How many threads have I read about people complaining about their heater cores? Complex systems break thats why. Factory cars are usually overkill for saftey reasons and DOT requirements.
oh, I forgot, you can also pull the cruise control system out for a few more pounds of weight reduction
Have fun everyone!
crazypete
All my crevices are greased.
Some people have luck with the front swaybar and some dont. If you do all the stuff I listed, the nose of car will be in the air. All the stuff comes off the front. And if you move the battery to the back, bodyroll is much less since there is much less weight and it's mostly in the middle (I put the battery in the spare well up against the back wall). Plus, I had the FMS "C" springs. You might have less luck so dont try the exit at 65mph until you've tried it at 25 mph first 
Weight reduction is fun. The resulting vehicle is easier to maintain and "debug", gets better gas milage, better handling, less stress on the frame/shocks/tranmission/clutch/motor and is faster to boot. Best of all worlds.
Oh yeah, you can also look at lexan windows for a race only car. I hear they get cloudy after a while.
I wish someone made an aluminum hood/hatch for the foxes. That hatch is an absurd weight (In the right place, but it's still a weight. Ever tried to remove one?).
Weight reduction is fun. The resulting vehicle is easier to maintain and "debug", gets better gas milage, better handling, less stress on the frame/shocks/tranmission/clutch/motor and is faster to boot. Best of all worlds.
Oh yeah, you can also look at lexan windows for a race only car. I hear they get cloudy after a while.
I wish someone made an aluminum hood/hatch for the foxes. That hatch is an absurd weight (In the right place, but it's still a weight. Ever tried to remove one?).
slo65
New Member
best thread ever....... just wondering cars not with me right now, what exactly is involved when taking off the fog light bracket on a gt, i dont have the fogs so i'd like to get rid of it, any reccomendations? know the tools i need?
crazypete
All my crevices are greased.
There are two huge metal plates behind the foglight locations. They are held in by only 2 bolts apiece. The fogs are usually bolted to this plate. The metal plate is used to keep the lights from wiggling. It's easy but the bolts are most definatley rusted/stuck so you need the breaker bar. What I did first was what I listed above:
For those with foglights:
Take the foglights out and point the peg so it points torwards the other foglight. It will be near the inner = cylinder part of the foglight hole. Notice how there is a square bracket on the end of the foglight peg. Pull this back and wedge the sidewall of the foglight hole in there so it's like a jaw. Then tighten. Reinforce the glass! It's not meant to ride sideways so the glass will pop off. Clear rtv/wire whatever but stick the glass on.
Or, what I did:
After the glass fell off, I realized my foglights were even lighter now! I looked through the foglight hole and saw the fiberglass bumper hung down just enough. I drilled a hole in it at it's lowest point to keep the foglight centered and slid the bolt shaft into this and bolted in. Rock solid.
To replace the glass, I got 2 petri dishes EXACTLY the size of the foglight holes and clear rtv'ed them into place. Rock deflectors. The fogs themselves ride about 2-3 inches behind fully exposed but no worse for wear after 1 year.
Have fun.
For those with foglights:
Take the foglights out and point the peg so it points torwards the other foglight. It will be near the inner = cylinder part of the foglight hole. Notice how there is a square bracket on the end of the foglight peg. Pull this back and wedge the sidewall of the foglight hole in there so it's like a jaw. Then tighten. Reinforce the glass! It's not meant to ride sideways so the glass will pop off. Clear rtv/wire whatever but stick the glass on.
Or, what I did:
After the glass fell off, I realized my foglights were even lighter now! I looked through the foglight hole and saw the fiberglass bumper hung down just enough. I drilled a hole in it at it's lowest point to keep the foglight centered and slid the bolt shaft into this and bolted in. Rock solid.
To replace the glass, I got 2 petri dishes EXACTLY the size of the foglight holes and clear rtv'ed them into place. Rock deflectors. The fogs themselves ride about 2-3 inches behind fully exposed but no worse for wear after 1 year.
Have fun.
QDRHRSE
New Member
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