Hidden treasures.

I'm going to have a chat with my Trans guru "Top Boy" and Rick at A&A about the best light weight internals to use in a real street/strip Manual valve body 65' cable shift trans. I've got two pumps in that pup you know.

Nice to hear from you DVW.

Considering taking out my 727 and gear vendor and putting in a 904. It would be over a 70 lb reduction

I know, my transmission guy "Top Boy" has those 904's humming behind some really good street small blocks in our clubhouse.
I never thought they could survive, but he knows them inside out and with a lot of stock parts that he combines to make for a good piece.
To bad a 04 won't snout up to a big block that easy.

Rick over at A&A said to stay away from aluminum drums for a street/strip car. not worth the band adjustments and wear. I also stood away from that lightweight titanium flexplate.

What's up with some Titanium or T-aluminum convertor development?
Might work if someones got the time and skills.LOL.

Since the first of the year, I am down 23 lbs:
-Alum front bumper brackets/fender rods
-removing some junk that I need not carry all the time
-aluminum inner door handles

I have another 15-20 lbs of weight I can remove off the front end. The goal is to just keep me occupied through the long MI winter. I am not trying to turn the car into a gutted mess, just a simple street cruiser on a diet.

You're right. Simple street diet is the way to go, though SIMPLE has fallen off my radar. LOL.
I've seen some unstylish gutted cars on the street here and they are not fun to drive in.
Usually, unreasonably full gutted cars become a visual and mechanical burden and the owner decides to vacate and sell it off as junk. It ultimately depends what the owner is willing to endure.
Not to at all down grade full all out race cars, I love 'em, but they have their place and purpose. Case in point is that some people I knew went the full route and turned their street cars into full race cars with out ever considering their budget, time constraints, maintenance and atmosphere and then got overburdened enough to sell and eventually return to street cars.

Race cars are a breed of their own, though they were amazingly cool to see at the street haunts back in the day. Sought of an animal out of its cage and comfort zone.

I know some of you know what this is as it's part of many pre70' B-body's skeletal make up.
Skicker was so gracious to make this available to me for some experimental madness in the laboratory.
More to come soon.

Mine being a drag car has lots of aluminum goodies. Though not installed now it even had and aluminum rear annulis (outer planetary) and only 2 pin planets. Even now the 3 pins survive. My trans is 14lbs lighter with a stock 65 case.
Doug

14 Lbs off is darn good.

IIRC, my trans guys and I have talked about going to a later 66' trans which would mean that I could lose the second pump and its weight, but also I would lose the second pumps pressure built up that gives some good mean 1-2-3 shifts.
Plus I would not like going to an aftermarket floor shifter on the floor and prefer my hands up by the wheel and the look of an A990 column shift.
With this current 65' case, I have also thought of running the rare NO PARK tail housing which has no provisions for the parking mechanism making it lighter, but I like my parking mechanism too much to make the sacrifice.

Man, 14 Lbs is darn good, especially moving/rotating parts.

My rear pump is long gone.
Doug

FMJ,didn't upgrade the front input shaft to accept 66 & up converter??

H. Yes it is upgraded to except the 66' and later conv's since the first time he built me my first trans.
Top-Boy knows all the tricks like no other. He's been in and around these things since when they were cast iron cases.
Even Rick over at A&A is in awe of his settings.

DVW. I can't ever try and question your set up as it runs like stink.
Have you ever asked if the deletion of the rear pump could be happy in a street/strip car like mine?
I'll have to ask this to my trans guru.

A&A has a 'race prepped' case they sell. It's probably a little lighter than your garden variety TF case though I'm not sure how much; we're probably talking a pound or less. They machine an access hole into the bell for converter bolt access so I'm sure that accounts for most of the weight difference. The best thing about it though (besides being sparkly clean) is they tap the pan rail for external pressure adjustments so you don't have to remove the pan to do it. There's a tap for a trans brake too. I got one for my 904, really nice to work with.

Lee, do you still have the ball & trunion?

RMCHRGR
No, The Ball and Trunion was on the 64' cars and the change over to the slip yoke was in early 65' sometime more or less. Maybe even very late 64'.
My car just slipped in the door during the production run to have the slip.

Interesting news on the lightweight cases over at A&A.
Cool addition to have pressure adjustment access.

On another note pertaining to adding weight, my late 60's tail shaft housing is a little heavier (less than a pound or so)then my 65' tail shaft housing because of the extra webbing introduced into the casting for strength.

I sure wish I could get access to my motor block motor mount ears and bosses to remove that dead weight. It must be at most a pound and a half right there. Next time the motor comes out for sure since I run a plate and don't need no stinkin' ears. Aluminum plate that is. LOL.

Okay, here we go. A little use of L shape aluminum stock goes to good placement.

A little bend here, a little bend there and a visit with the welder to the sides and we are close to a bolt in front bumper mount boss.
This little, but long and patient process takes 2 Lbs off the very front end. Cutting and removing the steel piece and measuring in the new light alloy part is a task to say the least. Everything up front except the fenders needs to come off for easier access with cutting tools, sanders and chisels.

It will look stock once the aluminum flushed pan head bolts and nuts are covered with a little flash putty to hide the mount points.
Will show the finished slick results at a later date.

A senior moment, but not sure if the A-bodies and or E-bodies have similar mount bosses. Is this true?

For a second there I thought you were gonna recreate that entire rad support out of aluminum....

are you?

Partly.

The radiator support top and bottom cross bridge rails are the most difficult, but once they would be made, I'm not comfortable with just bolting them on as cross hinge in place of welding. They are structural to the chassis strength contrary to the belief of the K-member taking all the blame.

The stamped side walls are easier, but still time consuming.

There's a lightweight A-990 repro version on E-vague for only $$$$$$800
LOL.

If only aluminum/Titanium could weld to other steel structures.
That being said, there is belief that bolting something to another is actually stronger than welding (Bridges, elevated Subway tracks etc) But I still want a weld.
So on that note, no, I will not recreate the whole thing, but there will be a small portion of the frame rail longitude made out of aluminum that will slip into the original and blind bolt through.
Everything else will reinstall and look stock and weigh less.

When Skicker saw the twinkle in my eyes at Carlisle when I was looking this very same cross member part at his booth, he pretty much said, I know you are up to no good. We laughed our a&$es off.
By the way, at his booth up against the fence at gate #7, he has an abundance of small and large parts along with the knowledge to help almost anybody. He's a great source of fact and chat.

Since this thread is as massive as the Blizzard outside, I'm not sure if I showed ya'll this little gem earlier on that I made while in Detroit this past Summer.
Saved a whopping .70 of an ounce.LOL.
Gusseted reinforced from behind so as to work properly with the brake bar.

I see no reason for the rear pump. I Take a good look at the rear lube circuit (cooler return) to make sure there's not an internal leak path. The current trans has a seal pressed in behind the roller bearing in the rear support. I've run them w/o the seal but not on the street.
Doug