mag58gpmg Posted July 16, 2017 Report Share Posted July 16, 2017 Hi all, Looking to build our first race car of any sort. Got a pair of "free" Volvos that we can choose from. Thing is, we are looking to see if we can get them to a reasonable power/weight ratio with a mostly stock drivetrain (opening up intake and exhaust, not much else). We are on a tight budget, so while making power cost $$, the 'ol torch and sawsall is free We have a 1990 740 wagon with a B234f, so about 3200lbs and 150hp (that 21.3#/hp, yikes...), and a 1995 960 with 180hp but around 3500lbs (19.4#/hp). I know Volvos are notoriously porky, but does anyone know how much weight we can reasonably expect to get to (all the crap out, safety stuff in)? Thanks in advance!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mopar 4 Life Posted July 16, 2017 Report Share Posted July 16, 2017 This is a real tough question to answer. We were able to remove 450lbs from our neon. Normal curbweight is around 2400-2500. Our car now is pretty spartan. It also comes down down to the amount of time you can dedicate to removing weight. There is simple weight to remove and more complicated stuff. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvumtnbkr Posted July 16, 2017 Report Share Posted July 16, 2017 Our car is a net 400# down. We also have a drivetrain about 75# heavier than stock. Our cage is 1.75 x .120 wall. If we kept stock drivetrain and went to .150 tubing we could probably drop another 125#. We are going single exhaust and went to a light battery. We just saved another 60#. At this point, it would be easier to start over with a new chassis and build it differently to eliminate weight. My advice... Take the entire car apart and remove everything. Gut the sheet metal everywhere. Then only put back what absolutely needs to be there. Should be able to get 4 to 550 pounds net out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron_e Posted July 16, 2017 Report Share Posted July 16, 2017 We took out 500 lbs from stock, also have the heavy wall tubing 1.75 X 0.120", NASCAR bars on both sides, red top Optima battery, glass windshield, dual exhaust, fuel cell. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ogren-Engineering Posted July 16, 2017 Report Share Posted July 16, 2017 Turbo , turbo, turbo, weld diff and more turbo. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Infiniti Posted July 16, 2017 Report Share Posted July 16, 2017 (edited) Rather then a neon/rx7/or sporty mustang, we run a Infiniti, lots of weight comes out of a luxury car quickly (sunroof cartridge, 80 lbs per front seat, 4 individual radio amplifiers etc), at some point it gets hard (seat to floor ribs, sunroof supports) It boils down to how many cutting blades and spare time and do you guys have, oh and a turbo Edited July 16, 2017 by Team Infiniti 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mag58gpmg Posted July 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2017 Thanks for all of the replies, exactly what I was looking for!! And yeah, the 740 especially would probably need a turbo to avoid becoming an un-official pace car... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pintodave Posted July 17, 2017 Report Share Posted July 17, 2017 400 must be the magic number, first time around that is exactly what we had with the Camaro from OEM to race ready. Getting a little more out before Sebring, upwards of 40-45 total if I go with that new LiFePO battery. Definitely a declining scale of work-to-weight ratio... you start at about 100# per hour, then you end up at about 1# per 10 hours... I stopped somewhere in the middle. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technical Advisory Committee Ray Franck Posted July 17, 2017 Technical Advisory Committee Report Share Posted July 17, 2017 Yes remove as much as you can, but do not save weight on the cage or safety .. I'll gut one like a fish but am using 120 wall DOM tubing and Nascar bars .. When your racing on tracks with over mile long straights every one is hauling azz and of course over here there's Daytona and Charlotte with lots of concrete to hit .. It's your call but when it comes to the safety stuff don't worry about what it weighs .. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mag58gpmg Posted July 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2017 Safety is one place we definitely wont skimp on, but a good comment to add to this thread none the less. I do this for fun, and its not worth my or my family's well being for a couple of lbs. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhr650 Posted July 17, 2017 Report Share Posted July 17, 2017 One thing to keep in mind is to take as much as possible out on the initial build, racecars like people only get more portly with age. Every time you have a failure and you repair it you end up adding a little extra to prevent the same problem from coming back next time. You are constantly looking for ways to improve performance, wider wheels and bigger tires will probably make the car go faster but add weight, adding aero may help but a splitter or wing add weight. Getting tired of rain in the car so you add Lexan windows, drivers getting hot so you add a blower or upgrade the cool suit, it can go on and on indefinitely, each addition is small and probably worthwhile but you can end up with a car that weighs 100lbs more than you started with very easily… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bremsen Posted July 17, 2017 Report Share Posted July 17, 2017 I don't know exactly where we started, but I estimate we're over 500lbs lighter than stock after adding the cage and all the other accoutrements back into the car. Get a good angle grinder, sawzall, plasma if you're baller, lots of wheels/blades and get used to smelling like burnt metal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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