Heavy Pontiac

REMOVING 20 pounds of weight is roughly 10hp. Most of these tips below don't seem like much, but in the long run they could win you a race.


1. Remove the rear seat, if you dont want to remove the springs and replace them with fome so they look unchanged.
2. Remove the right bucket seat, put your buds in the back.
3. Replace your stock bench or bucket with a RCI racing seat.
4. Remove your weather stripping, I did and the rain dose not come in, it runs down the channel on the roof.
5. Pull up your carpet and you will find a thick layer of sound stuff, I must have taken out 45lbs of that stuff out.
6. Remove the head liner and that sound stuff then paint it the color of your car.
7. Remove the AC, heater and duck work.
8. Remove the wipers, washer system and mechanism. (use RAIN-X just to be safe)
9. Aluminum wheels are lighter then steel
10. Bias-ply tires are lighter then radials
11. RUN a few miles
12. Remove spare and jack (keep FIX-A-FLAT in trunk)
13. Take off all your gold chains.
14. Dowsize your battery, they have small batterys with high CCA that will work, then put your Battry in the trunk.
15. TRIM away unused core support space.
16. REMOVE inner front fender wells.
17. USE all the fiberglass parts made for your car, get the "PIN ON" parts for even lighter fiberglass.
18. REMOVE inner/lower headlamps and install air duck to your air cleaner.
19. REMOVE stock hood latch and use release pins.
20. CONVERT from power brakes to manual brakes.
21. CONVERT from power steering to manual steering.
22. USE aluminum engine parts. intake, heads, water pump, ect.
23. Replace glass windows with Lexan or plexiglass.
24. REMOVE the power window motor or manual crank/ roll up mechanism, use retention straps.
25. USE aluminum radiator.
26. "SWISS-CHEESE" the frame or subframe, roll a flange or lip around each hole to preserve structural strength.
27. USE an aluminum drive shaft, some 90's chevy, ford trucks/vans have aluminum shafts Look under 1 tons.
28. USE aluminum carriers.
29. Remove front/rear antisway bar.
30. Drill small holes in your brackets, bumper brackets, engine brackets, pulleys, ect.
31. RUN a manual trans.

NOTE: some of these tips are not safe! USE at your own risk!

Got a tip?

[79Bandit]

ahh what have you done to my carrrr... lol thats a lot of good tips..if your drag racing. but i love my car to much and all those parts cost soo much i think i leave them in nice tips though

[MagicRat]

Some additions:

Throw away all the pollution controls. (like you left them in place anyways, right?)

Use headers instead of cast iron manifolds. Consider a big single exhaust in place of a duals system.

Use a shorty oil filter

Avoid a cast-iron manual trans. Look for an aluminum one.
Some cars, such as older GM's came with both, depending on the options.

Remember those post-1973 GM cars with the telescoping bumper shock mounts?
Throw away the shocks and the big, heavy shims used to align the bumpers. Weld up some simple mounts out of tubing.

Or remove the steel bumpers altogether and fabricate roll pans, front and back.
For that matter, some older cars look great with no bumpers at all.

Toss the gas tank and run an aluminum fuel cell in the trunk.

Look for anti-vibration tuning weights hanging off the axle, transmission or chassis (Ford loved to use these) and toss them.

"anti-vibration tuning weights"

Thats a great one, your right Ford loves those I have seen these under lot's of car when working in the "PIT" at the penz lube.

Some are spot welded to the rear, so think about what your doing when you go to take it off.

I have also seen them on the driveshaft, kinda like a engine blancer, rubber and all, my bud Andy has one on his 71 Monte check it out here http://www.geocities.com/the400andov...DY/indexA.html

Rat you seem like you do alot of welding? I have a VFN glass/carbon replacement for my endura, stock endera=100lbs VFN fiber/carbon 3lbs but I haven't put it on because I don't want my engine in my lap if I wreck.

I have been reading about HREW , DOM, Chromoly thin and Chromoly, i'm worried about welding, I guess if you TIG it you also would want to stress relieved.

I want the weight saveings over DOM, but DOM I guess works better in a werck, as far as crushing, rather then springing back/ staying stiff. I guess NASCAR requires DOM.

I do plan to on Glass Doors with NASCAR type me cage for the doors. I don't have a welder yet and I have a the Haynes Welding Manual but still can't make up my mind.

What do you think it the best welder? I plan on welding alot of Alum. and will be working on a tube frames. I got a wicked GTO idea I guess those Drafting classes payed off alittle.

I read that for light weight thin chrome-moly welding TIG is the ticket.

[neatofrito1618]

there is no way taking 20 lbs off equals 10 hp. are you trying to say if you took off 1,000 lbs that would equal 500 hp?

Try to thinkcof it this way.

"Put 20 lbs on pressure on your fan belt"

It's seems silly, but it's true.

[79Bandit]

Originally Posted by neatofrito1618

there is no way taking 20 lbs off equals 10 hp. are you trying to say if you took off 1,000 lbs that would equal 500 hp?

you my friend are a fool...think about the logics before you post..of if you have money and no brains pay someone to figure it out for you.

[warmapplecobbler]

Burn!!!