Weighed some things tonight that I yanked out.

(all weight rounded to the nearest pound)
Big giant 1-5/16" Hellawig swaybar and hardware - 26lbs
Rear seat back - 19lbs
Rear seat bottom - 6lbs (each) 12lbs total
Passenger seat- 38lbs
Misc headliner hardware and interior trim (lots still left in car!) - 6lbs
Door panels - 6lbs (each) 12lbs total

Total weight removed from car - 113lbs!

Still to do:
replace driver's seat with race seat - est 26lbs savings
replace power window doors with manual doors with no crash beam - who knows, lots?!?!
replace rear glass and side glass with lexan - 53lbs - weight of lexan (keeping windshield glass)
seat belts - 15lbs
trunk lid to fiberglass - 25lbs - weight of glass lid
remove wipers - unknown
5-leaf to split mono - est 15lbs, but could be more
Steel wheels to aluminum - 64lbs + (but this one aint cheap!)
Radio and speakers - maybe 6lbs?
Plus whatever else I find, carpet, trim, pieces of the dash, etc. More than 200lbs more for sure...if not closer to 300lbs. I will try to remember to weigh everything I pull out and weigh everything I put back in.

Please stop me before I pull the hole saw out!

I thought this was a daily driver?

Daily dragster.

Went to the track for the first time in 8 years, and things change....

I'm aiming squarely for the not fun to drive every day category now.

....exactly what happenned to me when i went to the track with a friend and his car one w-end as i was just starting my Camaro project...Yeah, I was shootin for a big time PT project and i was all pumped up when, after a frustrating afternoon of trying to run 9's and only beeing able to do 10.04-5's we put the nitrous on ''KILL'' and he said ''if the season ends here so be it, we're doing a nine before we leave''...Well it ran a 9.96 sooo.....I ended up selling more than 10 grand worth of gathered Pro Touring parts and buying an 8-71 blown 468 big block / braked Th400 car to strip it of all its heavy duty stuff to build up the Camaro.......I was hooked back on Drag racing big time!!

I can relate.

Now, i just finished the Camaro, but more than that, i recently bought the Camaro the guy (Friend) i had sold my parts to was building so i am recuperating the Pro Tour stuff i had sold and might finish it after all...Just to tell you it'll come around if you want to, when you want to.

Cool deal, you're having fun... and thats what counts!!! I wanted to share my story so you can look ahead and be aware that you can always come back even if you steer away a little... The important is having a ball!!!

Oh and, POST UP SOME PICS,,,,been awhile no??

Lead.

Ok, so tonight out came the driver's seat, all the stock seat belts, misc trim (sill plates, headliner anchor, etc) and passenger area plastics. Obviously the driver's seat and a set of belts are going back in, but they will be much lighter.

Driver's seat - 36lbs (2lbs light than the passenger seat...go figure. It was missing a bunch of foam though)
Passenger side panels - 8lbs
Stock Seat belts - 8lbs
Misc trim - 6lbs

total - 58lbs
previous total - 113 lbs
new total - 171 lbs

Tomorrow the carpet, sound deadener, stereo speakers and whatever else I have time to yank out will be on the floor of my garage. Should be over 200 lbs lost by tomorrow.

Pulled the carpets the other night and then had my workout tonight scraping the sound deadener out of the car! Also pulled the speakers out.

Carpet (front and rear) - 13lbs
Sound Deadener - 30lbs (left a bunch behind too!)
Rear Speakers - 7lbs.

Tonight's total - 50lbs
Previous total- 171lbs
New Total- 221lbs

Still have a few more bits of this and that in the interior to come out.

Something came in the mail today:

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...03746561_n.jpg

It's a Kwik Performance alternator only bracket for truck waterpump and pulley. Very nice piece...not the cheapest in the world, so definitely not 'budget', but I plan on replacing anything that fails or doesn't meet expectations with a better part on a case by case basis.

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...39103448_n.jpg

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...07260725_n.jpg

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...01992264_n.jpg

Also, where in the heck did my interior go?

