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Re: Shedding weight on an A-body
[Re: Pale_Roader]
#955883
03/29/11 03:53 PM
03/29/11 03:53 PM
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Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 3,429
Toronto
mshred
OP
master
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OP
master
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 3,429
Toronto
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Quote:
Quote:
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  )
Hah! No kidding. Real men go to the gym to gain weight. I'm up 50lbs since the last time i raced my car, and i'm a HUGE weight-reduction junkie.... OUCH.
Thats a damn nice looking car, and i'll also suggest you dont hack it, but there is a lot you can just unbolt in these cars, a lot more than people think. I wont go into all the fun ways to diet a car, i wrote an article about that in the last weight reduction thread i saw. I'd link it, but i forget what the title was...
Also, if you are really obsessed with weight, and if you haven't built/installed the Dana 60 yet, consider a Ford 8.8". Those things weigh (from what i've been told) slightly less than an 8 3/4", are quite a bit stronger, WAY cheaper and easy to find and in a plethora ov sizes/shapes/configurations and are fairly easy to squeeze in there if you have any fabrication skills. That would solve your problem, save you 50lbs, and save you a lot ov money.
Im genetically puny, so ive made it my goal that as long as my chest sticks out past my stomach, im a happy man! LOL 
Ive tried searching on here for all the different weight reduction threads, but I never saw any of your replies...if you ever find the thread, please link it to me, I would really appreciate it!
The only reason ive gone Dana is not because I want to, but because I kinda had too. Breaking the 8-3/4 twice in one year with my car being a smallblock stick car made me say screw it, im just going to spend money on the dana. Sold the 8-3/4 to someone for pretty good coin too, so im not really out much on building the Dana sure it might be heavier, but at least i know i SHOULDN'T break it LOL
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Re: Shedding weight on an A-body
[Re: 70HemiGTX]
#955886
03/29/11 10:33 PM
03/29/11 10:33 PM
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,496
Sask, Can.
72demon416
pro stock
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pro stock
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,496
Sask, Can.
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Quote:
I used a hole-saw on the inside frame of the door. Made it look like Swiss Cheese  Weighed all the disks I cut out... 1 lb of meat.  Didn't take long to lay down the drill after that phenominal weight reduction.
Exactly! hardly worth butchering a car up over.
I didn't want to cut ANYTHING on my car so I had to add more power to compensate for the weight. Granted it's not a ideal tradeoff but I think it's a lot better than a chopped up POS. Now if I was wanting to be in the 9's & faster as a HEAVILY race biased street car that would change the game plan. But for 90% street use 10's & slower is it really worth it?
Don't get me wrong, undercoating, fiberglass hood, aluminum bumper brackets and all that is great- cutting holes in doors and such-hmm...no.
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Re: Shedding weight on an A-body
[Re: mshred]
#955887
03/30/11 05:42 AM
03/30/11 05:42 AM
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4,862
the frozen wastes...
Pale_Roader
Swears too much
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Swears too much
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4,862
the frozen wastes...
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Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
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 )
Hah! No kidding. Real men go to the gym to gain weight. I'm up 50lbs since the last time i raced my car, and i'm a HUGE weight-reduction junkie.... OUCH.
Thats a damn nice looking car, and i'll also suggest you dont hack it, but there is a lot you can just unbolt in these cars, a lot more than people think. I wont go into all the fun ways to diet a car, i wrote an article about that in the last weight reduction thread i saw. I'd link it, but i forget what the title was...
Also, if you are really obsessed with weight, and if you haven't built/installed the Dana 60 yet, consider a Ford 8.8". Those things weigh (from what i've been told) slightly less than an 8 3/4", are quite a bit stronger, WAY cheaper and easy to find and in a plethora ov sizes/shapes/configurations and are fairly easy to squeeze in there if you have any fabrication skills. That would solve your problem, save you 50lbs, and save you a lot ov money.
Im genetically puny, so ive made it my goal that as long as my chest sticks out past my stomach, im a happy man! LOL
Ive tried searching on here for all the different weight reduction threads, but I never saw any of your replies...if you ever find the thread, please link it to me, I would really appreciate it!
The only reason ive gone Dana is not because I want to, but because I kinda had too. Breaking the 8-3/4 twice in one year with my car being a smallblock stick car made me say screw it, im just going to spend money on the dana. Sold the 8-3/4 to someone for pretty good coin too, so im not really out much on building the Dana sure it might be heavier, but at least i know i SHOULDN'T break it LOL
Heh... it was a while back. I come and go in periods ov posting and not posting. I've been back here for a while now, but that post was from before. Last year maybe? I forget.
