azimm1984

iTrader: (1)

I have really been thinking about selling my car because its to nice to "gut" my main goal is to have a 10 second car on spray without to much motor work,,, ported 806 and Ms3 are my plans if i keep it.... anyways Im looking for as much weight reduction as possible, but at the same time dont want to destroy my car... 1998 formula ws6.... who here has a 4th gen at or below 3000 lbs?

joelster

I do. If you just want the car itself under 3000, it's not that hard to do, but you will have to spend some money on wheels/tires, seats, and you'll have to ditch some saftey equipment and some creature comforts. Plus keep in mind you'll need a cage, a new rearend, and some other safety stuff that will add weight.

I guess it all depends on how nice your car is to start with, and how attached you are to it. WS6's are pretty sweet. The decision would be easier if it was a black Formula auto w 2.73's in back.

You could do it like "studderin" on here does, where every cut looks good, and the car is very tastefully modded. He has a big thread about losing weight.

azimm1984

iTrader: (1)

well its pretty nice... but if its something im going to keep why not!!!!

what all did you do to your car to get it under 3k?

Latch

iTrader: (8)

I'm gonna go ahead and say it's impossible to get it under 3,000 lbs without gutting it. You're talking about taking 400-500 lbs off the car, and there aren't a lot of "creature comforts" on our cars to begin with.

However, the good news is don't have to gut your car to run 10s if you're planning on using nitrous. A mild H/C setup and spray is good for 10s all day long, and you don't have to drive around in a tin can.

azimm1984

iTrader: (1)

well thats a plus... I was going to atleast run weld wheels, debating ditching power steering / A/C, but thats probly 100 lbs if that..

transamtom

iTrader: (8)

Why would you want to trash that beautiful car?

Buy a rolling chassis from someone elses project and build it from there.

A 98 Sport Gold Metalic WS6 Formula is a pretty rare car.

JMHO

joelster

It's a very rare car dude, so that's your call. I'm positive that I can get a 4thgen (especially an LS1) under 3k without too much trouble. You will have to make a few cuts here and there that are irreversible. Cutting out brackets and mounts, etc. As far as totally gutting it, and having wires hanging eveywhere, that's not true. If you remove your dash and take out the airbags (replacing the steering wheel with a Grant), you can remove the heater assembly,hvac controls, a lot of wiring and sound deadening, and shed an easy 40lbs right there. Then put everything back together and noone will know except for the steering wheel.

!door bars
!bumper supports
!a/c components
! power steering
!cruise control
!traction control or abs
!excess fender metal
!rear seats
!rear seat belts
!rear seat belt brackets
!sound deadening under the carpet
!rear speakers
!emergency brake assembly (unless its an m6 car)
!tons of metal above the headliner and off to the side panels that you can trim or hole saw and then put the plastics back over

swap tires to skinnies
swap steering wheel
swap seats to kirkeys

Your car would look very much the same except for no rear seats, different wheels , a different steering wheel, and some kirkeys. Just leave the hood shut, lol.


EDIT: I did a rough calculation and all the stuff I just said adds up to around 425lbs.

Photochop

iTrader: (74)

IMO that cars way too nice to gut. There's ways as others have mentioned to run 10s easier but you'll spend more money in the process. Some ideas would be pull all the sound deadening from under the carpet, ditch the catback and run a small muffler before the axle and dump it b4 the axle, if the cars a leathery interior car put manual cloth seats in it or a race seat if you can tolerate it, ditch the a/c if you can tolerate that too haha, lighter wheels, replace the bumper supports with bars from burkhart chassis, fiberglass hood, sone of the things joelster mentioned, and little stuff like someone mentioned studderins thread. All that with a good heads/can/intake setup with an auto with a well matched converter will get you 10s without the bottle. And I think you can definitely get there without gutting the car and keeping it really nice.

AChotrod

iTrader: (17)

Go for it if thats what you want to do. I did it to my 30K Formula WS6 that was mint to start with also. I will say its not that easy. At one time I was down to 3250 without me in the car and after adding the nitrous, cage and some other stuff Im back to 3435.
I deleted the AC, radio, carpet underlayment,abs, all the heat shields, back seats, all tubular suspension, skinnies etc. I swear sometimes it feels like Im goin backwards.

