My Vette Weighs . . .

[turtlevette]

There's plenty of total junk made in China.

BUT, I think the west does itself an incredibly dangerous disservice to assume the Chinese are somehow inherently incapable of quality and we can just make fun slash ignore them forever as some kind of permanently backwater nation.

If they're serious about getting their population under control they will progress.

200 guys with wheelbarrows and shovels can move earth as fast as a bulldozer, but it's a very inefficient way to do work. You have to feed, house, clothe, and provide sanitary conditions for all those mouths.

The other big problem for third world countries is that all their brightest people come here to live permanently.

What are you going to do with the car once you get it light? I've given up on that tact with mine. I don't want to spend more time woring on my car than driving it. I'll run it the way it is.

When i feel the need to go faster i'll pick up a used C5 and run that.

 

[Vettezuki]

Hey, isn't there a relatively new Wilwood "turnkey" setup for C3s, with aluminum 6 piston calipers up front, no brackets required? I thought I heard bird mentioning something about that.

Yep

http://info.wilwood.com/BrakeKits.aspx?year=1981&make=Chevrolet&model=Corvette

Daddy needs 6 piston calipers and 14" rotors. . .

I shudder at the total pacage price though, gotta be up around $3k for a full set. . .

 

[mrvette]

Some nice weather day, cool enough and DRY, I am going junkyarding, and going to bring my bathroom scale, and find a brake setup that takes minimal to install, and lightweight, and maybe even larger pads....

I know it's out there, just a matter of scratching around....

junkyarded ever thing else off this car, why not the brakes....leave the rotors alone, ~12" rotors are enough for a 3300 lbs car...just to ditch the weight and expense of the stock rotors...

I get good and dug IN on that project, I will do it just to spite the devil....

eff em forever...

:hissyfit::thumbs::lol:

 

[Bee Jay]

They're made by PBR, an OZ company who also did most of the C4 calipers and all the other C5 stuff. They even admit it here, made in Dalian China

http://www.pbr.com.au/media/documents/OTMApril05.pdf

OT.

There's plenty of total junk made in China.

BUT, I think the west does itself an incredibly dangerous disservice to assume the Chinese are somehow inherently incapable of quality and we can just make fun slash ignore them forever as some kind of permanently backwater nation.

I have a basically stock interior...convertible..'72....hollowed out hood....
...

How did you "hollow out" your hood? Do you have pictures?
Thanks in advance.
Bee Jay

 

[big2bird]

Hey, isn't there a relatively new Wilwood "turnkey" setup for C3s, with aluminum 6 piston calipers up front, no brackets required? I thought I heard bird mentioning something about that.

Yep

http://info.wilwood.com/BrakeKits.aspx?year=1981&make=Chevrolet&model=Corvette

Daddy needs 6 piston calipers and 14" rotors. . .

I shudder at the total pacage price though, gotta be up around $3k for a full set. . .

http://www.hotrodsusa.com/store/wilwood_c2.html

 

[big2bird]

When the 81's take a dump finally, I might just spring for these. Lord knows why.:suicide: Maybe even just "because."

 

[Twin_Turbo]

I may get some of those D8s, apparently to get a free test set you have to have some obscure website somewhere and brake knowledge that is based on the principle that locking all 4 wheels is a sign of excellent brakes

 

[mrvette]

They're made by PBR, an OZ company who also did most of the C4 calipers and all the other C5 stuff. They even admit it here, made in Dalian China

http://www.pbr.com.au/media/documents/OTMApril05.pdf

OT.

There's plenty of total junk made in China.

BUT, I think the west does itself an incredibly dangerous disservice to assume the Chinese are somehow inherently incapable of quality and we can just make fun slash ignore them forever as some kind of permanently backwater nation.

I have a basically stock interior...convertible..'72....hollowed out hood....
...

How did you "hollow out" your hood? Do you have pictures?
Thanks in advance.
Bee Jay

MY hood is a grafted on aftermarket BB style bulge on a SB hood, about all I did was take out the interior under it,

now when that was done, over a period of years, the main thing was when I reverse hinged the hood, I needed extra room for the up/over air induction....

WAS going to do 4 hood pins, but it was just as easy to do the hinges...so another junk yard....

the stock SB hood was then hollowed out entirely under the BB patch on....

the hole is the same as the footprint of the patch on aftermarket bulge....

:smash::lol:

 

[mrvette]

I may get some of those D8s, apparently to get a free test set you have to have some obscure website somewhere and brake knowledge that is based on the principle that locking all 4 wheels is a sign of excellent brakes

UHHHHH....locking at will, beats UNABLE to lock when you want to demonstrate...

I LOVE my HB and every damn time I get into wife Miata, Escort, my Dodge van or any other vacuum assisted booter vehicle...I note that stupid extra 30" (sic) of pedal travel to get the brakes to apply, let alone LOCK.....:suicide::thumbs:

Keep in mind, I"m left handed, so I have a LITTLE more control over my left foot than my right.....

 

[Twin_Turbo]

If you can't lock the stock brakes, even without assist you're a pansy...straight & simple LOL There's probably not a car out there produced with brakes that can't lock up all 4 wheels, if it couldn't the brakes are inadequate for sure (still it does not make the reverse true that locking wheels = excellent brakes). Most cars with a proper parking brake setup can lock the rear wheels with the parking brake. Parking brake = not excellent brakes LOL

 

[Vettezuki]

. . .

What are you going to do with the car once you get it light? I've given up on that tact with mine. I don't want to spend more time woring on my car than driving it. I'll run it the way it is.

When i feel the need to go faster i'll pick up a used C5 and run that.

