G3 diet plan for the street

74Malibu383 wrote:To each their own on removing AC/Heater stuff. I’ll keep mine. I’m also all for getting rid of the inner bumper stuff, bench seat, steel wheels, lighter cross-member, stuff like that. However, I’m not sold on altering the body panels.

Food for thought - Let's say you go the fiberglass route, hood, fenders, trunk and bumpers. I'm not sure how much weight you'll cut out, but I'm sure it would be a ton. You would still retain all the factory glass, and it would still be streetable for all intents and purposes. However, what is all that fiberglass going to cost you? Going off of US Body Source, you're looking at $1,800 plus shipping. Not to mention we all know that stuff doesn't "bolt-on". So, add in the headaches, the fillers, the sandpaper etc. You have to be close to let's say $2,300 before you even get to paint. You put it all together, it looks amazing, and you shaved a ton of weight. Maybe even gained a half a second at the strip. Awesome……… However, it's still fiberglass. One fender bender and you're f'd. One actual accident, and you're totally f'd! There are some real idiots out there, and it’s just not realistic for a street car.

Now, let's take that $2,300 you just spent to make your car lighter and put it into the motor. You can order a deluxe (pan to carb) 350 crate motor w/290hp from GM for $2,500.00. That's a 100-150 more horsepower than the stock small-block had, and 60 more HP than the stock big block came with. Not to mention we all know you could build a much more powerful engine for a heck of a lot cheaper yourselves. This was purely an example.

You say you already have a pretty decent motor? Ok… still put that $2,300 into it and now you have a motor throwing down BIG power numbers while still maintaining a “streetable” car. Not to mention you’re probably gain more at the track with the added power than you ever would have with losing the weight.

- Just saying...

JiMi_DRiX wrote:

74Malibu383 wrote:To each their own on removing AC/Heater stuff. I’ll keep mine. I’m also all for getting rid of the inner bumper stuff, bench seat, steel wheels, lighter cross-member, stuff like that. However, I’m not sold on altering the body panels.

Food for thought - Let's say you go the fiberglass route, hood, fenders, trunk and bumpers. I'm not sure how much weight you'll cut out, but I'm sure it would be a ton. You would still retain all the factory glass, and it would still be streetable for all intents and purposes. However, what is all that fiberglass going to cost you? Going off of US Body Source, you're looking at $1,800 plus shipping. Not to mention we all know that stuff doesn't "bolt-on". So, add in the headaches, the fillers, the sandpaper etc. You have to be close to let's say $2,300 before you even get to paint. You put it all together, it looks amazing, and you shaved a ton of weight. Maybe even gained a half a second at the strip. Awesome……… However, it's still fiberglass. One fender bender and you're f'd. One actual accident, and you're totally f'd! There are some real idiots out there, and it’s just not realistic for a street car.

Now, let's take that $2,300 you just spent to make your car lighter and put it into the motor. You can order a deluxe (pan to carb) 350 crate motor w/290hp from GM for $2,500.00. That's a 100-150 more horsepower than the stock small-block had, and 60 more HP than the stock big block came with. Not to mention we all know you could build a much more powerful engine for a heck of a lot cheaper yourselves. This was purely an example.

You say you already have a pretty decent motor? Ok… still put that $2,300 into it and now you have a motor throwing down BIG power numbers while still maintaining a “streetable” car. Not to mention you’re probably gain more at the track with the added power than you ever would have with losing the weight.

- Just saying...

I went the other route and installed a ZZ4 crate motor, new transmission, and 3.73 gears. Makes my boat feel like a feather. lol

JB2wheeler wrote:Actually, with a 700r4, a 3.73 is an ideal ratio for the street in a daily driver. Now on the other hand if you do a lot of highway driving you might want to back off to a 3.42 or 3.18. JB