Lightening Tricks For 68 HDT Dart

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805moparkid

805moparkid

Slant and AFX Guy
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so i was thinking that it might be cool to start a thread for the budget people to lose weight! post ideas of how to lighten your car the...
...cheap way

1. lose window regulators for straps like the old ss cars
2. take out heater system
3. take out rear seat and brackets
4. drill small holes in the "frame" like the goats "lightened" pkg.
5. cut out centers of doors (rusty doors)
6. lexan windows from homedepot (12bucks a sheet! enough for a window

so what else can u guys think of?
 
Drill steering shaft, center link, bumper brackets, motor mount brackets, bracing, door, body panels covered by panels, anything you can think of.

Plenty of places to lose weight
 
crackedback said:
Drill steering shaft, center link, bumper brackets, motor mount brackets, bracing, door, body panels covered by panels, anything you can think of.

Plenty of places to lose weight
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how far and how big could the holes be to safely drive it(steering and suspention comp)

but good ideas!
 
Inner fenders,alumi rad,alumi heads,waterpump.Just trying to add to whats already been said.Oh rims too!LOL
 
Since we are focusing on budget-minded ideas (with no mention if time consumption was an issue), I scraped off nearly 35 lbs of undercoating off of the '69 Barracuda. And believe me ... I got all of it.
 
Drill the steering shaft and center link? No no no frog no.
 
tell us more about drillin suspension stuff. it sounds pretty skechy but cb is hardley ever wrong.
 
crackedback said:
Done all the time on drag cars and more common than you think.

Maybe not for you.
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I see a lot of lemmings going over cliffs, too, but......
How much weight are you really gonna save on a street car versus the loss of integrity in those parts? I've seen first hand results of that little trick, I'll pass. I would rather potentially lose a race than my life.
I really mean no disrespect to your opinion or knowledge.
 
Are there any holes in a factory centerlink or steering shaft? This stuff is old super stock/stock elim weight reduction stuff.

4697897-MVC-011S.jpg

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Yup, a hole saw kit can remove a ton of weight. Some guys used to pull up the sill plates and go nut with a hole saw,then put the plate back down. Im kinda against drilling holes in structural members
 
needsaresto said:
Yup, a hole saw kit can remove a ton of weight. Some guys used to pull up the sill plates and go nut with a hole saw,then put the plate back down. Im kinda against drilling holes in structural members
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i agree but with frame connectors and a good 6pt most of the stress is routed thru those and not the rockers.
 
I do not know if I would be drilling holes in the factory frame rails/steering linkage. Losing weight is a great idea, but if the cars primary purpose is a street car I would draw the line at structural/steering. I could only imagine the lawsuit you would be facing if a "lightened" center link were to snap and you hit somebody.....
 
have you ever taken the glove box door off? That little sucker is heavy!
 
Big Block Dart had a page, before the site was changed around, with the weight savings from certain changes. Hopefully that page will return sometime soon....I know one of the things that was listed was a factory dash compared to a fiberglass one, but I do not remember the weight difference.....
 
inkjunkie said:
I do not know if I would be drilling holes in the factory frame rails/steering linkage. Losing weight is a great idea, but if the cars primary purpose is a street car I would draw the line at structural/steering. I could only imagine the lawsuit you would be facing if a "lightened" center link were to snap and you hit somebody.....
Click to expand...

That was kinda my point. Sure back in the day when '65 Bel II's were new and plentiful and you could get away with some risky stuff to win a race and get big factory money, it made some sort of sense. Only on the track. But why do something like that now when there is nothing to gain and a lot to lose? Instead of drilling a centerlink, why not change over to rack and pinion? You would lose not only that pesky centerlink weight, but the heavy *** stearing box and tie rod assemblies.
 
Wiper motor, linkage,arms and blades (Race only), strip wiring harness of unnecessary wires, fiberglass and aluminum parts brackets and stuff.
 
We've been drilling centerlinks and steering shafts for close to 40 years...

Number of Failures over that time frame... ZERO!

Wait one did break... when the car slammed the wall at about 135 mph from a lost engine. The link had zero to do with the accident.

You have to use your brain when you do this and not go hog wild with a bit. The factory stuff is over-engineered. Couple of the guys that did this are/were structural and mechanical engineers. There are holes already in a steering shaft.