Latch

iTrader: (8)

I doubt that deleting the power steering and a/c adds up to 100 lbs. Even if it did, that's still only .1 in the 1/4. Is that worth it? While you're wrestling the steering wheel and sweating your *** off with no a/c, you've got to tell yourself "this gained me a tenth!"

BTW, the deletes that joelster listed as "not too much trouble" are gutting the car. No door bars, fender metal, bumper supports, sound deadening, race seats... that is not something I would want to drive on the street. Not only would it be uncomfortable, it's downright dangerous.

Leave the gutting for the race cars. What's sweet is to have a fast as **** car that still has all the creature comforts. You don't have to gut it to go fast... that's what the nitrous is for.

AChotrod

iTrader: (17)

I dont use the radio anyways and I rarely used the AC. They were thing I dont need so why have the extra weight. Hell I barely use the radio in my DD Id rather listen to the engine.

HioSSilver

iTrader: (8)

Not really. I'm at 3050 with a 1/4 tank of gas. Car still has all seats/interior, ac, cruise, stereo and all but 10lbs of the sound deadening. It's not easybut can be done. I think I can get another 20-30 out of it keeping all ammenities.

studderin

iTrader: (28)

I hear you with starting with a rare car. On the Nice car to lighten up. I also hear alot of people say they wish they started with a better car after spending 100hours fixing rust. Or more with crash damage.
you can get a nice clean LS1 car for under 10K, why start with a beat to **** rusty 95 v6 car, or a rolling hack job for 3-5K.

Latch

iTrader: (8)

What did you take out?

studderin

iTrader: (28)

3K is easy. There a older thread getting under 2800 and driving the car to the track, in the rain, road trips ect.

With stock parts, 10bolt, no rollbar is one thing. It's gona be about 200 more to be in NHRA/IHRA legal setup, and strong parts to run good and not break after a few launches.

joelster

That's your opinion. Removing a door bar that is bolted on is something that can be reversed. Same with the bumper supports.

I guess we have a different opinion on what makes a car "gutted".

To me a gutted car, is a car with ZERO interior, that has the doors sawsalled, the dash all hacked up, no gauges other than basics, etc, etc. Once you run an 11 you need a cage. The OP wants to run 10's so obviously he will need one. A cage renders the rear seat 100% useless for occupants. Fender metal serves no purpose other than to take up space. The stock fenders are very stiff and require no support. There's so much excess metal in the sides and roof of our cars. Why is it there? Probably easier for GM to produce it that why. Hard top cars have the bracing for t-tops under the headliner. Do they need it? Obviously not, but it's there.

Dangerous? In some ways yes, in other ways no. Take 500lbs out of your car and leave the same brakes and tires on it, and let me know how much better it stops. It's the same difference as driving around with 3 passengers vs driving around alone. It's noticeable behind the wheel. Obviously the car will not survive a front-end impact or side impacts as well. If safety is your thing you shouldn't be driving an f-body you should be driving a Volvo. Some people have a fear of removing safety equipment, some don't. That's your call

Latch- have you ever sat in Kirkey Pro-street seats? I have them and they are quite comfortable. I'm sure others will agree. Guys in drag week run them for 4-5 hours straight.


If I owned the SGM car, i'd have no guilt taking it down to 3000lbs. 4th gen cars are very plentiful and they are never going to command the investor type of $$$$$$ that the musclecars of old do.

Latch

iTrader: (8)

^ This

I don't want to be lying in a hospital bed thinking "good thing I took out all my crash support, it got me a tenth!"

HioSSilver

iTrader: (8)

Jack/spare, airbags. Everything else is pretty much there. I take parts off, lighten them and put them back on. Eventually it all adds up and you still have a sound car if done properly.

AChotrod

iTrader: (17)

How did you weigh it??? Sounds impossible to me.

joelster

Some people are content with running high 12's, that's your thing. The OP wants to run 10's, you obviously don't have anything to add in this thread.

Drive safe!