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...98809898_n.jpg

Nope not here...
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...67375036_n.jpg

Oh there it is.
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...86951200_n.jpg

Weighed some more knick-knacks and lost 3 more lbs today. Also, the new alternator bracket is 1 lb light than the old one. It all counts!

Total Loss- 225lbs

Finally got some work done on the car today. Buddy came over and helped liberate a few items I won't need anymore. Like the wipers and some trim here and there. Also yanked the doors off and weighed them. Also weighed the doors I will be putting on after I gut them for a good before and after measure.

So here is the weight-loss list.
Current total- 225 lbs
Charcoal canister - 3 lbs
Wiper assembly - 3 lbs
Wiper motor - 6 lbs
Misc door and rear window trim and rocker wire covers - 6 lbs
Upper dash - 7 lbs
Lower dash - 5 lbs
Gauge cluster - 3 lbs
New total - 258 lbs

Now the fun part.
1978 Type LT power window and lock doors - 105 lbs
1970 Manual crank doors - 95 lbs
10 lbs per door, 20 lbs total brings the weight loss up to 278 lbs. But I won't count this because even more weight will be coming out of the doors soon.

Lots of work being put into this build, what are the plans for the doors?

Everything is being removed except the latches (glass, regulators, crash beams, inner structure). Lexan will replace the glass. Looking to lose more than 300lbs from the car.

Cleaned out the garage today (boxes that stuff for christmas stuff, why do you end up on top of my Camaro?). Also picked up a set of plastic race seats, some aluminum stock to make brackets and a 160 degree t-stat. I've been working a TON of over-time for Boeing the last few weeks, so more parts are on their way to help me on my quest to lose weight.

Things to do:
1. Make an aluminum dash to hold autometer gauges. (oil press, water temp, fuel level, fuel PSI, volts...no speedo...) and switch panel (ignition, fuel pump, cooling fan, lights, heater fan, nitrous).
2. Fab brackets and install seats.
3. Gut doors and install them.
4. Remove rear glass and replace with lexan (actually going to be poly).
5. Install lexan door windows
6. New fuel pump brackets
7. R&R t-stat
8. Install 4.30 gears
9. Install new alternator and manual tensioner
10. Metco breather?

Also...maybe...
1. Calvert split mono springs
2. Weld prostars...skinnies up front. Looking to get over that 300lb weight loss mark
3. Revise exhaust- remove spintech side exit power-killing setup and replace with dynomax race mufflers out the side.

Here's the Katech manual tensioner pulley that I got in the mail the other day. Awesome piece. Only thing is that I wish they included some new nicer looking bolts. You have to reuse your old ones or pick up a new set yourself. Now, some of you may be asking...what the hell happened to this being a budget build? This and the KWIK bracket aren't cheap. No, they aren't...but the only thing that almost left me stranded TWICE while shaking the car down this summer was the accessory drive system. So, it was decided to invest in what is basically the killer solution.

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...22924275_n.jpg

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...42145621_n.jpg

Alternator is on it's way next. Along with a set of used Drag Star 15x3.75" front runners. Grabbing some tires next week and maybe the gauges and switch panel needed to complete my dash. Working on mounting the driver's seat back in the car. Also grabbing a set of bullet style race mufflers to replace the nice quiet Spintech setup that I believe is robbing me of more than it's fair share of HP. Pace of the project should be ramping up here as we get closer to spring.

Started working on the doors last night. Found out how much I need to upgrade my drill. I've been putting it off for too long. Guess I will stop by the tool store soon. Anyway, so far I've found some new things to weigh.

Door Glass: 15 lbs
Regulators: 12 lbs
Difference from power doors: 10 lbs
Total: 37lbs
x2 74 lbs

Added to the previous balance of 258lbs and I've taken 332 lbs out of the car.
I have a set of 15" x 3.75" aluminum race stars sitting in my office, so I need to weigh those and the steel wheels that are coming off. And I'm busy cutting the door beams out. Still planning on replacing the rear glass, deck lid and springs as money become available. Plus I now need matching rear aluminum tires.

Only stuff going back in that I need to weigh is the race seat, aluminum dash and gauges, lexan and deck lid. Wonder if I can push the net weight loss to 400lbs. My goal was 300lbs!