You can also swiss cheese a k-frame pretty good too.

Guess people better not run gun drilled axles either. You're removing weight from those and that for the big hp stuff.

He asked for suggestions on how to save weight, he's got a few. Whether you choose to do them is personal choice.

That car I included pics of earlier has both the steering stuff lightened.
 
crackedback said:
We've been drilling centerlinks and steering shafts for close to 40 years...

Number of Failures over that time frame... ZERO!

Wait one did break... when the car slammed the wall at about 135 mph from a lost engine. The link had zero to do with the accident.

You have to use your brain when you do this and not go hog wild with a bit. The factory stuff is over-engineered. Couple of the guys that did this are/were structural and mechanical engineers. There are holes already in a steering shaft.

You can also swiss cheese a k-frame pretty good too.

Guess people better not run gun drilled axles either. You're removing weight from those and that for the big hp stuff.

He asked for suggestions on how to save weight, he's got a few. Whether you choose to do them is personal choice.

That car I included pics of earlier has both the steering stuff lightened.
Click to expand...

By the way people.. This is Drag only! Something like a road race car needs that over engineering. But for a drag car you can do a lot. Also instead of the stock centerlink you could use a tubular design. But you would have to make your own as nobody makes something like that.


Other stuff you can do is get new/modern carpets/padding.. The new stuff is a lot lighter than the factory stuff. Not exactly budget though unless you are replacing them anyway.. But something to remember.
 
this has brought up some interesting ideas and opinion! when i get my welder and tube bender i as thinking of making a centerlink! and maybe some other goodies
 
crackedback said:
We've been drilling centerlinks and steering shafts for close to 40 years...

Number of Failures over that time frame... ZERO!

Wait one did break... when the car slammed the wall at about 135 mph from a lost engine. The link had zero to do with the accident.

You have to use your brain when you do this and not go hog wild with a bit. The factory stuff is over-engineered. Couple of the guys that did this are/were structural and mechanical engineers. There are holes already in a steering shaft.

You can also swiss cheese a k-frame pretty good too.

Guess people better not run gun drilled axles either. You're removing weight from those and that for the big hp stuff.

He asked for suggestions on how to save weight, he's got a few. Whether you choose to do them is personal choice.

That car I included pics of earlier has both the steering stuff lightened.
Click to expand...

Oh sorry, didn't mean to have a different opinion than yours. Your right, I've never seen a centerlink drilled and then break. (Oops, make that two.)
Nice way to be snippy about gun drilled axles, too.
My point was, if you are going to offer advice about something that could be a potential safety problem, you should be REAL clear about it.
You said it yourself "You have to use your brain when you do this...."
Safety son, that's what I am talking about. Don't assume that everyone armed with a Makita and a drill bit is as smart as you.
 
805moparkid said:
this has brought up some interesting ideas and opinion! when i get my welder and tube bender i as thinking of making a centerlink! and maybe some other goodies
Click to expand...

Whoa now! Unless you are a VERY accomplished welder, I would leave welding something like that to a pro. And remember that when you bend tube you totally change the strength and stress points.
 
bjkadron said:
Whoa now! Unless you are a VERY accomplished welder, I would leave welding something like that to a pro. And remember that when you bend tube you totally change the strength and stress points.
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yes i totaly agree with u! just so u know im not a complete nincompoop, here is a little of what ive done. and also 6pt two cages for the ss darts. also currently building a 12pt for a customer dart...

Me And Altered.jpg


AFX 4 045 front.jpg
 
bjkadron said:
Whoa now! Unless you are a VERY accomplished welder, I would leave welding something like that to a pro. And remember that when you bend tube you totally change the strength and stress points.
Click to expand...


ps as far as welding go i can both mig, tig, stick, and gas weld. also can tig aluminum...
 
805moparkid said:
yes i totaly agree with u! just so u know im not a complete nincompoop, here is a little of what ive done. and also 6pt two cages for the ss darts. also currently building a 12pt for a customer dart...
Click to expand...

I wasn't saying that just for you.. I didn't want someone to bend up a pretzel, stick weld it together, then crash and die just because of what I said.

Slightly off topic: did you go to wyotech?
 
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