LS1 Notchback FoxBody = 2140 lbs complete
08-30-2009, 05:52 PM
#1
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LS1 Notchback FoxBody = 2140 lbs complete Scaling the car right now to get it ready for the track, 2140 lbs without me with complete engine/tranny/drivetrain etc. I expect no more than 2200 plus me on the scales for the track in two weeks.
Pictures are from before I got it all together a few weeks back.
Update on my 89 Notchback... Im running it in Pinks All Out in two weeks, so i built the whole car in the last 5 weeks. My 90 LX is too nice to put a cage in etc (23k original miles, perfect original paint), so Ive had this notch roller around for awhile waiting for me to get to it.
I need to get some fresh pictures taken with the engine/transmission in the car and it mostly complete now, but here is a few pictures from couple weeks back.
Build Details:
Wolfe minitubbed, Alum 5-gallon fuel cell, cut10-pt Wolfe Chromemoly cash, Kirkey alum seat /w 5-pt harness, Wolfe thru floor subframes, Holcomb alum Seat brackets, Wolfe window net kit, Welded torque boxes /w upper/lower reinforcement plates, removed every piece of metal/bolt/bracket that wasnt needed. Lightened every bracket and piece of extra metal on the car. POR-15 coated engine bay. Every piece of wiring removed and now just a switch panel to run everything. Gutted behind dash, cut out radiator core support and built tubular one with lightweight small alum radiator/single small electric fan.
Suspension:
Strange drag brakes front and rear, 8.8" /w spool and 33-spline strange axles, 15x10 Prostars rear /w new M&H's, fronts are ultra light Alumastar 2.0's /w light Moroso DS-2 tires. Wolfe complete rear suspension (double adjustable moly uppers/lowers, anti roll bar (heavy!), rear strange alum single adjustable coil overs /w QA1 130lb springs, flaming river rack/steering shaft, front tubular k-member/a-arms, coilovers /w strange adjustable shocks, QA1 CC plates, ASP manual brake kit /w 93 cobra master cylinder, gutted doors /w crash bars cut out but still electric windows/locks in it (looking for manual doors to replace). No front/rear bumper supports, including cutting out mounting brackets etc.
Engine:
Aluminum stock block LS1 , CNC TEA LS1 Alum heads, victor jr carb intake /w sheetmetal elbow 90mm TB, Meziere Race electric water pump, ATI SuperDampner, BMR race alternator mount, no other accessories, custom fabbed solid motor mounts, Kooks LSx into Foxbody 1-7/8" Longtubes /w 3.5" X-pipe dumped bullets before rearend. Moly 3" Driveshaft /w 1350 u-joint.
Th350 tranny /w Carbonfiber CSI flexplate/tranny shield, B&M race shifter, no interior carpet/console/door panels/plastics etc...3" Harwood pin-on hood. Meizere true-billet SFI flexplate, 9" converter
Custom bare bones wiring harness, Magnafuel 750 fuel pump /w pre/post filters, 10 an Feed line, 8an braided return to billet fuel rails
I still have a few more parts to add (radiator hoses, couple autometer gauges, LX taillights, small misc finish stuff.
Im positive I can shed another 100-200lbs out of this car if I put my mind to it.
I plan on going 1999lbs plus me within 6 months.
Ways to lose more weigh get it to 1999lbs plus me:
1) This 8.8" is from my red LX in the garage. Its stock length. Im building a new 8.8 right now that im narrowing about 3" per side, going with star flanged/gundrilled axles. Also the rear has S-series Drag Brakes on it, i'll put slightly lighter Pro Race Strange drag brakes on it. I think I can lose at least 20lbs with all these changes here. Also I never did cut off the quad shock brackets yet (1/2 lb problably)
2) Aluminum Driveshaft (5-8 lbs lighter guessing?)
3) Lightweight race steering column /w removeable steering wheel(5lbs?)
4) Manual window/lock doors gutted instead of power
5) ill build Aluminum Solid Motor mounts (2-4 lbs hopefully)
6) Eliminate X-pipe and just run short alum 3.5" extension pipes off the headers
7) Planning on switching to a Monster Glide powerglide from TH350...should be a little lighter (20lbs?)
8) I quit eating and drop 45lbs from 240 to 195 (im 6'1")
9) alumastar rear wheels
More expensive options when I make it race car and dont drive it on the street on the weekends to the car get togethers.
-Build one piece front end, cut off everything forward of shock tower and build all tubular front end mount
-Fiberglass doors/hatch/fenders/lexan windows
-Start changing out every bolt/nuts possible for a lighter/shorter alum or titanium or gundrilled bolt
Pictures (before I got it all put together, ill get some complete pics up this week):
Pictures are from before I got it all together a few weeks back.
Update on my 89 Notchback... Im running it in Pinks All Out in two weeks, so i built the whole car in the last 5 weeks. My 90 LX is too nice to put a cage in etc (23k original miles, perfect original paint), so Ive had this notch roller around for awhile waiting for me to get to it.