Though my chassis guy says they are supposedly around the same strength, i've seen and heard ov lots ov racers breaking 8 3/4", but when do you ever hear ov broken 8.8's...??? The Mustang guys abuse the hell outta those things... not to mention they've come stock in MANY badass Ford rides. Again, not Mopar, but light, strong and cheap. To me, the only negative is that they're just ugly... haha
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Re: Shedding weight on an A-body
[Re: 72demon416]
#955889
04/02/11 08:54 AM
04/02/11 08:54 AM
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4,862
the frozen wastes...
Pale_Roader
Swears too much
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Swears too much
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4,862
the frozen wastes...
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Quote:
I'm likely the only guy out there to break a 8.8 behind a auto. 2.73 geared stock 5.0 mustang.
Hah! Yup. That takes some talent.
There was a street racer here a while back that ran a stock LX with a 5speed. Engine was stock, even the exhaust was stock, though he may have had headers (hard to hear). Rearend was stock too, but likely geared. All this guy had was a pretty big NOS kit and some creative chassis tuning, and some drag radials.
This guy used to run every week, and would run anyone. He was always running someone. He'd do his burnout, then pull up to the line all quiet-like. When the arms went up he'd bring it to 5000RPM and when they dropped he'd dump the clutch and nearly pull the tire. NOS hit right after it settled. That car ran 11's. I have no idea how many times that 8.8 got hammered with a 5000RPM clutch dump, with sticky tires. He never hurt it. That always impressed the hell outta me.
I had plans to fab in a Cobra 8.8" in my Challenger (to replace the original 7 1/4"... grrr), just to get the 3.27 gears and posi and big 11" discs all at once. But paying a guy to do it pretty much brought the price up enough to warrant just buying some aftermarket discs and a used 489 or 742 SG pig for the spare 8 3/4" E-body rear i already have kicking around. The chassis guy said that the 8.8 would definitely outlast the Mopar diff though. It was too even to make a decision, so i figured my car aint gonna sit that low, i dont want an ugly bolted diff cover sticking out under my pretty bumper... haha
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Re: Shedding weight on an A-body
[Re: Pale_Roader]
#955890
04/02/11 09:13 AM
04/02/11 09:13 AM
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Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 2,611
Elbridge, NY
Dart1031
master
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master
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 2,611
Elbridge, NY
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Quote:
Though my chassis guy says they are supposedly around the same strength, i've seen and heard ov lots ov racers breaking 8 3/4", but when do you ever hear ov broken 8.8's...??? The Mustang guys abuse the hell outta those things... not to mention they've come stock in MANY badass Ford rides. Again, not Mopar, but light, strong and cheap. To me, the only negative is that they're just ugly... haha
I'll go one better...... I've been 11.50's with a GM 7.5 with stock axles and a mini spool 
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Re: Shedding weight on an A-body
[Re: Dart1031]
#955891
04/12/11 08:10 AM
04/12/11 08:10 AM
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4,862
the frozen wastes...
Pale_Roader
Swears too much
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Swears too much
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4,862
the frozen wastes...
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Quote:
Quote:
Though my chassis guy says they are supposedly around the same strength, i've seen and heard ov lots ov racers breaking 8 3/4", but when do you ever hear ov broken 8.8's...??? The Mustang guys abuse the hell outta those things... not to mention they've come stock in MANY badass Ford rides. Again, not Mopar, but light, strong and cheap. To me, the only negative is that they're just ugly... haha
I'll go one better...... I've been 11.50's with a GM 7.5 with stock axles and a mini spool
Oh i believe it. There is some really weird voodoo with that rearend. Seeing as they come in almost EVERYTHING in certain years, and the GM guys have to spend real money to change 'em (G-bodies mainly) they have a tendency to push their limits and gamble more than most. I've seen as fast as 11 second cars and one guy has a Blazer 4x4 than ran nines on supposedly two ov these diffs, front and back (do they come in the front?). Nobody could ever figure out how he held that jalopy together, or got it past tech for the two runs he was able to make. No one wanted to race this guy near the end because they didn't want to be the one beside him when the inevitable happened...
And then you've got my friend in his light 80 Gutless with a 375HP 350, auto, BFG T/A's and NO traction whatsoever... who's on his third one, mini-spooled as well... I actually ended up selling him an E-body 8 3/4" for that car that he's yet to stuff in there.