There are also a pair of Schoendfeld race mufflers coming to replace the restrictive yet very pleasant Spintech system.

Pictures of the progress to come later tonight.

[QUOTE=1970camaroRS;390328]Here's the Katech manual tensioner pulley that I got in the mail the other day. Awesome piece. Only thing is that I wish they included some new nicer looking bolts. You have to reuse your old ones or pick up a new set yourself. Now, some of you may be asking...what the hell happened to this being a budget build? This and the KWIK bracket aren't cheap. No, they aren't...but the only thing that almost left me stranded TWICE while shaking the car down this summer was the accessory drive system. So, it was decided to invest in what is basically the killer solution.


I have the kwik ac braclet and the Katech tensioner. Do you also have th a/c bracket or just the alternator? I dont have much room to swing the tensioner so i hope i can find the correct size belt that is a little tight.

[QUOTE=brownz;391794]No, I'm running a trick w/p and lower pulley and an alternator only. No A/C, no power-steering. I can see how the manual tensioner could run out of space on an A/C car.

PS...cutting door beams out of my doors right now. No fun. At all.

Here we go, some more boring work in progress pictures. BTW, the glass weighed in at 15lbs and the regulators and associated hardware are 12lbs. If the beam is 24 lbs...that's 51 lbs per door. 102 lbs total on both doors. That's frigging amazing.

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._9422497_n.jpg

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...80185835_n.jpg

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...30579294_n.jpg

Hard to see here, but I'm trying to point out the spot-welds. This end (latch end) proved to be difficult. Holes didn't look so neat, no pictures of that. If I end up giving up on cutting the beam in half, the latch end might get opened up. I'll cover the hole with fiberglass most likely. Or rivet in some sheet metal I have laying around.
http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...99304564_n.jpg

Here I am cutting the door beam in half. My 3" wheel isn't deep enough to reach the channel on the skin side. Might cut a notch out that will let me get at that channel. Or I'll just cut a hole in the door as mentioned before. I will also be cutting out some structure of the door since I won't be using regulators anymore.

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...20989227_n.jpg

Also, you will notice I changed to using my Iphone 4 for pictures. Not going to use my $5,000 setup anymore. Especially with metal shavings flying about.

After messing with trying to cut the beam in half for way too long, I gave up and cut a hole in on the latch side of the door.

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...62888555_n.jpg

Beam came right now, no problem!

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...01864290_n.jpg

This thing is BIG!
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...19571353_n.jpg

Now the big news. They only weigh about 16 lbs! From what others have found, the bars in later cars are much heavier! Lets add up what the doors weigh and what can be removed from them.

Doors (with interior panels) - 111 lbs
Interior panel - 6 lbs (counted earlier)
Glass - 15 lbs
Regulators - 12 lbs
Crash Beam - 16 lbs
Total removed - 49 lbs
New door weight - 62 lbs

I bet the hinges are going to be much happier. I'm going to carve a few more lbs out of the inner structure, make and aluminum inner panel (VERY thin gauge) and install lexan. I bet it won't add too much weight back into them.

Running total-
332 + 32 (crash beams) = 364 lbs out of the car. More to come.

Here's some new stuff. Here's what I currently have for front wheels/tires. They are Cragar soft 8 steel wheels and yokohama 235/60r15 tires. Cheap and effective for when the car was a daily driver.

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...60286689_n.jpg

BUT, insanely heavy! 50 lbs per wheel/tire!
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...53587076_n.jpg

Replacing it with these tires. M/T SR 165 radials. 18 lbs per tire.
http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...48196583_n.jpg

And these wheels. Race Star 15" x 3.75" aluminum. 12 lbs.
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...19515733_n.jpg

So, that's 30lbs per wheel/tire. 20lbs less than the previous setup. So, 40lbs total coming off the car!
Added to the previous 364 lbs, that's 404 lbs!

Still going to remove misc metal here and there. I expect 10-15 lbs per wheel in the back, but I'm keeping the 255 M/T radials. Then there's the rear glass and decklid. And the springs.