I need to get some fresh pictures taken with the engine/transmission in the car and it mostly complete now, but here is a few pictures from couple weeks back.
Build Details:
Wolfe minitubbed, Alum 5-gallon fuel cell, cut10-pt Wolfe Chromemoly cash, Kirkey alum seat /w 5-pt harness, Wolfe thru floor subframes, Holcomb alum Seat brackets, Wolfe window net kit, Welded torque boxes /w upper/lower reinforcement plates, removed every piece of metal/bolt/bracket that wasnt needed. Lightened every bracket and piece of extra metal on the car. POR-15 coated engine bay. Every piece of wiring removed and now just a switch panel to run everything. Gutted behind dash, cut out radiator core support and built tubular one with lightweight small alum radiator/single small electric fan.
Suspension:
Strange drag brakes front and rear, 8.8" /w spool and 33-spline strange axles, 15x10 Prostars rear /w new M&H's, fronts are ultra light Alumastar 2.0's /w light Moroso DS-2 tires. Wolfe complete rear suspension (double adjustable moly uppers/lowers, anti roll bar (heavy!), rear strange alum single adjustable coil overs /w QA1 130lb springs, flaming river rack/steering shaft, front tubular k-member/a-arms, coilovers /w strange adjustable shocks, QA1 CC plates, ASP manual brake kit /w 93 cobra master cylinder, gutted doors /w crash bars cut out but still electric windows/locks in it (looking for manual doors to replace). No front/rear bumper supports, including cutting out mounting brackets etc.
Engine:
Aluminum stock block LS1 , CNC TEA LS1 Alum heads, victor jr carb intake /w sheetmetal elbow 90mm TB, Meziere Race electric water pump, ATI SuperDampner, BMR race alternator mount, no other accessories, custom fabbed solid motor mounts, Kooks LSx into Foxbody 1-7/8" Longtubes /w 3.5" X-pipe dumped bullets before rearend. Moly 3" Driveshaft /w 1350 u-joint.
Th350 tranny /w Carbonfiber CSI flexplate/tranny shield, B&M race shifter, no interior carpet/console/door panels/plastics etc...3" Harwood pin-on hood. Meizere true-billet SFI flexplate, 9" converter
Custom bare bones wiring harness, Magnafuel 750 fuel pump /w pre/post filters, 10 an Feed line, 8an braided return to billet fuel rails
I still have a few more parts to add (radiator hoses, couple autometer gauges, LX taillights, small misc finish stuff.
Im positive I can shed another 100-200lbs out of this car if I put my mind to it.
I plan on going 1999lbs plus me within 6 months.
Ways to lose more weigh get it to 1999lbs plus me:
1) This 8.8" is from my red LX in the garage. Its stock length. Im building a new 8.8 right now that im narrowing about 3" per side, going with star flanged/gundrilled axles. Also the rear has S-series Drag Brakes on it, i'll put slightly lighter Pro Race Strange drag brakes on it. I think I can lose at least 20lbs with all these changes here. Also I never did cut off the quad shock brackets yet (1/2 lb problably)
2) Aluminum Driveshaft (5-8 lbs lighter guessing?)
3) Lightweight race steering column /w removeable steering wheel(5lbs?)
4) Manual window/lock doors gutted instead of power
5) ill build Aluminum Solid Motor mounts (2-4 lbs hopefully)
6) Eliminate X-pipe and just run short alum 3.5" extension pipes off the headers
7) Planning on switching to a Monster Glide powerglide from TH350...should be a little lighter (20lbs?)
8) I quit eating and drop 45lbs from 240 to 195 (im 6'1")
9) alumastar rear wheels
More expensive options when I make it race car and dont drive it on the street on the weekends to the car get togethers.
-Build one piece front end, cut off everything forward of shock tower and build all tubular front end mount
-Fiberglass doors/hatch/fenders/lexan windows
-Start changing out every bolt/nuts possible for a lighter/shorter alum or titanium or gundrilled bolt
Pictures (before I got it all put together, ill get some complete pics up this week):
Last edited by SoCalSpd; 09-03-2009 at 04:28 PM.
08-30-2009, 09:33 PM
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Holy crap man, big props to ya! 
Wanna come out here & help me lighten up my GTA a bit more?? 
(I've already dropped about 150# or so - and that's before the aluminum engine...)
Looks like it's gonna be SWEET when you're done!
Wanna come out here & help me lighten up my GTA a bit more?? (I've already dropped about 150# or so - and that's before the aluminum engine...)Looks like it's gonna be SWEET when you're done!
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08-31-2009, 01:46 PM
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Thanks everyone...ive seen alot of guys on the mustang forums at 2400-2500 lbs with a 302" motor with a C4/T5 in their race car... I knew an all aluminum motor could pretty easily drop a bunch more.
