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    Weight reduction

    I was listening to Carroll Shelby talk about the 298 and making things lighter for the cobra. What are some things like the alum. Bumpers/ driveshaft heads headers smog delete. And the hood. What kinda stuff comes to mind when it comes to making boxes lighter?

    #2
    Along what you mentioned, maybe the spare tire & holder, bumper jack. Unless you want to bastardize the interior comfort, you can't do much inside, maybe convert to manual windows and mirrors?
    Remove AC, smog stuff, stock exhaust.
    Alu driveshaft, intake, headers, heads. Lighter wheels, modern (lighter) brakes.

    The only (correct IMO) way to make a luxury car faster is to add horsepower, not lightness.
    Unless you're going all out, I don't think it's really worth it.
    1985 Mercury Grand Marquis LS, "Maisa"
    1995 Chevrolet Caprice Classic STW, "Sally"

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      #3
      A lot of box bodies came with steel or aluminum bumpers. I put aluminum front bumpers on all 3 of my Colony Park wagons. Saves a lot of weight. WagonMan
      89 Colony Park
      90 Colony Park
      70 HEMI Daytona Convertible

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        #4
        Make molds of body parts to reduce weight with fiberglass
        Attached Files

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          #5
          I seem to recall a gutted box years ago, was a drag car. He took it pretty far and removed a lot of weight
          ..

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            #6
            There's really only so much weight you can remove. I bet my 2004 VicKart missing 80% of the body still weighs like 3200lbs

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              #7
              what are you trying to do with it? If this is a track car it gets easier, if you want to street drive it, leave the weight alone and add more motor.
              86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
              5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

              91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

              1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

              Originally posted by phayzer5
              I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

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                #8
                Find an aluminum hood and swap out the steelie hood.

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                  #9
                  This won't be a popular answer but how i handled weight reduction, is I got a fox body that weighs 2700lb.
                  ..

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Miata
                    Is
                    Always
                    The
                    Answer

                    or not.

                    Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -- Albert Einstein
                    rides: 93 Crown Vic LX (The Red Velvet Cake), 2000 Crown Vic base model (Sandy), 2003 Expedition (the vacation beast)
                    Originally posted by gadget73
                    ... and it should all work like magic and unicorns and stuff.
                    Originally posted by dmccaig
                    Overhead, some poor bastards are flying in airplanes.

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                      #11
                      Or a LSx Nissan 240SX. Neighbor at work had that as a drift car and it was just bonkers to ride in.

                      But I would have to agree with Gadget73, big block your box and be done with it.

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                        #12
                        I'd go smallblock. The results to effort ratio is better. Ultimately it depends on the goals though. What makes sense for a track car is way different from a street cruiser / daily driver car. Even the type of track we're talking about matters. Drag strip vs road coarse or autocross are pretty different situations. I know basically fuck-all about racing but it doesn't take a genius to figure out that going fast in a straight line vs going fast around a turn are not the same thing.

                        so before anything can happen, goals have to be defined. Then a budget needs to be defined because there are things that can be done with heaps of cash that can't be done without them.
                        86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
                        5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

                        91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

                        1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

                        Originally posted by phayzer5
                        I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

                        Comment


                          #13
                          I sure hope that sometime in the future, as these cars get older and more appreciated just for the fact that they are old, that there will be some type of aftermarket support for them. As of now, since there is little to no aftermarket support, there are going to be major limitations to making a box "lightweight". I myself have pulled some weight out of my 85 2-door. Here's a list of what I did:
                          - swapped Cast Iron headers for Mustang Shorty headers
                          - ditched the heavy stock midpipe for an O/R h-pipe
                          - cut the stock tailpipe off and am runing a dumped exhaust, no tailpipes
                          - replaced the Cast Iron intake manifold for an aluminum Edelbrock 289 manifold
                          - removed smog pump & A/C, and all associated front accessories for these systems
                          - removed the full size spare tire (heavy)
                          - removed the front sway bar. That thing was like 20-25lbs or so
                          - removed the sound deadening from underneath the rear seat
                          - removed the lower rear set belts . No one goes back there anyways on mine so it's not an issue for me

                          I could still
                          - do an aluminum head swap and drop 50lbs. (but then my CFI unit might not like this)
                          - remove the blower motor and heater core underneath the dash for anywhere between 20-30lbs
                          - do the aluminum front and rear bumpers for maybe 10-15lbs?
                          - do the aluminum driveshaft that people talk about for another 5lbs of rotational weight
                          - do a real race wheel/tire set-up and drop some more rotational weight, I'd estimate maybe 5lbs a corner, which would be 20lbs total