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Re: Shedding weight on an A-body
[Re: mshred]
#955892
04/12/11 11:45 PM
04/12/11 11:45 PM
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 172
Champaign IL
LXguy
member
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member
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 172
Champaign IL
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hey! Your car is NICE. Wow. Hope the cam stuff is getting figured out. I'm with these guys, don't do any unnecessary swiss cheesing. Fighting the rust is hard enough as it is. My car started at 3400 pounds with me in it when it was bone stock. pulled the ac, iron intake, power steering (huge savings there), weld wheels instead of steelies, ditched spare and jack, aluminum driveshaft, lost the kickdown linkage (lol), 2" off of converter, monoleafs. Added back subframes and DS loop, caltracs, replaced 318 with 5.9, added 8.75, ignition box, Now the car weighs....3400 with me in it.  I bet the hood weighs more than 55 lbs. I'm looking into fiberglass, but thats big bucks by the time you buy it, ship it, paint it. Let me know what you find on the headlights. I'll try that. What was breaking on your 8.75? Mine's still going (auto). Hope I don't have to replace it. I'd change the clutch to something that hits easier. That's half the battle to keeping a rear end alive. 8.8s are unbelievably tough. In the race car, we used to launch it at 7000, pull the front wheels three feet in the air. Stock housing, spool, 31 spline. No issues. Aluminum driveshaft saves almost 10 lbs. haha Mono leafs are a lot lighter too...not entirely helpful I'm sure. run dumps? Tailpipes are plenty heavy. A lighter radiator would go a long way. You have to be careful though, as a lot of the aluminum ones have bigger tanks, so they're lots heavier when full. I saved 10 pounds (and a little money) running an undersized battery. With that alternator and the gear reduction starter you should be fine. I still have the bench and like it, but I'm going to have to make some tough choices when the roll bar goes in. Steve
1971 Dodge Dart Swinger
5.9 Magnum, built 904
ET 11.70 / 113 mph
Want to swap a Magnum into your Mopar?
www.magnumswap.com
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Re: Shedding weight on an A-body
[Re: LXguy]
#955893
04/13/11 12:26 AM
04/13/11 12:26 AM
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Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 3,429
Toronto
mshred
OP
master
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OP
master
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 3,429
Toronto
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Quote:
hey!
Your car is NICE. Wow.
Hope the cam stuff is getting figured out. I'm with these guys, don't do any unnecessary swiss cheesing. Fighting the rust is hard enough as it is.
My car started at 3400 pounds with me in it when it was bone stock. pulled the ac, iron intake, power steering (huge savings there), weld wheels instead of steelies, ditched spare and jack, aluminum driveshaft, lost the kickdown linkage (lol), 2" off of converter, monoleafs.
Added back subframes and DS loop, caltracs, replaced 318 with 5.9, added 8.75, ignition box,
Now the car weighs....3400 with me in it.
I bet the hood weighs more than 55 lbs. I'm looking into fiberglass, but thats big bucks by the time you buy it, ship it, paint it.
Let me know what you find on the headlights. I'll try that.
What was breaking on your 8.75? Mine's still going (auto). Hope I don't have to replace it. I'd change the clutch to something that hits easier. That's half the battle to keeping a rear end alive.
8.8s are unbelievably tough. In the race car, we used to launch it at 7000, pull the front wheels three feet in the air. Stock housing, spool, 31 spline. No issues.
Aluminum driveshaft saves almost 10 lbs. haha
Mono leafs are a lot lighter too...not entirely helpful I'm sure.
run dumps? Tailpipes are plenty heavy.
A lighter radiator would go a long way. You have to be careful though, as a lot of the aluminum ones have bigger tanks, so they're lots heavier when full.
I saved 10 pounds (and a little money) running an undersized battery. With that alternator and the gear reduction starter you should be fine.
I still have the bench and like it, but I'm going to have to make some tough choices when the roll bar goes in.
Steve
Hey Steve,
thanks for the compliments on the car! I seem to have done everything you have to lighten the car except for the monoleafs and aluminum driveshaft. I do however have buckets and dumps (I like the loud echo and rumble under the car lol). My rad is actually from a late 80's fifth avenue- took the rad, shroud, and fan and mounted it up...fits perfect, wasn't too heavy,and I drove the car in extreme heat this past summer, never once going over 190 on the temp gauge...i kinda like that since i drive it everywhere
The car was just a hair under 3400lbs with me in it. I guess i just got caught up in seeing so many guys post vehicle weight that is so low when really they are more strip than street cars. I am still going to try the headlight thing once i get the car back on the road since right now im swamped with getting it back together and doing other work around the house. I was also thinking about going to a fibreglass hood for next year to really shed some weight over the nose, but that will all depend on funds available when the time comes
The 8.75 broke from wheelhop issues the first time...however, after i fixed it all it was making some super strange noises, and after further inspection i decided id sell it instead of put more money into since my plan is to only go faster and the car will always be stick..I figured the Dana would be a safe bet since ill have a hard time breaking it, and im only into it a couple hundred over my 8.75
I love bench seat cars man! My dad has a bench in his 69 440 dart with his 8 point cage and has no problems with comfort or anything like that
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