Remove everything, every duct/wire/bolt/etc. Cut off all the ducting off the back of the dash. Cut back all the vents on the back flush, cut any bracing/metal on the back of the dash that supports the dash other than what it needs to bolt in and not flop around. No speakers or other parts etc. Cut out behind the gauge cluster anything everything that you cant tell when the dash is installed. No a/c heater/ducting etc.
Remove everything, every duct/wire/bolt/etc. Cut off all the ducting off the back of the dash. Cut back all the vents on the back flush, cut any bracing/metal on the back of the dash that supports the dash other than what it needs to bolt in and not flop around. No speakers or other parts etc. Cut out behind the gauge cluster anything everything that you cant tell when the dash is installed. No a/c heater/ducting etc.
08-31-2009, 07:18 PM
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Looks good man! I am about to put that LQ4 and heads to good use here before too long. I doubt I'll be as light as you with my SN95 but I'm going to damn sure try!
08-31-2009, 08:47 PM
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The key is to strip the car to nothing then only put back what you need.... Amazing how many hidden pounds are in the stuff you never knew was there until you just kept unbolting and removing everything down to bare metal in the whole car.
Its pretty sad but im trimming off extra lengths of the bolts down to the nut, grinding off anything I can get to even looking at the side/rearview mirror going "hmm thats probably 5lbs between the 3 of them, plus they might give a bit of aero' drag"..
***edit added some pics I had on my dig camera when I had put the motor in***
Notes:
1st Problem: Kooks headers fit like crap. Not even to do with engine placement forward/back/up/down. Just using the cherry picker with no motor mounts installed, there was no possible way to get the headers fit well with the flaming river manual race steering shaft (which fits better than the stock steering shaft) at all. I tried positioning the motor ever spot possible to get them to to clear the joints and its not a good fit at all.
1st Solution: the steering column mounts in with 4-bolts (2 lower, 2 upper). The bolts are pretty long so i used washers to shim the complete steering column down quite a bit to lower where the column goes through the firewall boot and then the steering shaft now fits.
2nd Solution: I refuse to use an AJE k-member like both Kooks and Dynatech recommend for the headers. 1st: Anthony Jones was an A-hole to me when I was ordering some k-member/suspension parts a few years back, had lots of fitment problems. He told me "tough crap buy someone elses if you dont like our parts" 2nd: Ive had a couple cars with broken AJE parts from bad welds and also had some parts that werent welded right and were off. So I had to cut out the k-member tube behind the a-arm (the main thick tube) on both sides to get the headers in, ill be fabbing/welding in some reinforcement tubes to fix it, as if I didnt the k-member would probably fail on a wheelie or hard impact right now with the tube cut out both sides. I had the motor out 15 times getting the headers to fit right.
Its pretty sad but im trimming off extra lengths of the bolts down to the nut, grinding off anything I can get to even looking at the side/rearview mirror going "hmm thats probably 5lbs between the 3 of them, plus they might give a bit of aero' drag"..
***edit added some pics I had on my dig camera when I had put the motor in***
Notes:
1st Problem: Kooks headers fit like crap. Not even to do with engine placement forward/back/up/down. Just using the cherry picker with no motor mounts installed, there was no possible way to get the headers fit well with the flaming river manual race steering shaft (which fits better than the stock steering shaft) at all. I tried positioning the motor ever spot possible to get them to to clear the joints and its not a good fit at all.
1st Solution: the steering column mounts in with 4-bolts (2 lower, 2 upper). The bolts are pretty long so i used washers to shim the complete steering column down quite a bit to lower where the column goes through the firewall boot and then the steering shaft now fits.
2nd Solution: I refuse to use an AJE k-member like both Kooks and Dynatech recommend for the headers. 1st: Anthony Jones was an A-hole to me when I was ordering some k-member/suspension parts a few years back, had lots of fitment problems. He told me "tough crap buy someone elses if you dont like our parts" 2nd: Ive had a couple cars with broken AJE parts from bad welds and also had some parts that werent welded right and were off. So I had to cut out the k-member tube behind the a-arm (the main thick tube) on both sides to get the headers in, ill be fabbing/welding in some reinforcement tubes to fix it, as if I didnt the k-member would probably fail on a wheelie or hard impact right now with the tube cut out both sides. I had the motor out 15 times getting the headers to fit right.
Last edited by SoCalSpd; 08-31-2009 at 09:00 PM.
09-01-2009, 02:44 PM
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we've got road race cars that are completely chopped at the front strut towers and just thin wall tubular to support the front bumper/fenders/radiator etc.
Its a full legal chromemoly NHRA cage. there is one door sill bar on the drivers side you cant see in the pictures for side impact.
09-02-2009, 09:37 PM
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Look good man! I'm glad I didn't go with the kooks headers. I picked up a set of 1 7/8th 351's for mine. Hopefully I'll be able to check out the car at pinks! Those heads are about to go to good use.
