Those of you considering a lightweight replacement hood or seat please read the following. I wrote USBody asking specific Q's about the weight differences between their hoods and stock and also wrote Corbeau racing seats.
Here are their responses:

From US Body:
The hood is comparable to the steel - not much lighter. All pics are posted to the site.

Thank you for your interest in usbody.com.
Customer Service

From Corbeau:
As a rule reclining seats are 25-30lbs, fixed back seats around 15lbs
(Forza, Clubman etc..)

Regards,
Spencer

The stock non power seats are coming in at around 30 pounds.
So as you can see unless you want a fixed seat there is little weight savings in comparision to the lightweight racing seats. If you have power, leather seats, then you will save a bit of weight but not nearly as much as you would think.

Hope this helps, I was hoping to save about 55 pounds total with a lightweight hood and lightweight seats but this obviously isnt the case. I am going to save my money and instead go for other areas of weight reduction.
Cheers,
Chris

[ November 26, 2001: Message edited by: Chris ARE 360 ]</p>

 

Chris when talking to US body to you specifically ask about the lightwight lift off hood?

I have seen some liftoff hoods that on the vendors website show a shipping wt of 11 lb's.

P.S. chris ...just for you bro...I'm gonna post my racing seat setup...keep your eyes peeled.

Larry

 

have you emailed vfn? the shipping weight on their hoods are like 11-12#. and what about Kirkey for a racing seat.


Ryan

[ November 26, 2001: Message edited by: RyanJackson ]</p>

 

Larry,
I asked about both the standard and lightweight lift off hood. I was very surprised on the response. Maybe the Cust service guy that wrote me was mistaken.
I would love to see pics and weight differences of your setup. I am looking to take 150 pounds out of the car by spring and if you have a solution that is lightweight I would definitely be interested in the details. I am putting in a chromeoly cage (+60 pounds approx) and want to get the car 90-100 pounds lighter than it is now with the cage installed
.
Here is what I am going with:
K member, A arms (44 pounds)
Optima battery (20 pounds)
Remove AIR EGR crap (11 pounds)
Lightweight hood (If I can find a real light one <img src="images/icons/smile.gif" border="0"> save 30 pounds)
Hopefully lightweight racing seats that recline and lightweight carpet (40 pounds combined?)

Thanks again,
Chris

 

I just checked out VFN's site.
They do list the shipping weight of their stock style 98-01 Firebird hood as 11 pounds. This is just what I am looking for. Does the bolt on hood bolt in using the factory hardware?
Anyone have pics of this hood on a car?
Thanks again guys, now if I can find lightweight seats and carpet I will be laughing <img src="images/icons/smile.gif" border="0">
Chris

 

I just got off the phone with VFN

the weights on their website are not correct.

I specifically was concerned that the pin on, and bolt on hoods were both listed as 11lb shipping weight.

I was told the bolt on hood weights around 20 lbs, and the pin on hood is approx 10-11 lbs.

the hood listed as "extended" is for use with their complete fiberglass front clips.

Also BIG BUMMER...expect a 4 week turnaround on getting the hood to you.

 

Well that sucks LOL!
thanks for the information!
Chris

 

I realize the reason for a reclining seat is for back seat access and driver comfort on extended trips.

And getting the stock seat out and the replacement seat in is a PITA ...

until ...

I built my own mount for the replacement seat. It has a lot easier access to the studs that the seat bolts to. That and a ratcheting boxed end wrench makes R&R the driver's seat a 15 minute job.

I have a Corbeau Forza fixed back seat.

 

well, the Kirky is the best seat by far. it is quite expensive, but very strong. A lot of Nascar guys use them, and the build quality is very good. we run a Kirkey RR seat in the race car. the Corbeau Fixed Forza that i have WITH the bracket only weighed in at 18#s. the stock leather was 32. The Kirkey is approximately 14#s but dont quote me on that. i saved about 35#s just using the Forza seats. Just some food for thought...

 

Had I kept my T/A, I was going to use the Corbeau Forza seat for when I went to the track. Since I did sell it, it now belongs to Mitch. <img src="images/icons/smile.gif" border="0"> ~17 lbs. w/ a bracket is pretty good considering what the stock power leather seat weighs! I never had a problem getting seats out of my car, but being able to pull the t-tops off definitely helped.

 

Chris you don't want a pin on hood! The bolt on hoods save around 20-25#, at the cost of around $400-$700 depending on shipping charges and painting charges. They are also harder to close. I don't think the swap is worth it. Weight savings in general isn't that big of a deal, just do the easy things and work on your suspension.

Easy things being dyna-batt, !bumper, kmember (why spend another $400 for an extra 10# with the aarms?), catback, carpet (just get some good floor mats and leave the back seat in), etc.

 

Thats an idea Terry,
Maybe I will take out the carpet, insulation and use lightweight mats and remove the back seats at the track.
The Kmember saves how much weight? I want to get it down as much as I can <img src="images/icons/grin.gif" border="0">
thanks,
Chris

 

dont forget glasstek
they have hhods in both bolt on and pin on design.
my lightweight pin on comes in at 17-19 lbs or so..
easy for one person to handle.

steve frank

 

[quote]Originally posted by steve:
<strong>dont forget glasstek
they have hhods in both bolt on and pin on design.
my lightweight pin on comes in at 17-19 lbs or so..
easy for one person to handle.

steve frank</strong><hr></blockquote>

Hey steve which hood you got. I was thinking about getting the 4" Glastek cowl hood but heard that it takes lots of fitting vs. other cowl hoods. Any input on this?

 

no cowl on mine.
it fit fine straight out of the box.
the other one i have seen fits ok too.

i got the lightweight pin on stock type hood.


steve frank

 

Who carries the lift off hoods?
Can I get a link?
Thanks,
Marty <img src="images/icons/confused.gif" border="0">

 

Do you have pics of your setup Steve?
thanks,
Chris

 

glasstek doesnt have a website, you'd have to call them

 

chris, ill have to send pics to you via email, i dont have the means to post em.

steve frank

 

Thanks man,
Got them,
Looks great!
Chris