[Pro Stock John]

Thanks for the detailed suggestions Vinny. Yeah I'm running a T400 cross member from one of the big Camaro houses.

I'm running a Grant steering wheel. I plan to at some point go over the wiring in the car, I can shorten some stuff and there might be a couple of lbs of extra wiring.

I'd really like to get the car to 2800 + 200 for me. But still street drive it.

Mrdragster noted on the driveshaft, I think I'd change my front tires to bias and before I sprung for a $1000 driveshaft (is that what they cost?).

 

[LoweRider]

Thanks for the detailed suggestions Vinny. Yeah I'm running a T400 cross member from one of the big Camaro houses.

I'm running a Grant steering wheel. I plan to at some point go over the wiring in the car, I can shorten some stuff and there might be a couple of lbs of extra wiring.

I'd really like to get the car to 2800 + 200 for me. But still street drive it.

Mrdragster noted on the driveshaft, I think I'd change my front tires to bias and before I sprung for a $1000 driveshaft (is that what they cost?).

PST has them, they start at $1,249

Carbon Fiber Driveshaft - Up to 3,000 HP - Precision Shaft Technologies

This 3.75'' carbon fiber driveshaft with 1350 joints annihilates the competition beng lighter, stronger, and more reliable, only from PST.

pstds.com

 

[mrdragster1970]

PST has them, they start at $1,249

Carbon Fiber Driveshaft - Up to 3,000 HP - Precision Shaft Technologies

This 3.75'' carbon fiber driveshaft with 1350 joints annihilates the competition beng lighter, stronger, and more reliable, only from PST.

pstds.com

He's so rich, it doesn't matter what it cost.

If you and I had his petty cash we could throw our money away.

I was just mentioning stuff I didn't see listed. Just trying to help.

.

 

[Pro Stock John]

Yeah I think when I spend a grand plus on the car for weight reduction, it will be the rack and column. I figure between the two I can drop 40 maybe 50 lbs.

 

[Pro Stock John]

@mrdragster1970 lol I'm bleeding out over here between property taxes and paying for college for my kids.

 

[LoweRider]

@mrdragster1970 lol I'm bleeding out over here between property taxes and paying for college for my kids.

You cant race a degree. Get the carbon fiber driveshaft

 

[Pro Stock John]

Hi this is John's wife posting under his account. I just layed him out with a frying pan and there's your answer.

 

[Pro Stock John]

So race steering columns, decent on the street, do I need to do a lot of custom work to secure it?

I'll do the rack and steering column, and cut misc bits off the floor and clean up the wiring. Cut and sheet metal the firewall heater wings/coves. I'll look into an aluminum exhaust I'd do one of they hold up for a few years.

 

[golfer55]

Crash bars inside the doors are worth 20 pounds per bar IIRC. Extra brackets on the front bumper can be removed. Any old radio parts, speakers, wiring, etc. can go. TRZ makes a nice steering column. Chromed fiberglass bumpers.

crash bars,,,,not on that one,major weight reduction is EXPENSIVE if ya want a light car go buy one,,,cheaper in the long run

 

[Pro Stock John]

Lightened 1st gen rollers are rare and pull big bucks. I've only seen two in the last couple of years that were lighter than mine that were not gutted out tube cars.

I won't be doing ultracarbon doors or front end, I won't satisfy a number of class requirements then.

 

[NoLiftShift]

Aluminum downpipes work great, go with 1/8" thickness. Motion raceworks makes a nice and simple bolt-in steering column kit which can interface with factory steering shaft at steering box, or straight to a rack.

 

[Pro Stock John]

Good to know. My 4" DP is stainless.

I'll check out Motion's steering column kit. Since my longblock is coming out before the 2025 I will likely swap to a rack and a column for the weight drop.

 

[Skunkworkx]

Keeping your stock frame and seen where guys have cut out the center cross brace under the oil pan, then weld in a removable cross brace (tube) but unsure the weight difference or IF worth the hassle.

 

[mrdragster1970]

Keeping your stock frame and seen where guys have cut out the center cross brace under the oil pan, then weld in a removable cross brace (tube) but unsure the weight difference or IF worth the hassle.

We don't do that for weight, we do that to fit a full race pan.
Especially the big power, dry sump guys.


.

 

[Pro Stock John]

So between swapping to an aluminum LS block and also a front steer rack (and steering column) sounds like I'd drop raceweight from 3200 to 3050. Sounds like a plan!!

 

[Skunkworkx]

We don't do that for weight, we do that to fit a full race pan.
Especially the big power, dry sump guys.


.

OK, thanks.

A few I seen were neither.

 

[BigLar368]

QUOTE="Pro Stock John, post: 74419072, member: 8220"]
So race steering columns, decent on the street, do I need to do a lot of custom work to secure it?

I'll do the rack and steering column, and cut misc bits off the floor and clean up the wiring. Cut and sheet metal the firewall heater wings/coves. I'll look into an aluminum exhaust I'd do one of they hold up for a few years.
[/QUOTE]

My chassis guy did my rack but I chose to stay with the stock column for a while. I later converted over to the TRZ column. It was pretty straight forward to install. You have to trim it to fit where you want the wheel to be. Then you have to weld the spline in the tube. I street drove it for a while without any problems.

 

[Boosted Bullet]

I did the TRZ column in my Chevelle, but kept the stock steering box. Mostly because I need to be about 54% on the front to leave hard with a radial. I had just put a new front end on with glass fenders and a new hood, and seemed silly to spend a bunch removing weight off the front if I was going to just have to add weight to keep the front end down. I was also in need of a hip replacement at the time, and it helped getting in and out of the car.

The difference between the MT SR front tires and a lightweight front runner is huge. I believe the SR radial is 29lbs, the Hoosier front I run is only 8lbs. The lightweight tires are not a good street tire, so having two sets mounted isn't a bad idea.

 

[fastone371]

If you look real hard there are a lot of places you can cut extra steel out of the car. I did 69 Nova for a customer with all steel except for a bolt on glass hood, it had factory bumpers, all glass windows, it was a 4 link but maintained the factory floor, trunk, and frame rails. With a parachute, wheelie bars, and a BBC with a old heavy P&S block came in at 3007#. But I had to do a lot to get it there, gutted the factory column except for turn signal switch, rack and pinion, even cut the steering box supports out of the inside of the OEM sub frame. You can get them pretty light, it just depends how hard you want to work.

 

[18degsbcregal]

Yeah definitely front steer rack and column are on my mind.

Aluminum spindles, are those robust enough for the street?

I have a Strange/VRN 3.5 chromemoly driveshaft, gonna stay with that I'm going to hit it with 1100 HP.

How much weight if I make the rear windows fixed?

Can’t give a # on the rear windows, but I imagine it’s pretty considerable