[mercutio]

I threw the LX on my wheel scales tonight to check the effect of a few parts I've added and changed lately. My car's last weight was 3,600 even. Since then I've made the following changes:

Front springs/shocks replaced with SCCoA GP coilovers
Front seats replaced with Recaro Cobra R seats (yes, the real ones)
Added JL front STB
Added SCP RTLB
Removed rear seat--hey, it's allowed in the SCCA class I run (Street Mod), so give me a break on that.

My car's new weight is 3,514, which I thought was pretty good for a car that still has an interior (minus the rear seat, granted), A/C, 13-inch brakes and a stereo. My corner weights are all screwed up, so I'll need to do some weight jacking on the coilovers. But for what it's worth, front end weight went down 33 pounds, even with the STB added--those GP coilovers are light, and their performance is awesome. The Hoosier A6 tires I have on order should even drop a few pounds each compared to my Goodyears. Installing the fiberglass hood in my spare bedroom and replacing the Optima with a Dyna-Batt style battery should get the weight well down below 3,500. Of course, the car is still 1,000 pounds heavier than other cars in street mod, but oh well...

 

[_95badbird]

sounds good......

I'm still shooting for a 2700 lb. weight in my bird(with me in it of course)

 

[mercutio]

I don't think I'll be getting mine that light, but an Explorer engine and a few other things should get me to the high 3300s...realistically, that's about as light as this car can get in and stay in Street Mod, I think.

 

[94TchikinV8]

I know it gets asked all the time, and I've spent hours reading old threads; but what did you remove/add/replace to lighten yours? I think I'm going to try top lighten my bird as much as possible, but still keep it usable as a daily driver (this means I keep the A/C, some sound deadening, etc.). The tech article has some good starting points, but basically ends in having a completely gutted shell that's only good for the track after your're done with it.

If you do get it down in the 33XXs, I think it will be quite an accomplishment if you still have an interior. I had a 96 Mustang GT with the 248a package (basically a GTS, but they didn't call it that in 96) and took it across a truck scale one night. It weighed in at 3250 with 3/4 of a tank of gas and no driver.

-Rob

 

[mercutio]

Here are the items I've changed that should have affected its weight. I did most of these before I got my wheel scales, though, so I can't comment on how most of these individual parts changed the weight precisely.

replaced stock LX wheels and tires with 17x9 Cobras and 255/45YR17 Goodyears (the tires weigh 27 pounds each, that I can tell you)--added weight

swapped stock LX front brakes for 03 Cobra discs--added weight

swapped rear LX drums for SC discs--not sure, maybe reduced weight slightly

replaced stock rear springs with Vogtlands--added weight

swapped stock DS for aluminum DS--reduced weight

swapped stock rear pumpkin for FRPP aluminum Cobra pumpkin--reduced weight

swapped stock rear sway bar for Addco 1 3/8-inch piece--added weight

swapped stock speakers for Pioneer 6x8s (the stock ones are actually fairly heavy)--reduced weight

swapped stock trans pan for cast, deep B&M pan--added weight

Added two A-pillar gauges--added weight, but not much

Added SCP LECB--added weight

Added rear STB--added weight

Removed stock air box--reduced weight

These things are in addition to the changes I mentioned in the first post of this thread. I can say that the Recaro seats weighed 42 pounds with brackets, while the driver's power seat weighed 54 pounds--not sure about the passenger side non-power seat. Another upcoming change will be adding the MK8 rear A-arms and spring perches. A lot of the changes I've made have actually added weight as the tradeoff for increased braking, traction, etc. In a drag race setup I could probably lose another 50 pounds or so pretty quickly. The same car with stock brakes and tires and no braces would be considerably lighter. And I suppose I should mention some options stuff: auto climate control, no sunroof, standard stereo, cloth seats, so my car was probably fairly light for a 4.6 Bird to begin with. The sound deadener is all still there, since a) it's a pain to remove, b) I like sound to be deadened, and c) it's against the rules in SCCA Street Mod.

Aside from the fact that the front springs are pretty stiff, I still consider this car completely capable of being a comfortable daily driver, and I don't want to do anything that would change that fact.

 

[mercutio]

I forgot to mention that I replaced the stock manifolds with shorty headers, which didn't add any power, but it might have dropped a couple pounds. Anyone have any info on that?

I also just bought a set of 17x8-inch Voxx Misano wheels for auto-x duty. On my scales they weighed 24 pounds each, but I'm not sure if that's lighter or heavier than my 17x9 Cobras.

Anyone know what the Cobra replicas weigh?

 

[94TchikinV8]

Interesting. Your bird sounds like it's optioned like my bird, except the mods. I'll have to get mine on a scale when I get my explorer motor in it, and see how much more weight I can drop.

Thanks,
Rob