Swapping collectors and exhaust- the collectors on the left with the mufflers are 10lbs for the pair, the pipes/mufflers on the right are 25lbs w/o the collectors. I’m figuring we can save 20lbs in the exhaust. It’ll also allow us to takeout the 300lb G force trans crossmember and put a lightweight tubular straight one in.

 

Started getting into our somewhat no prep oriented Nova this past weekend. Goals are-

1) -125lbs
2) +50hp N/A
3) + 1-1.5” of front suspension travel
4) get the 1+2 leave Transbrake in it
5) get the single 4500 carb off and dual 4150s on
6) Redo some wiring
7) Open up the ring gap a touch for more nitrous

Still has crash bars in the doors, steel fenders, grill, stock radiator support, etc…

Got the nose off of it last weekend and came up with a game plan. Going to a Rhodes core support/smaller radiator and fan. Should save 20lbs just there. We did some math, and think we can get 6-8lbs out of each front fender, trim up the firewall ends under the fenders for 5-10lbs, and a few other things that are pretty cheap for more weight removal.

What size is the dominator? Is it for sale?

 

I have a 73 nova and have been dropping a ton of weight. Smithracecraft front will save 150lb easy

 

We’re gonna keep the stock front frame for now, the cage and subframe connectors are pretty integrated into it at this point. Maybe one day down the road though, 150lbs is amazing

Keeping the Dominator, putting it on my 4th gen Camaro’s LS

 

There are too many brackets on the front bumper. I took off the bigger ones and left just the two small ones. You can't step on the bumper like before but it's pretty solid. Probably worth maybe 5 pounds.

 

We have a fiberglass one on there already, it’s super lightweight

 

Weighed the BUFFCO 4500 adapter and current Dominator carb, it’s 21lbs (with a speedtech nitrous plate and 2 solenoids). My FST 950cfm 4150 is 7.5lbs, so pretty sure the carb swap is gonna be a wash as far as weight goes. Figuring the two 4150s with a 2x4 plate kit will be around 22-25lbs with the linkage kit and extra hoses.

 

I know they say the Smith Racecraft front end is worth 150 pounds but I wonder if anyone has ever weighed the before and after. I was really close to going that route but in the end chose to keep the stock sub-frame. When I made the decision I blew apart the stock front sub-frame to blast and paint it and was shocked at how light it was. Aside from the subframe all the other parts weight the same such as brakes, A-arms, rack, etc. It's been a few years since I did that and maybe it did not seem too heavy as I was much younger...lol. I just don't see 150 pounds difference.

 

Yea, maybe it’s 150lbs from a totally stock subframe assembly with shocks/springs, steering box, stock control arms, etc…? Just the room it makes alone it makes is sweet, but it’s definitely a big job for us and a lot of $$$. I think at this point we can do 5 other smaller items, lose the same 150lbs, and do it for 1/2 the money. Not saying never, but definitely not this year

 

Any of the novas we have had landed in 2750 area /no driver.Get after them with moly everything /plastic everything 2450ish no driver.bbc cars tho.

 

Any of the novas we have had landed in 2750 area /no driver.Get after them with moly everything /plastic everything 2450ish no driver.

Yea, it’s 2725 now with no ballast/no driver. Pretty sure 2550-2600 is pretty easily attainable for us this year, even with a mild steel backhalf and cage

 

Smith setup uses a front steer rack, that's a portion of the weight drop. I've got the Rhodes front core support.

Are you trying to hit a certain front / weight percentage ?

 

We have a ton of ballast in the back now, like 400lbs. So anything we save off of the front is worth double, as we can take it out of the back and keep the same bias. It’s at 46% on the nose now, I’d like to keep it close to that, seems to work every time at the airport at 46%. We’ve tried 48-50% and sometimes it goes down, sometimes it spins.

 

Definitely gonna try to get the engine/trans up another inch if we can too, putting motor plates in it.

 

Hmmm the smith racecraft stuff could make sense for you at some point, I think it's all $1600.

 

Just the front frame is on their site now at $2300, figure in shipping, and the material to tie it back in to our frame connectors and J bars, it’s easily $3k for us to put it in our car. Is it compatible with factory suspension parts?

 

I am low 2600lbs. Without me. But i have done a lot.
Carbon driveshaft
Smithracecraft front frame
Rhodes support
Moly. 9 inch
Aluminum center section
No back seat
Glass bumpers

 

I'm at 3250 without the driver. Only fiberglass is the hood. 7.50 All CM cage with no back seat and aluminum center section. It's right at 3500 with me and about 3550 with two full bottles. I also have a custom aluminum core support built by my chassis guy.

 

Ours is steel factory floors to the ladder bar crossmember, all aluminum floors from their back. It’s more than an 8.50 cage requirement, but less than 25.5. Cage is 80% mild steel, just the dash bar and through the firewall bars are moly. After hearing where some other guys land, we’re looking for 2600lbs no driver/no ballast

 

Ya i have 10pt cage stock floors headliner carpet. But cut dash out and have removable glass one. But only saved a few lbs. But the comp front wheels and new tires saved like 20+ lbs per side. Strange front brakes help a lot.

 

A few friends have the subframe, I do not. If you are on FB I can connect you to a group that would be helpful.

I don't know if you can run different manufacturer control arms with it.

 

Got in touch with Andy at Smith Racecraft today. He told me all of the factory style suspension components that we already have are compatible with their frame. He also told me that unmodified factory frames are in the 110-120lb range, where theirs is about 60. So for us, we’d save around 50lbs of weight. Definitely may be an option at the end of this season. We’ll see how much time we have between this car and mine to get involved in it.

 

Do you already have a rack in the car?

 

Yes, has full TRZ front suspension and rack kit with coilovers.

 

Nice was the car originally rear steer or front steer?

 

Pretty sure the steering box was behind the oem k member. The rack was done by the previous owner, along with the control arms.

We were slamming beers in the garage one night and I was looking at the car and noticed the RF tire was back pretty far in the wheel opening, and the LF was all the way at the front of it. Turns out there’s 2” of stagger built into the control arms. The wheelbase is 112” on one side and 110” on the other. We have 27” tall front tires on it, so between that, the stagger, and with this little motor that’s in it, it’s challenging to cut a good light. Definitely have to stage it pretty deep.

 

Ah. I have a unisteer rear steer rack here, manual, if anyone needs one. Won't fit with my LS oil pan.

My local buddy's old Nova is all fiberglass, doors, hood, doors, trunk lid..... even with the BBC I'm sure it's really light.

 

^^^nice car!!!

 

Here’s ours all together

 

Nice. I will weigh my '67 at the beginning of the season,I'm thinking +/-3000.

 

Yours has a turbo combo in it right?