                          The city I live in has a grid-type layout, with little to no winding roads, so a stop-light to stop-light type of build is what I was going for with mine. Still has a full interior though. If anyone has more ideas I'd like to implement them into my build as well.
                          1985 2-Door: CFI, K&N Filter, Edelbrock Performer 289 Intake, E7 Heads, BBK Shorty Headers, Summit H-pipe, Hooker Max Flow Mufflers, E-Fan, 3G Alternator, ASP Underdrive Crank Pulley, Bilstein Rear Shocks, Rear Lowering Springs, KYB Front Shocks, Front Lowering Springs, FTI 2400 Stall Converter, PA Performance Valve Body, Ford Racing 4.10 Gear, Eaton LSD Differential - I own the fastest CFI powered box to the 1/8th mile: 9.658@70.74mph
                          1991 4-Door (Dad's Car): Pro-M EFI, 306ci, Forged Pistons, Ford Racing Aluminum Heads, COMP XE264HR cam, Cobra 1.7 Rockers, Edelbrock Performer RPM 2 Intake, 30lb. Injectors, Custom 65mm TB/EGR Spacer, Pro-M 75mm MAF, BBK Ceramic Shorties, Custom Summit H-pipe, Walker Mufflers, Jegs Built AOD, Roadrunner 3000 Stall Converter, Ford Racing 4.10 Gear - Best 1/8th mile time: 9.76@72.03

                          Comment


                            #14
                            I personally wouldn't use time and effort to try and make a box lighter, but I am still quite interested in making a box handle better. Nothing too crazy, but I want to be able enjoy twisty roads (which there are alot of here).
                            Obviously the biggest hurdle there is the rear sway bar, after that maybe some bigger wheels with less sidewall flex and stiffer suspension.

                            Like others said, if you want to go dedicated track car, probably get something else than a box...
                            If you really insist on making a box do good on a track, maybe '03+ frame swap and all the whale suspension goodies one can find.
                            Losing weight doesn't help too much on a floaty boat.
                            1985 Mercury Grand Marquis LS, "Maisa"
                            1995 Chevrolet Caprice Classic STW, "Sally"

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by Arquemann View Post
                              I personally wouldn't use time and effort to try and make a box lighter, but I am still quite interested in making a box handle better. Nothing too crazy, but I want to be able enjoy twisty roads (which there are alot of here).
                              Obviously the biggest hurdle there is the rear sway bar, after that maybe some bigger wheels with less sidewall flex and stiffer suspension.

                              Like others said, if you want to go dedicated track car, probably get something else than a box...
                              If you really insist on making a box do good on a track, maybe '03+ frame swap and all the whale suspension goodies one can find.
                              Losing weight doesn't help too much on a floaty boat.
                              It's almost like we have the same mindset, except I was interested in making a box enjoyable from stoplight to stoplight, something I have a lot of around here.

                              That's a good suggestion with the 03 frame swap. Lots of aftermarket support (surprisingly) for the whale body style. Metco & ADTR Performance come to mind. I think there is a member on this forum that did an 85 two door body on a whale chassis. I've seen it somewhere online.
                              1985 2-Door: CFI, K&N Filter, Edelbrock Performer 289 Intake, E7 Heads, BBK Shorty Headers, Summit H-pipe, Hooker Max Flow Mufflers, E-Fan, 3G Alternator, ASP Underdrive Crank Pulley, Bilstein Rear Shocks, Rear Lowering Springs, KYB Front Shocks, Front Lowering Springs, FTI 2400 Stall Converter, PA Performance Valve Body, Ford Racing 4.10 Gear, Eaton LSD Differential - I own the fastest CFI powered box to the 1/8th mile: 9.658@70.74mph
                              1991 4-Door (Dad's Car): Pro-M EFI, 306ci, Forged Pistons, Ford Racing Aluminum Heads, COMP XE264HR cam, Cobra 1.7 Rockers, Edelbrock Performer RPM 2 Intake, 30lb. Injectors, Custom 65mm TB/EGR Spacer, Pro-M 75mm MAF, BBK Ceramic Shorties, Custom Summit H-pipe, Walker Mufflers, Jegs Built AOD, Roadrunner 3000 Stall Converter, Ford Racing 4.10 Gear - Best 1/8th mile time: 9.76@72.03

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