OP
master
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 3,421
Toronto
|
Quote:
A couple of thoughts here. First, your car really does look very nice.
The rear windows your best bet is to just remove the inner door panel and take a look. Take out the window regulator and see what kind of track arrangement there is. Push the windows all the way up. Then just put a screw or something through the front and rear tracks or to some thing in the body. Probably best to use some kind of fastener with a piece of fuel hose over it so you do not chip the glass and cause a crack. Our 70 RR is a post with flip out windows so don't really have more insight than that. I think the seat belt trick was for the door windows. It would be pretty cool if you could make it work for the front doors. I do believe the seat belt trick is an all up or all down option though.
Removing undercoating wouldn't bother me at all. At this age in our cars' lives the original undercoating is more likely to be semi lifted and holding water in.
The heater box with the air conditioning condenser in our 70 RR is probably 50 pounds. Plus you have got rid of the heater hose weight and the entrained water. Our's got the flick right away. Working under the dash is much easier. I then mounted the MSD 6AL on the firewall inside the passenger compartment so it is out of the weather and cooler, could not have done that with the heater box in place. Pull it out, make an aluminium cover plate and try it for the year. It is not irreversible, as opposed to hacking out the door beams. The weight you are removing is also farther forward than the door beams. If you don't like it, put it back in.
As far as the 727 versus A833 question, don't forget the weight of all the fluid in the torque converter, the lines to the cooler, the fluid in the lines, the cooler itself, the shield for the tranny (although that is still lighter than a Lakewood at 52 pounds according to the American Airlines baggage scale, at least that is big block weight).
When I was building racing sailboats we always cut off the fastener ends. Adds up remarkably quickly, and something you can do with little cost.
When the carpet dies in our RR I will just be removing it and painting the floorboards with a heavy duty paint. We like the minimalist interior anyway, and with no carpets it is not a big deal when rainwater gets in.
Not sure about small blocks but the factory iron intake manifolds on big blocks are brutally heavy. Replacing it with an aluminium intake manifold is a big saving. Of course, that is not free or low cost. you might also have already done it, I forget if your first post list mentioned that.
Go to the gym if you are not in shape. 
Actually, this was a story told to me by another naval architect once. This couple was trying to decide whether to spend $30000 in materials to knock another 30 pounds off the boat they were having designed and built. The wife finally said "Go on a diet, join the gym, save the money. You are always on the boat, and you have been wanting to lose 30 pounds".
Very informative post, thank you 
I will look into your suggestions and see what I can implement with the car. When I say cutup the car, i think people assume im going to hack at it...but what I really mean is if there is anything I can remove without sacrificing streetability or ALOT of cash lol
and yes i am in shape, go to the gym religiously, although it seems almost impossible for me to lose weight (not that I want to though, then i'll look like a scronny beach model guy  )
|