Oh, and here are my new "mufflers". Schoenfeld bullets. Need to replace the spintech setup I have with its crazy 2 180 degree bends. Will run 3" from the x-pipe out the side. Should also pull another 15 lbs or more out of the car. Don't think I will get away with this on the street...but we will find out. Also going to stock up on ear-plugs.
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...40719457_n.jpg

If this cuts down 10 db of noise, I will be shocked.
http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...49465963_n.jpg

And so it has been decided. The nitrous system is coming off and the cam is being changed out. Working on getting at the G5x3 I have in there now. I will stick the stock truck cam back in to keep the lifters at bay for now. Will likely go with this guy here: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HRS-190265-10/

Pulled the nitrous plate last night. The new hood fits now. Just need to glass over some holes and get some 1/4 turn fasteners. Also, can this car get any more redneck? I think so!
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...05207224_n.jpg

Here's my helper...I think she may be slowing me down worse than my dog did. But she's more fun.
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...35042848_n.jpg

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...12212302_n.jpg

Also decided to check something. I have been suspecting that I wasn't getting full butterfly opening on the secondaries. I was right.
http://youtu.be/wAXicGT1Ow0

I trapped 111mph with almost no secondaries.

So I took the TV cable off and tried again.
http://youtu.be/0QKGbczGKbI

ALMOST perfect. So, I adjusted the linkage and reattached the TV cable.
http://youtu.be/TOVqzQKk7Mw

Better, but still not there. This will take a little more work to get right. Anyway...off to go pull things off the front of the engine so I can get that cam out.

Wow thats a lot of weight in those doors.

Yes, yes it is. They are much easier to move around in my garage now.

Team McGrew Racing (not really a team, and there isn't really any racing going on) had a major setback today. Went to complete the swap of the new Howards Cams camshaft and when I pulled the stocker out that was a place holder after I sold the G5X3, I heard, "plunk, plunk, plunk". Got bit my the lifter retainers not 'retaining'. FML. So, I began the tear down to get the heads off and I will be attempting to fish the lifters out of the pan without having to pull the motor...

While doing the tear-down I discovered that the #2 spark plug had cracked porcelain and wasn't making much fire on that cylinder. Between that fact and the secondaries not opening even half-way, the performance I turned in with this thing last summer isn't too bad.

Bad news is that since I have two full-time jobs and a 2 year old running around...this project will be complete sometime 3rd quarter of 2014....

Got the oil pan and windage tray off this weekend. Only had to jack up the nose of the engine a few inches. All lifters are now accounted for. Waiting for a degree kit that's coming my way and I will do a by the books cam install. Might grab something to replace this H2 oil pan as well...

progress. :thumbsup:

Not a huge update, but I'm still whittling away at it. Starting a photography business and that's been taking up a lot of my time and money. Anyway, while I'm waiting for a cam degree kit I have been hacking on the car a bit more. I pulled out the parking brake pedal, the in cabin cable, the kick panels and vents, center dash speaker, lower right hand dash support structure and trimmed a few odds and ends off the driver side dash support. Also pulled out the speedo cable. Still have to grab the rest of the parking brake cables and brackets from under the car. Next up is removing the rear glass and the trunk lid. Might go get started on that after I'm done with my break here.

Weighed the junk I pulled out and it came to 18lbs.
Previous total is 404lbs lost.
New total is 422lbs.

Pulled the trunk lid, hinge and spring rods. Weighed in at 29 lbs. Also removed the panel between the window and the trunk lid, it was rusted to hell, I should replace it I guess. On a side note: the hinge pins for the trunk were designed by a sadist.

New loss of 29lbs
New total is 451 lbs.

Of course, this is net weight loss as I still have to add in the seats, new dash and guages, new trunk lid, side windows and supports, new belts, etc.

This will be the last update to this build thread. DON'T PANIC! I will be starting a new one shortly. Everything will be explained later.

I pulled more stuff off the car today.

Inner fenders, 15lbs each...30 total.
Heater fan outer box, heater, and battery tray, 10lbs
Headers 12lbs
Exhaust 58lbs.

110lbs taken off.
451 previous total.
New total 561lbs.

Here's a sneak peak at what's happening next.
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...67374723_n.jpg