The feeling of a light car handling wise is just awesome. Reducing weight is the one thing that improves everything else regarding performance. The way I can through my wife's MX-5 (2,400lbs) is radically different than my Vette, you can feel the lightness. I'd like to get closer to that over time. Realistically I think I can get down to 2,900lbs before sacrificing conveniences. As I mentioned in the first post these things start to get expensive.

Power wise I'm already between a C5Z and C6Z. I want to get the weight and handling as good as possible over time so blasts through the mountains can be more funner. :lol: And safer. I played a little with a friend that has a built C6 Z51, and what was getting a little spooky where he was just flat sticking and going.

 

[mrvette]

. . .

What are you going to do with the car once you get it light? I've given up on that tact with mine. I don't want to spend more time woring on my car than driving it. I'll run it the way it is.

When i feel the need to go faster i'll pick up a used C5 and run that.

The feeling of a light car handling wise is just awesome. Reducing weight is the one thing that improves everything else regarding performance. The way I can through my wife's MX-5 (2,400lbs) is radically different than my Vette, you can feel the lightness. I'd like to get closer to that over time. Realistically I think I can get down to 2,900lbs before sacrificing conveniences. As I mentioned in the first post these things start to get expensive.

I got my wife a '91 Miata just for grins....it's been super hot/humid so if the car sets in the sun a while....she rather drive something else....

i'ts too small for me to drive ...but a neat little roller skate....

 

[Vettezuki]

. . .

What are you going to do with the car once you get it light? I've given up on that tact with mine. I don't want to spend more time woring on my car than driving it. I'll run it the way it is.

When i feel the need to go faster i'll pick up a used C5 and run that.

The feeling of a light car handling wise is just awesome. Reducing weight is the one thing that improves everything else regarding performance. The way I can through my wife's MX-5 (2,400lbs) is radically different than my Vette, you can feel the lightness. I'd like to get closer to that over time. Realistically I think I can get down to 2,900lbs before sacrificing conveniences. As I mentioned in the first post these things start to get expensive.

I got my wife a '91 Miata just for grins....it's been super hot/humid so if the car sets in the sun a while....she rather drive something else....

i'ts too small for me to drive ...but a neat little roller skate....

We have a 2006, which is a bit bigger. Seriously there's about the same, maybe more actual space for a driver in it than in a C3. C3s are pretty tight. I'm still trying to imagine how the heck I'd do anything other than a simple 4 point cage without having the proper clearance noggin to steel.

I might have mentinoed this story here somewhere once before, but one night coming home in the Miata after running some errands, I WAY WAY overcooked a corner coming off a a freeway, think two lane right angle at about 70mph. I had no choice but to chuck it and hope for the best. That little car, bone stock, just stuck that corner like nothing else I've ever driven. My Vette handles well, but I'm not sure it would have stuck that corner at that speed. This is where weight really starts to make a big difference.

 

[mrvette]

. . .

What are you going to do with the car once you get it light? I've given up on that tact with mine. I don't want to spend more time woring on my car than driving it. I'll run it the way it is.

When i feel the need to go faster i'll pick up a used C5 and run that.

The feeling of a light car handling wise is just awesome. Reducing weight is the one thing that improves everything else regarding performance. The way I can through my wife's MX-5 (2,400lbs) is radically different than my Vette, you can feel the lightness. I'd like to get closer to that over time. Realistically I think I can get down to 2,900lbs before sacrificing conveniences. As I mentioned in the first post these things start to get expensive.

I got my wife a '91 Miata just for grins....it's been super hot/humid so if the car sets in the sun a while....she rather drive something else....

i'ts too small for me to drive ...but a neat little roller skate....

We have a 2006, which is a bit bigger. Seriously there's about the same, maybe more actual space for a driver in it than in a C3. C3s are pretty tight. I'm still trying to imagine how the heck I'd do anything other than a simple 4 point cage without having the proper clearance noggin to steel.

I might have mentinoed this story here somewhere once before, but one night coming home in the Miata after running some errands, I WAY WAY overcooked a corner coming off a a freeway, think two lane right angle at about 70mph. I had no choice but to chuck it and hope for the best. That little car, bone stock, just stuck that corner like nothing else I've ever driven. My Vette handles well, but I'm not sure it would have stuck that corner at that speed. This is where weight really starts to make a big difference.

Me being 6'5", Linda's little bug here is very much fun to drive, with the top down, I have a very difficult time getting in/out of it with top up....
my vette is rather modded for my height, floorboard extended forward, pedals pushed forward, knees off the steering wheel now. seat dropped and OEM foam still in them..late shark TT wheel added, that pesky dimmer switch on the column how...:shocking::beer:

that little bug was a steal, only paid a grand for it, rust free too....got 1400 total on the road into it....make me a offer I can't refuse....me being a cheep bastard and all.....:tomato:

 

[ToniH]

So I finally had my Vette weighed today.
3,100 lbs

Wot? 3100??

My '70 BB (iron block & heads) weighted 3549lbs on recent inspection. No PB, no PW, no AC and manual gearbox, no spare tire or carrier.

Urgh.... heavy. :twitch: Screwup on scaling or realistic weight for my car?

Ps. note that my '91 C4 weights 3272lbs with almost every possible option, no spare tire.

 

[mrvette]

DAmn if I know, but this thread got me wondering....as I had the pass front wheel off for some a/c cleaning, I got the bathroom scale out....I weigh 225 with the steel spare/tire it came out to 280, with the '89 vette wheel/tire it came out to 276.....

I leave off the decimal points because I doubt that kind of precision....

so for 4 lbs savings in the front, it's not much...rear has larger tires, I doubt ANY weight savings.....

maybe I could loose weight if I didn't drink :beer::beer:....

maybe the CAR could loose weight if the helium bag didn't leak....

:rain::rofl: