What is lighter?A-BODY OR E-BODY

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simmscara

simmscara

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I'm looking to build a race car.Which is lighter?A or E Body?
 
9 out of 10 time an A body is lighter. The only exception might be if the E body had a slant 6 or 318 and no options whatsoever and the A body was an optioned out big block car.
 
Equiped the same. IE motor trans and options and A body will be lighter every time.

Optioned out the same 340 A bodys were Quicker in the 1/4 mile than a 340 E bodys. Why? A bodys are lighter.
 
Burntorange70 said:
Equiped the same. IE motor trans and options and A body will be lighter every time.

Optioned out, the same 340 A bodys were Quicker in the 1/4 mile than a 340 E bodys. Why? A bodys are lighter.[/quote
Back in the day, 1970; I could take my 318 Duster, 3 speed manual, 3.23 open, slapper bars, with only heavier valve springs in and whup; in the 1/8 mile- 396/350hp chevelles, 383 cudas with hop up kits, any mustang, including mach 1's . The a body is light and works. You just have to learn the tweaks it needs. I also had a 1970 340 swinger that got t-boned; put that engine (purple stripe, and 3 way valve angle in a 1979 d150. 5.0 mustangs hated it.
E has no room for even good factory exhaust.
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lighter.....

no heavy bumpers and beam guards in doors.
 
Chrysler made the Feather Duster and Dart Lite in the mid `70`s that supposedly had lighter metal and metal removed from many areas to lighten it up.
 
I dug up some info on the Feather Duster and Dart Lite. They were made in 1976.


Thay came with a 225 S/6 with a lightened block and an aluminum intake. They allso had an aluminum hood, trunk lid, inner panels and bumper reinforcements. OD 4 trans cars cam with aluminium casings. They weighed 150 pounds less than a standard Dart/Duster.
 
Burntorange70 said:
I dug up some info on the Feather Duster and Dart Lite. They were made in 1976.


Thay came with a 225 S/6 with a lightened block and an aluminum intake. They allso had an aluminum hood, trunk lid, inner panels and bumper reinforcements. OD 4 trans cars cam with aluminium casings. They weighed 150 pounds less than a standard Dart/Duster.
Click to expand...

That`s some good information on those cars. I remember guys searching for those cars to use them for racing or for their parts.
 
Using a 1969 Dart, for example, on the same scales at the same track.
My GTS with 340/727 buckets and console weighs in at 3400 lbs. A 340 Swinger with a 340/727 and bench seat/colunm shift weighed in at 3300 lbs.
A 1974 Duster 360 weighed in at 3350 (there are those bumbers and door beams). An A-body 1969 'Cuda 383 weighs in at 3450. A E-body Challenger T/A (with the glass hood) weighed in at 3600lbs.

This is approx. weight because I subtracted the drivers' weight from the actual-shown-on-the-scales weight to just reflect the vehicles' weight. All the drivers are almost the same size in height and ranging in weight from 195-205lbs.

B-Body 1969 Road Runners ranged from 3700-3850 lbs depending upon if it had a 440 (3700 without driver) or Hemi (3850 without driver).

These are STOCK cars weighed in at the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drag Races with all factory equip (some including PS and A/C). Hope this gives you an idea for a good starting point. Putting any of these cars on a true race car diet will bring those weights more in line with each other depending upon how much you plan on leaving out.
 
My 72 Challenger weighs 3710 lbs w/me(205). Small block, Al Intake,Al rad, Al master cylinder, headers, Fiber hood and fenders. These things are tanks. I'm going to find some weight to drop this year.

Tom
 
So were the lightest A bodies the 63-66s? If so, I'd say with a 340/360 and a decent dual exhaust, they ought to go pretty good.
 
The factory service manuals point to the A bodies being lighter by a significant margin.

The '63-'66 As may be the lightest, but the 1967 - 72 A bodies do not weigh much more.

My 1971 Duster 340 with few factory options is 3,178 lbs. with 1/4 tank of gas.

My 1970 Duster 340 with 727 and no other options was 3,203 lbs.

I've seen base 1970 manual tranny factory 340 cars under 3,100 lbs. with no alterations.

factory 340 A bodies = excellent power / weight ratio in base form...
 
For some reason the Dusters and Demons were in some cases lighter than the "regular" A-bodies too. My '70 Duster 318 factory weight is around 3000 lbs, probably a bit more from the A/C and power steering. It's a bench seat, column-shift 904, manual brake car with a bunch of stuff missing too (headliner, insulation, etc.). I removed most of the A/C hardware and plan on an aluminum intake, so that should put me back to around factory weight. I only weigh around 140 lbs. too (skinny kid, 6') so that helps with the weight. IMO the A-bodies have the most performance potential of any of the old Chrysler RWD platforms because they are the lightest and smallest but with some work can even fit a Hemi in their engine bay. If you think about it, modern cars that weigh that much almost never have an engine bigger than a small V6, and there are A-bodies with 600 HP big-blocks out there. Pretty amazing.
 
my 68 2dr post w/ aluminum hds and intake 360, 727 & 8 3/4, no pw brks or steering weighs 3160. Dusters and Demons are a bit lighter.
 
My 340 4-speed Dart with a bench seat a full tank of gas and a full size spare tire was 3330 lb.
 
My Duster at the track weighed 3,635 with me in it. I weigh 178lb, so that would put my Duster at 3,457lb at that time.
 
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